I. vote 1 S2 W2 /vəʊt $ voʊt/ BrE AmE verb
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ vote , ↑ voter ; verb : ↑ vote ]
1 . IN ELECTION/TO SUPPORT [intransitive and transitive] to show which person or party you want, or whether you support a plan, by marking a piece of paper, raising your hand etc:
In 1918 British women got the right to vote.
vote for/against/in favour of
I voted for the Labour candidate in the last election.
53% of Danes voted in favour of the Maastricht treaty.
vote on
The people of Ulster had finally been given a chance to vote on the issue.
vote to do something
Congress voted to increase foreign aid by 10%.
Shareholders voted to reject the offer.
vote Democrat/Republican/Labour/Conservative etc
I’ve voted Democrat all my life.
⇨ block voting at ↑ block 1 (5)
2 . vote somebody into/out of power/office/parliament etc to elect or dismiss someone by voting:
The chances are that the government will be voted out of office.
3 . CHOOSE FOR PRIZE [transitive] to choose someone or something for a particular prize by voting for them
vote somebody/something sth
In 1981 Henry Fonda was voted Best Actor for ‘On Golden Pond’.
4 . MONEY [transitive] if a parliament, committee etc votes a sum of money for something, they decide by voting to provide money for that particular purpose
vote something for something
Parliament has voted £20 million extra funding for road improvements.
5 . vote something a success/the best etc British English if people vote something a success etc, they all agree that it is a success:
The evening was voted a great success.
6 . I vote ... spoken used to say that you prefer one particular choice or possible action
vote (that)
I vote we go to the movies.
I vote ... for
‘What do you want to eat?’ ‘I vote for Mexican.’
7 . vote with your wallet British English
a) ( also vote with your pocketbook American English ) to vote for someone or something that you think will help you have the most money:
People generally vote with their pocketbooks against new taxes.
b) ( also vote with your dollars American English ) to show you like something by choosing to buy it:
Readers vote with their wallets every day when they choose a newspaper.
8 . vote with your feet to show that you do not support a decision or action by leaving a place or organization
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ adverbs/NOUNS
▪ vote yes/no
How many people voted Yes in the referendum?
▪ vote Conservative/Democrat etc (=vote for someone who is Conservative etc)
Cubans in the city of Miami have traditionally voted Republican.
▪ unanimously (=with everyone voting a particular way)
The committee voted unanimously in favour of the proposition.
▪ overwhelmingly (=by a very large majority)
On Dec. 7 delegates voted overwhelmingly to strike.
▪ narrowly (=by a small majority)
The Senate voted narrowly to continue funding the controversial project.
▪ tactically (=not for the party you support, but to get an acceptable result)
People appear to have voted tactically in order to prevent the Conservative candidate from gaining a seat.
■ phrases
▪ be eligible/entitled to vote
All those aged 18 or over are eligible to vote.
▪ register to vote (=put your name on a list of voters)
We must encourage people to register to vote.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ vote [intransitive and transitive] to show which person or party you want, or whether you support a plan, by marking a piece of paper, raising your hand etc:
I’ve voted Democrat all my life.
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You can vote for your favourite singer.
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A majority of the people voted for independence.
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In tomorrow’s election, many young people will be voting for the first time.
▪ elect [transitive] to choose a leader, representative, or government by voting, so that they become the new leader, representative etc:
He was elected mayor of London.
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the newly-elected government
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I think we should start by electing a new chairman.
▪ go to the polls if a country or voters go to the polls, they vote in an election - used especially in news reports:
The US goes to the polls in November.
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The economic crisis could well be a decisive factor when voters go to the polls this autumn.
▪ take a vote if a group of people at a meeting take a vote, they vote about something:
We should take a vote on whether or not to accept their offer.
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They took a vote and picked Bernard.
▪ cast your vote formal to mark a piece of paper, call a telephone number etc in order to vote:
The first votes have been cast in the country’s general election.
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Click here to cast your vote.
▪ ballot [transitive] to ask the members of an organization to vote on something in order to decide what to do:
The union will ballot its members on whether to go ahead with the strike action.
▪ veto [transitive] to vote against something that other people have agreed on, so that it cannot happen:
The president has the right to veto any piece of legislation.
vote something ↔ down phrasal verb
to defeat a plan, law etc by voting:
In 1999 the town had voted down a petition to close the school.
vote somebody ↔ in phrasal verb
to elect someone by voting:
A new chairman was voted in.
vote somebody ↔ out phrasal verb
to remove someone from a position of power by voting:
With policies like that, he’ll be voted out in the next election.
vote something ↔ through phrasal verb British English
to approve a plan, law etc by voting:
The proposals were voted through yesterday.
II. vote 2 S2 W2 BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ vote , ↑ voter ; verb : ↑ vote ]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: votum 'promise, wish' , from vovere 'to promise' ]
1 . CHOICE BY VOTING [countable] an act of voting in an election or meeting, or the choice that you make when you vote:
A vote for us is not a wasted vote.
The proposal was rejected by 19 votes to 7.
vote for/in favour (of)/against
The House of Representatives approved the budget, with 52 votes in favor, 16 against and 12 abstentions.
cast your vote (=vote in a political election)
Harkin won 74 percent of the votes cast.
policies designed to win votes in the South
It’s the club secretary that counts the votes.
⇨ ↑ casting vote
2 . OCCASION OF VOTING [countable usually singular] an occasion when a group of people vote in order to decide something or choose a representative SYN ballot :
The results of the vote were surprising – 80% of workers favoured strike action.
vote on
There will be a citywide vote (=all the voters in a particular city) on the matter.
take/have a vote (on something)
Unless anyone has anything to add, we’ll take a vote.
Let’s have a vote on it.
put something to the/a vote (=decide something by voting)
Let’s put it to the vote. All those in favor raise your hands.
⇨ ↑ free vote
3 . the vote
a) the total number of votes made in an election:
Davis won the election with 57% of the vote.
The Greens increased their share of the vote from 2.9 to 4.9%.
b) the right to vote in political elections:
In France women didn’t get the vote until 1945.
At that time black people did not yet have the vote.
4 . the ... vote
a) the black/Jewish/middle-class etc vote black, Jewish etc voters, or their votes:
The black vote is astonishingly loyal to the Democratic Party.
b) the Labour/Conservative/Green etc vote British English the total number of votes the Labour Party, Conservative Party etc win in an election:
The Green vote looks likely to increase again.
5 . RESULT OF VOTING [singular] the result of a vote:
A close vote is expected.
The motion was passed by a vote of 215 to 84.
6 . somebody/something gets my vote spoken used to say that you are ready to support someone or something, or that you think that someone or something is the best of their kind:
Anything that will mean a better deal for our children gets my vote.