From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpollpoll1 /pəʊl $ poʊl/ ●●○ W3 noun 1 [countable]ASK A QUESTION the process of finding out what people think about something by asking many people the same question, or the record of the result SYN opinion poll, survey A recent poll found that 80% of Californians support the governor. Polls indicate that education is the top issue with voters. Labour is ahead in the polls. The latest public opinion poll showed that 25% of us consider ourselves superstitious.conduct/carry out/do a poll a poll conducted by ‘USA Today’poll on a poll on eating habitspoll of a poll of 1,000 people2 → go to the polls3 [singular]PPVVOTE/ELECT British English the process of voting in an election, or the number of votes recorded Labour won the election with 40% of the poll. The result of the poll won’t be known until around midnight.4 → the pollsCOLLOCATIONSverbscarry out/take/do a pollA similar poll was carried out among academics in the United States.A poll taken last month gave the Democrats a seven-point lead.conduct a poll formal (=carry out a poll)The poll was conducted with a sample of 1,023 adults.a poll shows/indicates/suggests somethingPolls show that older voters are most concerned about economic issues.a poll finds somethingOur poll found that 29 percent rated his performance as good.poll + NOUNpoll results/findingsThe poll results are very encouraging.a poll rating (=showing how popular someone is)His poll ratings keep slipping.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + pollan opinion poll (=that measures what people think about something)A recent opinion poll showed strong support for the government.an exit poll (=when people are asked how they have just voted)The exit polls said that 46 percent of women had voted for Obama.a popularity poll (=measuring how popular someone is)In most popularity polls, he is in fourth or fifth place.a local/national/statewide etc pollLocal polls show him leading by only two or three points.phrasessomebody’s lead in the pollsLabour soon regained its lead in the polls.somebody’s standing in the polls (=how popular a poll shows them to be)The president's standing in the polls declined sharply.be ahead/leading in the pollsThe good news is that we are ahead in the polls.be behind/trailing in the pollsAt the moment the Democrats are trailing in the polls.
Examples from the Corpus
poll• A poll of 700 female registered voters found that 56% favor full abortion rights.• Stanford, a 28-22 loser to Arizona, fell nine spots to No. 25 in both polls.• Like his new name, changed by deed poll nine years before.• In a nationwide poll carried out in January, only one person in ten said they were happy with the tax reforms.• And the implications of that can not be catered for by opinion polls.• Recent opinion polls show that the President's popularity has slipped.• In our poll, we asked teachers how they felt about teacher testing.• Recent polls indicate strong support for cutting taxes.• Another statewide poll released early this year said 42 percent of Arizona voters thought Symington should resign.• In the end, we were seduced by the polls, against our better judgment.• He was still behind in the polls.• According to the polls, a huge majority of citizens oppose bilingual education.• This Tuesday, August 5, voters will go to the polls to accept or reject the proposed charter.public opinion poll• Thirty-seven percent is a benchmark this year, and Dole has hovered near that number in public opinion polls.• His chances of accomplishing policy change will also be enhanced if he maintains high levels of support in public opinion polls.• Reduced expectations have shown up in many public opinion polls taken in recent years.• Clinton led Dole in nationwide public opinion polls going into the debate by margins ranging from 13 percent to 18 percent.• Despite some public opinion polls and Supreme Court decisions to the contrary, voters have repeatedly rejected liberalization of abortion laws.• Clinton has rarely had better than a 40 percent job approval rating in Texas public opinion polls since that election.• Republicans, battered as they are in the public opinion polls, succeeded in dramatically transforming the terms of the national debate.• So far Gramm has been unable to close in on Dole in the public opinion polls.pollpoll2 verb [transitive] 1 ASK A QUESTIONto ask a lot of people the same questions in order to find out what they think about a subject 18% of the women we polled said their husbands had a drinking problem.► see thesaurus at ask2 to get a particular number of votes in an election Labour polled just 4% of the vote.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
poll• For its study the company polled 150 randomly selected physicians.• He polled 23,579 votes.• Ivashko defeated three other candidates, polling 278 votes for and 61 against.• He breathed a sigh or relief when Mrs Long announced he had polled 31.• The Labour candidate polled 52% of the votes.• With 75 % of the vote counted he had polled 52 % to Mr Garcia's 48 %.• Lanier emerged as the winner after polling 53 percent of the votes cast, compared with 47 percent for Turner.• Private economists polled by Bloomberg Business News project the economy will grow 1. 9 percent this year.• On Thursday night, he appeared before 3,500 party faithful in the north of Paris in his last rally before polling day.• Nearly 60% of the voters who were polled did not recognize Bronson's name.• Only 16 percent of the freshmen polled said they intended to major in business.• In Ayrshire this July, Systems Three found that four out of five of those polled were strongly opposed to the scheme.From Longman Business Dictionarypollpoll1 /pəʊlpoʊl/ noun [countable]1an occasion when a large number of people are asked questions, to find out about the public’s opinions or behaviourMORIconducted a poll among senior managers to get their views on taxation.A recentopinion poll put him in third place.According to our poll, Scandinavians buy shares more than other Europeans.2the polls [plural] an election to choose a government or a political representativeThe ruling Social Democrats suffered their worst defeat at the polls in 60 years.In Oklahoma, voters may go to the polls (=vote in an election) as early as September.3an occasion when the members of a company vote for or against something in a meetingBoth directors were elected after a poll of shareholders.4the poll the number of votes recorded at an electionThe winning party must gain at least 50% of the poll.pollpoll2 verb [transitive] to try to find out about the public’s behaviour or opinions by questioning a large number of people47% of office workers polled said that eye strain was a serious concern.→ See Verb tableOrigin poll1 (1600-1700) poll “head” ((13-19 centuries)), from Middle Low German; from the idea of counting heads 