Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Poll

Poll , noun

[From Polly, The proper name.]

A parrot; -- familiarly so called.

Poll , noun

[Greek {not transcribed} the many, the rabble.]

One who does not try for honors, but is content to take a degree merely; a passman. [Cambridge Univ., English]

Poll , noun

[Akin to LG. polle the head, the crest of a bird, the top of a tree, OD. pol, polle, Danish puld the crown of a hat.]

1.
The head; the back part of the head.
All flaxen was his poll. — Shakespeare
2.
A number or aggregate of heads; a list or register of heads or individuals.
We are the greater poll, and in true fear They gave us our demands. — Shakespeare
The muster file, rotten and sound, upon my life, amounts not to fifteen thousand poll. — Shakespeare
3.
Specifically, the register of the names of electors who may vote in an election.
4.
The casting or recording of the votes of registered electors; as, the close of the poll.
All soldiers quartered in place are to remove... and not to return till one day after the poll is ended. — Blackstone
5.
The place where the votes are cast or recorded; as, to go to the polls.
6.
The broad end of a hammer; the but of an ax.
7.
(Zoology) The European chub. See Pollard, 3 (a).
Collocations (4)
Poll book , a register of persons entitled to vote at an election.
Poll evil (Farriery) , an inflammatory swelling or abscess on a horse's head, confined beneath the great ligament of the neck.
Poll pick (Mining) , a pole having a heavy spike on the end, forming a kind of crowbar.
Poll tax , a tax levied by the head, or poll; a capitation tax.

Poll , transitive verb

1.
To remove the poll or head of; hence, to remove the top or end of; to clip; to lop; to shear; as, to poll the head; to poll a tree.
When he [Absalom] pollled his head. — 2 Sam. xiv. 26
His death did so grieve them that they polled themselves; they clipped off their horse and mule's hairs. — Sir T. North
2.
To cut off; to remove by clipping, shearing, etc.; to mow or crop; -- sometimes with off; as, to poll the hair; to poll wool; to poll grass.
Who, as he polled off his dart's head, so sure he had decreed That all the counsels of their war he would poll off like it. — Chapman
3.
To extort from; to plunder; to strip. [Obsolete]
Which polls and pills the poor in piteous wise. — Spenser
4.
To impose a tax upon. [Obsolete]
5.
To pay as one's personal tax.
The man that polled but twelve pence for his head. — Dryden
6.
To enter, as polls or persons, in a list or register; to enroll, esp. for purposes of taxation; to enumerate one by one.
Polling the reformed churches whether they equalize in number those of his three kingdoms. — Milton
7.
To register or deposit, as a vote; to elicit or call forth, as votes or voters; as, he polled a hundred votes more than his opponent.
And poll for points of faith his trusty vote. — Tickell
8.
(Law) To cut or shave smooth or even; to cut in a straight line without indentation; as, a polled deed. See Dee. — Burrill
Collocations (1)
To poll a jury , to call upon each member of the jury to answer individually as to his concurrence in a verdict which has been rendered.

Poll , intransitive verb

To vote at an election. — Beaconsfield