Pole or poll?
pole is a noun meaning “Originally, a stick; now specifically, a long and slender piece of metal or…”; poll is a noun meaning “A survey of people, usually statistically analyzed to gauge wider public opinion”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) poll is about as common as pole.
What is the difference between pole and poll?
| pole | poll | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun, verb, adjective |
| Meaning | Originally, a stick; now specifically, a long and slender piece of metal or (especially) wood, used for various construction or support purposes A construction by which an animal is harnessed to a carriage To propel by pushing with poles, to push with a pole | A survey of people, usually statistically analyzed to gauge wider public opinion A formal vote held in order to ascertain the most popular choice To take, record the votes of (an electorate) |
| Example | Huck Finn poled that raft southward down the Mississippi because going northward against the current was too much work | The student council had a poll to see what people want served in the cafeteria |
| Forms | poles | polls |
| Pronunciation | /pəʊl/ [pʰɒʊɫ] /pɒl/ | /pɔl/ /pəʊl/ [pɒʊl] |
| In writing | 17 times per million words | 22 times per million words |
Sources: pole and poll in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of pole and poll
pole
- 1
Originally, a stick; now specifically, a long and slender piece of metal or (especially) wood, used for various construction or support purposes
- 2
To propel by pushing with poles, to push with a pole
Huck Finn poled that raft southward down the Mississippi because going northward against the current was too much work
- 3
Either of the two points on the earth's surface around which it rotates; also, similar points on any other rotating object
- 4
To induce piezoelectricity in (a substance) by aligning the dipoles
- 5
A person from Poland or of Polish descent
- 6
A construction by which an animal is harnessed to a carriage
- 7
To identify something quite precisely using a telescope
He poled off the serial of the Gulfstream to confirm its identity
- 8
A point of magnetic focus, especially each of the two opposing such points of a magnet (designated north and south)
poll
- 1
A survey of people, usually statistically analyzed to gauge wider public opinion
- 2
To take, record the votes of (an electorate)
- 3
Bred without horns, and thus hornless
Poll Hereford
- 4
A pet parrot
- 5
UKdatedOne who does not try for honors at university, but is content to take a degree merely; a passman
- 6
A formal vote held in order to ascertain the most popular choice
The student council had a poll to see what people want served in the cafeteria
- 7
To solicit mock votes from (a person or group)
- 8
A polling place (usually as plural, polling places)
The polls close at 8 p.m
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, pole or poll?
pole appears 17 times per million words; poll 22 times per million words.
pole 17 times per million wordspoll 22 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search pole vs poll?
“pole vs poll” is searched about 20 times a month on Bing (Google reports it together with close variants, so it has no figure of its own) in the United States.
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.