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PlainSpell

poll

UK /pəʊl/noun, verb, adjective

poll is spelled P-O-L-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 3,939th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “pole vs poll” about 20 times a month (Bing, United States). As a noun, poll means “A survey of people, usually statistically analyzed to gauge wider public opinion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of poll is polls.

How many letters and syllables are in poll?

Letters4: P-O-L-L
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing22 times per million words; the 3,939th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is poll?

Poll appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 3,939th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce poll?

  • Australia /pɔl/
  • UK /pəʊl/
  • UK [pɒʊl]

As a noun (“A pet parrot”): /pɒl/.

As a noun (“One who does not try for honors at university, but is…”): /pɒl/.

Poll has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-pole.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-poll_(o).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with poll

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

pole vs poll20 B

Sounds like: pole (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: pow.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with poll?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as poll from its last stressed vowel (/əʊl/, British pronunciation):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of poll

  • polls plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • pol
  • pole
  • polling participle, present
  • polled participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does poll mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A survey of people, usually statistically analyzed to gauge wider public opinion.

  2. 2

    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.

  3. 3

    A polling place (usually as plural, polling places).

    The polls close at 8 p.m.

  4. 4

    The result of the voting, the total number of votes recorded.

  5. 5

    The head, particularly the scalp or pate upon which hair (normally) grows.

  6. 6

    A mass of people, a mob or muster, considered as a head count.

  7. 7

    The broad or butt end of an axe or a hammer.

  8. 8

    The pollard or European chub, a kind of fish.

  9. 9

    A pet parrot.

  10. 10

    UKdatedOne who does not try for honors at university, but is content to take a degree merely; a passman.

verb

  1. 1

    To take, record the votes of (an electorate).

  2. 2

    To solicit mock votes from (a person or group).

  3. 3

    To vote at an election.

  4. 4

    To register or deposit, as a vote; to elicit or call forth, as votes or voters.

    He polled a hundred votes more than his opponent.

  5. 5

    To cut off; to remove by clipping, shearing, etc.; to mow or crop.

    to poll the hair; to poll wool; to poll grass

  6. 6

    To cut the hair of (a creature).

  7. 7

    To remove the horns of (an animal).

  8. 8

    To remove the top or end of; to clip; to lop.

    to poll a tree

adjective

  1. 1

    Bred without horns, and thus hornless.

    Poll Hereford

noun

as Poll
  1. 1

    UKobsoleteslangA disreputable woman.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Poll in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsondage (a survey of a particular group – see also survey)
GermanUmfrage (a survey of a particular group – see also survey), Urne (a formal vote – see also vote, election), Wahllokal (polling place, a place to vote)
Portugueseenquete, sondagem, sugestões, inquérito, avaliação, pesquisa (a survey of a particular group – see also survey)
Spanishencuesta, sondeo (a survey of a particular group – see also survey), encuestas (to solicit mock votes from (a person or group))

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does poll come from?

From Middle English pol, polle ("scalp, pate"), from or cognate with Middle Dutch pol, pōle, polle (“top, summit; head”), from Proto-West Germanic *poll, from Proto-Germanic *pullaz (“round object, head, top”), from Proto-Indo-European *bolno-, *bōwl- (“orb, round object, bubble”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after poll