different between ball vs poll

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: bôl, IPA^(key): /b??l/
• (Canada, cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /b?l/
• Rhymes: -??l
• Homophone: bawl

Etymology 1

From Middle English bal, ball, balle, from Old English *beall, *bealla (“round object, ball”) or Old Norse b?llr (“a ball”), both from Proto-Germanic *balluz, *ballô (“ball”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?oln- (“bubble”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?el- (“to blow, inflate, swell”). Cognate with Old Saxon ball, Dutch bal, Old High German bal, ballo (German Ball (“ball”); Ballen (“bale”)). Related forms in Romance are borrowings from Germanic. See also balloon, bale.

Noun

ball (countable and uncountable, plural balls)

1. A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass.
   1. A quantity of string, thread, etc., wound into a spherical shape.

   2. (ballistics, firearms) A solid, spherical nonexplosive missile for a cannon, rifle, gun, etc.
      1. A jacketed non-expanding bullet, typically of military origin.
      2. (uncountable, obsolete) Such bullets collectively.
         • 1659, Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, England’s Confusion, London, p. 7,^[1]

           […] the Good Old Cause, which, as they seemed to represent it, smelt of Gunpowder and ball […]

         • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, London: W. Taylor, p. 294,^[2]

           I gave each of them a Musket with a Firelock on it, and about eight Charges of Powder and Ball, charging them to be very good Husbands of both, and not to use either of them but upon urgent Occasion.

         • 1803, Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons, London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, Letter 5, p. 148,^[3]

           […] some headstrong Maroons were using a soldier of Captain Craskell’s ill, and compelling him to write to his commander, that it was too late to do any thing good, and that they wanted nothing, having got plenty of powder and ball […]
   3. A roundish protuberant portion of some part of the body.

   4. (anatomy) The front of the bottom of the foot, just behind the toes.
   5. The globe; the earthly sphere.
      • c. 1712', Joseph Addison, Ode to the Creator of the World

        What, though in solemn Silence, all
        Move round the dark terrestrial Ball!

      • 1717, Alexander Pope, "Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady"

        Thus, if eternal Justice rules the ball, / Thus shall your wives, and thus your children fall;

   6. (mathematics) The set of points in a metric space lying within a given distance (the radius) of a given point; specifically, the homologue of the disk in a Euclidean space of any number of dimensions.
   7. (mathematics, more generally) The set of points in a topological space lying within some open set containing a given point; the analogue of the disk in a Euclidean space.
   8. An object, generally spherical, used for playing games in which it may be thrown, caught, kicked, etc.
2. (sports) A round or ellipsoidal object.
   1. Any sport or game involving a ball.

   3. (baseball) A pitch that falls outside of the strike zone.
   4. (pinball) An opportunity to launch the pinball into play.

   5. (cricket) A single delivery by the bowler, six of which make up an over.
   6. (soccer) A pass; a kick of the football towards a teammate.
3. (mildly vulgar, slang, usually in the plural) A testicle.
   1. (in the plural) Nonsense.

   2. (in the plural) Courage.

4. (printing, historical) A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; formerly used by printers for inking the form, then superseded by the roller.
5. (farriery, historical) A large pill, a form in which medicine was given to horses; a bolus.
   • 1842, James White, A compendium of the veterinary art

     The laxative alterative has not this advantage, the aloes, of which it is composed, being extremely bitter, and therefore requiring to be given in the form of a ball.

Synonyms

• sphere
• globe
• (testicle): See Thesaurus:testicle
• (nonsense): See Thesaurus:nonsense
• (courage): chutzpah, guts, nerve

Derived terms

(solid or hollow sphere):

(testicle):

Translations

Verb

ball (third-person singular simple present balls, present participle balling, simple past and past participle balled)

1. (transitive) To form or wind into a ball.

   Synonyms: roll up, wad

2. (metalworking) To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling.
3. (transitive, vulgar) To have sexual intercourse with.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:copulate with
4. (transitive, intransitive) To gather balls which cling to the feet, as of damp snow or clay; to gather into balls.

5. (slang, usually in present participle) To be hip or cool.
6. (nonstandard, slang) To play basketball.
7. (transitive) To punish by affixing a ball and chain
   • 1865, Camp Sumpter, Andersonville National Historic Site, Rules and Regulations of the Prison

     any man refusing to do police duty will be punished by the sergts by balling him the rest of the day.

Translations

Interjection

ball

1. (Australian rules football) An appeal by the crowd for holding the ball against a tackled player. This is heard almost any time an opposition player is tackled, without regard to whether the rules about "prior opportunity" to dispose of the ball are fulfilled.

Etymology 2

From French bal, from Late Latin ball?.

Noun

ball (plural balls)

1. A formal dance.
2. (informal) A very enjoyable time.

   Synonyms: blast, whale of a time

3. A competitive event among young African-American and Latin American LGBTQ+ people in which prizes are awarded for drag and similar performances. See ball culture.

Derived terms

Related terms

• ballad
• ballade

Translations

Catalan

Etymology

From French bal (“a dance”)

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?ba?/
• Rhymes: -a?

Noun

ball m (plural balls)

1. dance
2. ball, formal dance

Synonyms

• dansa

Derived terms

• ball de bastons

Related terms

• ballar

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

Borrowed from French balle (“ball”).

Noun

ball

1. estimation, score

Declension

References

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajins?ko-kryms?kotatars?kyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]?^[5], Simferopol: Dolya, ?ISBN

Icelandic

Etymology

From French bal (“a dance”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pal?/
• Rhymes: -al?

Noun

ball n (genitive singular balls, nominative plural böll)

1. dance

Declension

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish ball, from Proto-Celtic *ballos, from Proto-Indo-European *b?el- (“to blow, swell, inflate”); compare English ball, Greek ?????? (phallós, “penis”).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /b??ul??/
• (Galway) IPA^(key): /b???l??/
• (Mayo) IPA^(key): /b?al??/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /b?al??/

Noun

ball m (genitive singular baill, nominative plural baill)

1. (anatomy) organ
2. component part
3. member
4. article
5. spot, place
6. spot, mark
7. (sets) element, member

Declension

Derived terms

Mutation

References

• "ball" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “ball”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English *beall.

Noun

ball

1. Alternative form of bal

Etymology 2

Probably from Old French bale.

Noun

ball

1. Alternative form of bale (“bale”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse b?llr.

Noun

ball m (definite singular ballen, indefinite plural baller, definite plural ballene)

1. ball (solid or hollow sphere)
2. ball (object, usually spherical, used for playing games)

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French bal.

Noun

ball n (definite singular ballet, indefinite plural ball or baller, definite plural balla or ballene)

1. ball (formal social occasion involving dancing)

Derived terms

• ballkjole
• ballsal

References

• “ball” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse b?llr.

Noun

ball m (definite singular ballen, indefinite plural ballar, definite plural ballane)

1. a ball (solid or hollow sphere)
2. a ball (object, usually spherical, used for playing games)

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French bal.

Noun

ball n (definite singular ballet, indefinite plural ball, definite plural balla)

1. ball (formal social occasion involving dancing)

Derived terms

• ballkjole
• ballsal

References

• “ball” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *ballos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bal?/

Noun

ball m

1. a body part
2. member of a group
3. part, portion
4. a colored spot

Declension

Descendants

• Irish: ball
• Scottish Gaelic: ball

Mutation

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “ball”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish ball m (“limb, member, organ; member of community; part, portion, piece; article, object; place, spot; passage (of a book); spot, mark, blemish”) (compare Irish ball), from Proto-Celtic *ballo-, from Proto-Indo-European *bhel- (“to blow, swell, inflate”) (compare English ball, Ancient Greek ?????? (phallós, “penis”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paul??/

Noun

ball m (genitive singular buill, plural buill)

1. ball
2. member (of a group)
3. article, item
4. (anatomy) organ; limb

Derived terms

• ball-coise (“football, soccer”)
• ball-basgaid (“basketball”)
• ball-beusa (“baseball”)
• ball-stèidhe (“baseball”)
• ball-bholaidh (“volleyball”)
• ball-goilf (“golf ball”)
• Ball Pàrlamaid, BP (“Member of Parliament, MP”)
• ballrachd (“membership”)
• BPA

Mutation

References

• “ball” in Edward Dwelly, Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic–English Dictionary, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, 1911, ?ISBN.
• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “ball”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Swedish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?bal?/

Adjective

ball

1. (slang) cool, hip, fun, entertaining

   Synonym: cool

Declension

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English pol, polle ("scalp, pate"), probably from or else cognate with Middle Dutch pol, p?le, polle (“top, summit; head”), from Proto-Germanic *pullaz (“round object, head, top”), from Proto-Indo-European *bolno-, *b?wl- (“orb, round object, bubble”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”).

Akin to Scots pow (“head, crown, skalp, skull”), Saterland Frisian pol (“round, full, brimming”), Low German polle (“head, tree-top, bulb”), Danish puld (“crown of a hat”), Swedish dialectal pull (“head”). Meaning "collection of votes" is first recorded 1625, from notion of "counting heads".

Alternative forms

• pol, pole

Pronunciation

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /p?l/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /p??l/, /p??l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /po?l/
• Homophones: pole, Pole

Noun

poll (plural polls)

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

   Synonyms: election, survey

2. A formal election.

   • All soldiers quartered in place are to remove […] and not to return till one day after the poll is ended.

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

4. The result of the voting, the total number of votes recorded.
6. (now rare outside veterinary contexts) The head, particularly the scalp or pate upon which hair (normally) grows.

   Synonym: scalp

   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

     […] the doctor, as if to hear better, had taken off his powdered wig, and sat there, looking very strange indeed with his own close-cropped black poll.

   • 1908, O. Henry, A Tempered Wind

     And you might perceive the president and general manager, Mr. R. G. Atterbury, with his priceless polished poll, busy in the main office room dictating letters..

7. (in extended senses of the above) A mass of people, a mob or muster, considered as a head count.
8. The broad or butt end of an axe or a hammer.
9. The pollard or European chub, a kind of fish.

Derived terms

• go to the polls
• opinion poll
• polling
• straw poll
• deed poll

Related terms

• pollard
• polliwog
• tadpole

Translations

Verb

poll (third-person singular simple present polls, present participle polling, simple past and past participle polled)

1. (transitive) To take, record the votes of (an electorate).
2. (transitive) To solicit mock votes from (a person or group).
3. (intransitive) To vote at an election.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Beaconsfield to this entry?)

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.

   • 1717, Thomas Tickell, An Epistle from a Lady in England to a Gentleman at Avignon

     poll for points of faith his trusty vote

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. (transitive) To cut the hair of (a creature).

   • when he [Absalom] polled his head

   • 1579-1603, Thomas North, Plutarch's Lives

     His death did so grieve them that they polled themselves; they clipped off their horse and mule's hairs.

7. (transitive) To remove the horns of (an animal).
8. To remove the top or end of; to clip; to lop.

   to poll a tree

9. (transitive, computing, communication) To (repeatedly) request the status of something (such as a computer or printer on a network).

   The network hub polled the department's computers to determine which ones could still respond.

10. (intransitive, with adverb) To be judged in a poll.
    • 2008, Joanne McEvoy, The politics of Northern Ireland (page 171)

      The election was a resounding defeat for Robert McCartney who polled badly in the six constituencies he contested and even lost his own Assembly seat in North Down.

11. (obsolete) To extort from; to plunder; to strip.
12. To impose a tax upon.
13. To pay as one's personal tax.

    • the man that polled but twelve pence for his head

14. To enter, as polls or persons, in a list or register; to enroll, especially for purposes of taxation; to enumerate one by one.
15. (law) To cut or shave smooth or even; to cut in a straight line without indentation.

    a polled deed

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Burrill to this entry?)

Translations

Adjective

poll

1. (of kinds of livestock which typically have horns) Bred without horns, and thus hornless.

   Poll Hereford

   Red Poll cows

   • 1757, The monthly review, or, literary journal, volume 17, page 416:

     Sheep, that is, the Horned sort, and those without Horns, called Poll Sheep [...]

   • 1960, Frank O'Loghlen, Frank H. Johnston, Cattle country: an illustrated survey of the Australian beef cattle industry, a complete directory of the studs, page 85:

     About 15000 cattle, comprising 10000 Hereford and Poll Hereford, 4000 Aberdeen Angus and 1000 Shorthorn and Poll Shorthorn, are grazed [...]

   • 1970, The Pastoral review, volume 80, page 457:

     Otherwise, both horned and poll sheep continue to be bred from an inner stud.

References

Etymology 2

Perhaps a shortening of Polly, a common name for pet parrots.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /p?l/

Noun

poll (plural polls)

1. A pet parrot.

Etymology 3

From Ancient Greek ?????? (polloí, “the many, the masses”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p?l/

Noun

poll (plural polls)

1. (Britain, dated, Cambridge University) One who does not try for honors at university, but is content to take a degree merely; a passman.

See also

• gentleman's C

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967

Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?po?/

Etymology 1

From Old Occitan, from Latin pullus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *polH- (“animal young”).

Noun

poll m (plural polls)

1. chicken (bird)

Derived terms

• polla
• pollam
• pollet
• pollís

Related terms

• pollastre

Etymology 2

From Old Occitan, from Late Latin peduclus < peduculus, variant of Latin p?d?culus, from p?dis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pesd-.

Noun

poll m (plural polls)

1. louse (insect)

Derived terms

• pollós

See also

• llémena

Further reading

• “poll” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Dutch

Pronunciation

Verb

poll

1. first-person singular present indicative of pollen
2. imperative of pollen

German

Verb

poll

1. singular imperative of pollen
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of pollen

Icelandic

Noun

poll

1. indefinite accusative singular of pollur

Irish

Etymology

From Middle Irish poll (“hole”), from Old English p?l (compare English pool).

Pronunciation

• (Galway) IPA^(key): /p??ul??/

Noun

poll m (genitive singular poill, nominative plural poill)

1. hole
   1. storage pit; disposal pit; extraction pit
   2. pool, puddle; pond, sea
   3. burrow, lair
   4. dark, mean place (of prison)
   5. shaft, vent hole
   6. aperture
   7. (anatomy) orifice, cavity
   8. perforation
   9. (figuratively) leak
   10. pothole

Declension

Synonyms

• (pothole): linntreog

Derived terms

Verb

poll (present analytic pollann, future analytic pollfaidh, verbal noun polladh, past participle pollta)

1. (transitive, intransitive) hole; puncture, pierce, bore, perforate (make a hole in)

Conjugation

Derived terms

• polltóir (“perforator”)
• uchtbhalla pollta (“machicolation”)

Mutation

References

Further reading

• "poll" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “poll”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Middle English

Noun

poll

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

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse pollr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p?l?/

Noun

poll m (definite singular pollen, indefinite plural pollar, definite plural pollane)

1. a small branch of a fjord, often with a narrow inlet

Further reading

• “poll” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

Possibly borrowed from Old English p?l (“pool”). Or, from Late Latin *padulus, metathesis of paludis, palus (“marsh, swamp, bog”). See also Welsh pwll (“pool swamp”), Irish poll, Middle Breton poull.

Noun

poll m (genitive singular puill, plural puill)

1. mud, mire
2. pond, pool, bog

Derived terms

• poll-caca

Mutation

References