/pəʊl; pol/
n
1 (a) [C usu sing 通常作单数] voting at an election; counting of votes 选举投票; 计票
*be successful at the poll 选举投票中获胜
* The result of the poll has now been declared. 选举结果已经公布.
(b) [sing] number of votes cast （投的）票数
*head the poll, ie have the largest number of votes 得票最多
* a light/heavy poll, ie voting by a small or large proportion of those entitled to vote 低[高]投票率.
(c) the polls [pl] place where people vote 投票处
*The country is going to the polls (ie is voting in an election) tomorrow. 明天将在全国进行选举投票.
2 [C] survey of public opinion by putting questions to a representative selection of people 民意测验
*a public opinion poll 民意测验
* the Gallup poll 盖洛普民意测验
* We're conducting a poll among school leavers. 我们正在对中学毕业生进行民意调查.

/pəʊl; pol/
v [Tn]
1 (of a candidate at an election) receive (a certain number of votes) （指候选人）获得（一定数量的选票）
*Mr Hill polled over
3000 votes. 希尔先生获得了3000多张选票.
2 ask (sb) his or her opinion as part of a public-opinion poll （在民意测验中）调查（某人）; 对（某人）作民意调查
*Of those polled, seven out of ten said they preferred brown bread. 那些被调查者十人中有七人说他们比较爱吃黑面包.
3 (a) cut off the top of the horns of (cattle) 截去（牛）的角的顶端.
(b) = pollard v.

An entrance poll is a poll that is taken before voters have cast their votes at the polling stations. It is akin to an opinion poll in the sense that it asks who the voter plans to vote for or some similar set of questions.