straw poll
18
4.4
- noun
- /strɔː poʊl/
:
sondeo informal
- Before making a decision, the committee decided to conduct a straw poll to gauge everyone's opinion.
I have a very interesting straw poll for you guys.
- I have a very interesting straw poll for you guys.
- What happens is I whip out Deliveroo and start taking straw polls of who wants what.
Examples
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During the meeting, they held a straw poll to measure support for the new policy among team members.
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The teacher organized a quick straw poll to find out which book the students wanted to read next.
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Paul wins almost every straw poll, and yet the media will not mention him.
Blog text (12) -
Have you taken a straw poll of people who lean hard left on guns?
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To win the straw poll, a candidate had to have a solid ground game in the state and organize early.
Blog text (33) -
(Actually, it would be fun to do a straw poll and get an answer on how people feel about that.)
Blog text (9) -
No one said much about Romney's speech, but he won the summit straw poll.
Blog text (3) -
Branstad says it would be a mistake for candidates to skip the straw poll.
Blog text (2) -
And according to our straw polls, he's leading Andrew Bridgeworth by three to one with women voters.
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But barring a miracle finish at the straw poll, I don't see him coming back.
Blog text (24)
Synonyms
43
2.5
A survey that asks a group of people what they think about a topic
17
3.1
A survey that asks a group of people who represent the public about their views on an issue
1
5.5
A quick unofficial vote to see if people support an idea
How Reliable
32
3.0
17
3.1
43
2.5
83
3.2
18
4.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
straw + poll
Although 'poll' clearly indicates a survey, the modifier 'straw' does not transparently convey the sense 'unofficial' or 'informal' to a B1 learner; the link is historical/metaphorical rather than a straightforward compositional meaning. Because the role of 'straw' here is idiomatic and not predictable from the literal noun, the overall meaning 'an unofficial vote' would not be reliably derived from the parts.
Etymology
Straw poll may come from a simple old test: people would drop pieces of straw into a box to show their choice in a quick poll. Because this was fast and not official, the phrase came to mean 'an unofficial vote' to quickly check what people think.