Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A formal expression of preference for a candidate for office or for a proposed resolution of an issue.
  • noun The act of voting.
  • noun A means by which such a preference is made known, such as a raised hand or a marked ballot.
  • noun The number of votes cast in an election or to resolve an issue.
  • noun A group of voters alike in some way.
  • noun The result of an election or referendum.
  • noun The right to participate as a voter; suffrage.
  • intransitive verb To express one's preference for a candidate or for a proposed resolution of an issue; cast a vote.
  • intransitive verb To express a choice or an opinion.
  • intransitive verb To express one's preference for by vote.
  • intransitive verb To decide the disposition of by vote, as by electing or defeating.
  • intransitive verb To bring into existence or make available by vote.
  • intransitive verb To be guided by in voting.
  • intransitive verb To declare or pronounce by general consent.
  • intransitive verb Informal To state as a preference or opinion.
  • idiom (vote with (one's) feet) To indicate a preference or an opinion by leaving or entering a particular locale.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To give a vote; formally to express or signify the mind, will, or choice in electing persons to office, or in passing laws, regulations, and the like, or in deciding as to any measure in which one has an interest in common with others.
  • To enact or establish by vote, as a resolution or an amendment.
  • To grant by vote, as an appropriation.
  • To declare by general consent; characterize by expression of opinion: as, they voted the trip a failure.
  • noun An ardent wish or desire; a prayer; a vow.
  • noun A suffrage; the formal expression of a will, preference, wish, or choice in regard to any measure proposed, in which the person voting has an interest in common with others, either in electing a person to fill a certain situation or office, or in passing laws, rules, regulations, etc.
  • noun Hence That by which will or preference is expressed in elections; a ballot, a ticket, etc.: as, a written vote.
  • noun That which is allowed, conveyed, or bestowed by the will of a majority; a thing conferred by vote; a grant: as, the ministry received a vote of confidence; the vote for the civil service amounted to $24,000,000.
  • noun Expression of will by a majority; decision by some expression of the minds of a number; result of voting: as, the vote was unanimous; the vote was close.
  • noun Votes collectively: as, a movement to capture the labor vote

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To express or signify the mind, will, or preference, either viva voce, or by ballot, or by other authorized means, as in electing persons to office, in passing laws, regulations, etc., or in deciding on any proposition in which one has an interest with others.
  • transitive verb To choose by suffrage; to elec�.
  • transitive verb To enact, establish, grant, determine, etc., by a formal vote.
  • transitive verb colloq. To declare by general opinion or common consent, as if by a vote.
  • transitive verb obsolete To condemn; to devote; to doom.
  • noun obsolete An ardent wish or desire; a vow; a prayer.
  • noun A wish, choice, or opinion, of a person or a body of persons, expressed in some received and authorized way; the expression of a wish, desire, will, preference, or choice, in regard to any measure proposed, in which the person voting has an interest in common with others, either in electing a person to office, or in passing laws, rules, regulations, etc.; suffrage.
  • noun That by means of which will or preference is expressed in elections, or in deciding propositions; voice; a ballot; a ticket.
  • noun Expression of judgment or will by a majority; legal decision by some expression of the minds of a number.
  • noun Votes, collectively.
  • noun See under Casting, Cumulative, etc.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A formalized choice on matters of administration or other democratic activities.
  • noun An act or instance of participating in such a choice, e.g., by submitting a ballot.
  • verb To cast a vote; to assert a formalised choice in an election.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb be guided by in voting
  • noun a choice that is made by counting the number of people in favor of each alternative
  • verb express one's choice or preference by vote
  • verb bring into existence or make available by vote
  • noun the total number of voters who participated
  • noun the opinion of a group as determined by voting
  • noun a body of voters who have the same interests
  • verb express one's preference for a candidate or for a measure or resolution; cast a vote

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, vow, from Latin vōtum, from neuter past participle of vovēre, to vow.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin votum, a form of voveō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ewegʷʰ-. Cognate with Ancient Greek εὔχομαι ("to vow").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word vote.

Examples

  • It was what I heard and saw , but shot impartially as a photographer documenting the angst of the people in the background of the assembly election fever..vote or dont vote the Muslim is caught between the devil and the deep sea.

    Archive 2009-10-01 photographerno1 2009

  • In Armey\'s words, "The Bubba vote is there, and it\'s very real, and it is everywhere," Armey went on to explain what he meant by \'the Bubba vote\ '; "There\'s an awful lot of people in America, bless their heart, who simply are not emotionally prepared to vote for a black man."

    Obama and 'the Bubba Vote' 2008

  • The glories of the 'single transferable vote' yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'The glories of the \'single transferable vote\' '; yahooBuzzArticleSummary =' Article: The Iowa Democratic Party caucuses achieve the ideal form of representative democracy: They are probably the most influential example in American politics of a voting method called the "single transferable vote."'

    The glories of the 'single transferable vote' 2008

  • By no Act of Congress can it be determined when an Inspector of Election has received the vote of "_any person not entitled to vote_," or has registered "_as a voter, any person not entitled to be registered_."

    An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony, on the Charge of Illegal Voting Anonymous

  • It was a reply in the negative on the part of the magistracy to all the new aspirations to the vote by polling (_vote par tete_) as well as to the doubling of the third already gained in principle amongst the provincial assemblies; the popularity of the Parliament at once vanished.

    A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Volume 6 1830

  • The other reason for rousing myself is to write my usual election year nudge to make sure those of you in the States who are old enough (and registered at this point) to vote actually ... * vote* today (Tuesday, November 4th). in years past, I don't feel it's my place to promote my personal political leanings.

    Megatokyo Comics 2008

  • As the vote was taken by _colonies_, and not by the majority of the individual members present, as in ordinary legislative proceedings, the majority of the delegates from each colony determined the vote of that colony; and by a previous and very adroit proposal, an agreement was entered into that the _vote of Congress should be published to the world as_ UNANIMOUS, however divided the votes of members on the question of Independence might be; and on this ground the signatures of those who had opposed it, as well as of those who voted in favour of it, were ultimately affixed to the Declaration, though it was published and authenticated by the signatures of the President, John

    The Loyalists of America and Their Times, Vol. 1 of 2. From 1620-1816 Egerton Ryerson 1842

  • I should not have mentioned this circumstance here, had it not been for the disgraceful and dastardly conduct of the society to me a few years afterwards; when, without giving me any previous notice, they came to a vote to exclude me from among them, because my subscriptions were THREE YEARS in arrear, while at the time scores of their members were upwards of SEVEN YEARS in arrear; and the _only rule_ about the subject was, that "no member should be eligible to _vote_ in the society who was three years in arrear."

    Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 2 Henry Hunt 1804

  • As has been said, you may go on election day to the most degraded elector you can find at the polls, who would sell his vote for a dollar or a dram, and ask him what he would take for his _right to vote_ and you couldn't purchase it with a kingdom. "

    The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2) Including Public Addresses, Her Own Letters and Many From Her Contemporaries During Fifty Years Ida Husted Harper 1891

  • People like you think that the term "vote early and often" is actually a mandate instead of a joke.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • I vote technomom for having the most comprehensive "also on" list in all Wordie!

    April 20, 2008

  • It is quite robust.

    April 20, 2008

  • If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal.

    (Emma Goldman)

    August 27, 2008

  • pseudo-participation

    October 29, 2008