ballot
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the piece of paper you use to mark your choice in an election.
n.the physical slip of paper or electronic record used to register a secret vote.
Simple“The official handed her a ballot and pointed toward the private voting booth.”
In context“Voters were instructed to mark their preferred candidate clearly to ensure the ballot would not be disqualified during the counting process.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the system or act of voting in secret.
n.the procedure of secret voting or a specific round of such voting.
Simple“The union members decided to hold a secret ballot to choose their new leader.”
In context“The committee resolved to settle the dispute by ballot, ensuring that every member could express their preference without fear of social pressure.”
Synonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the list of all the people you can choose from in an election.
n.the list of candidates or proposed laws appearing on a specific election ticket.
Simple“There were five different names on the ballot for the position of mayor.”
In context“Several independent candidates struggled to gather enough signatures to secure a spot on the official state ballot.”
- 04 C1 Advanced
v.to ask a group of people to vote on something.
v.to solicit a vote from a specific constituency, often used in the context of industrial action or organizational changes.
Simple“The company will ballot its workers to see if they agree with the new pay deal.”
In context“The trade union is legally required to ballot its entire membership before authorizing a nationwide strike.”
UsageThis verb is transitive and requires a direct object, usually the group being asked to vote.
Usage ballot papers · ballot box · ballot paper
“The record number of candidates also posed practical challenges, such as the need to use large tables to count ballot papers that measured a whopping 90cm in length.”
“Napo, the probation union, said there was a 91% vote in favour in the ballot .”
Borrowed from Italian balota (obsolete), ballotta (“small ball, especially one used to register a vote”), from balla (“bale, bundle”) + -otta (suffix forming diminutive nouns); or from Middle French balote (obsolete), ballotte (“small ball used to register a vote”) (also compare Middle French balotiage, French ballottage (“second ballot, runoff”)); both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic ballu (“ball”), from Proto-Germanic balluz (“ball”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.