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Ballot Comes From Italian Word for What

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This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.

This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.


noun

a slip or sheet of paper, cardboard, or the like, on which a voter marks his or her vote.

the method of secret voting by means of printed or written ballots or by means of voting machines.

voting in general, or a round of voting: Our candidate was defeated on the third ballot.

the list of candidates to be voted on: They succeeded in getting her name placed on the ballot.

the right to vote: to gain the ballot after years of struggle.

the whole number of votes cast or recorded.

a system or the practice of drawing lots: The assassin would be chosen by ballot.

(formerly) a little ball used in voting.

verb (used without object), bal·lot·ed, bal·lot·ing.

to vote by ballot: to ballot against a candidate.

to draw lots: to ballot for places.

verb (used with object), bal·lot·ed, bal·lot·ing.

to canvass or solicit (a group, membership, etc.) for votes: Members were balloted on the resolution.

to select, especially for military service, by ballot: Certain age groups will not be balloted at this time.

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Origin of ballot

1540–50; (<Middle French ballotte) <Italian ballotta (probably < Venetian), equivalent to ball(a) ball1 + -otta diminutive suffix

OTHER WORDS FROM ballot

bal·lot·er, noun non·bal·lot·ing, noun pre·bal·lot, verb (used with object), pre·bal·lot·ed, pre·bal·lot·ing. re·bal·lot, noun, verb (used without object)

un·bal·lot·ed, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH ballot

ballad, ballet, ballot

Words nearby ballot

balloon sleeve, balloon-tip catheter, balloon tire, balloon tyre, balloon vine, ballot, ballotade, ballot box, ballotini, ballot paper, ballottement

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use ballot in a sentence

  • We have charts showing how long it took for presidential primary ballots to be counted in each state.

  • This year, the Green Party has qualified for the ballot in more than two dozen states, including such battlegrounds as Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Maine, Minnesota and Texas.

  • Additional staff, and in some cases machines, are necessary to open, sort and tabulate postal ballots and verify signatures.

  • Those in Texas who applied for an absentee ballot and received one in the mail but still want to vote at the polls on Election Day must surrender their mailed ballot, as Trainor described.

  • Election officials will be working for days, even weeks, to make sure that every eligible ballot is counted.

  • However, more than 20 players on the ballot this year were probably worthy of being enshrined in Cooperstown.

  • If 29 vote for someone else, the race for speaker goes to a second ballot for the first time in almost 100 years.

  • At least 29 fellow Republicans must vote against Boehner for a second ballot to be reached, and that seems very unlikely.

  • He goes into some detail into what it took to persuade voters to pass marriage equality at the ballot box in four states in 2012.

  • By 2012, the marriage equality movement had won in courts and legislatures—but not at the ballot box.

  • But it jes serves the Govment right fur not parsin' the Second Ballot.

  • But if a reform party does achieve power, if only for a term, the first thing for it to do is to overhaul the ballot system.

  • "The town marshal will stay right where he is, and guard the ballot box," said the chairman.

  • He maintained the connexion of church and state, and opposed triennial parliaments and the ballot.

  • Voting must be performed carefully because a defaced, improperly marked ballot may be challenged and thrown out.

British Dictionary definitions for ballot


noun

the democratic practice of selecting a representative, a course of action, or deciding some other choice by submitting the options to a vote of all qualified persons

an instance of voting, usually in secret using ballot papers or a voting machine

the paper on which a vote is recorded

a list of candidates standing for office

the number of votes cast in an election

a random selection of successful applicants for something in which the demand exceeds the supply, esp for shares in an oversubscribed new issue

NZ the allocation by ballot of farming land among eligible candidates, such as ex-servicemen

NZ a low-interest housing loan allocated by building societies by drawing lots among its eligible members

verb -lots, -loting or -loted

to vote or elicit a vote from we balloted the members on this issue

(tr usually foll by for) to select (officials, etc) by lot or ballot or to select (successful applicants) at random

(tr often foll by for) to vote or decide (on an issue, etc)

Word Origin for ballot

C16: from Italian ballotta, literally: a little ball, from balla ball 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with ballot


see stuff the ballot box.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Ballot Comes From Italian Word for What

Source: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/ballot