Bible Dictionary
POLL
To poll means to cut or shear hair, or sometimes to count people by their heads. Biblical references include mourning customs, priestly regulations, and the numbering of Israel.
Biblical Usage
Cutting or tearing the hair could express mourning. Priests were instructed neither to shave their heads nor to let their locks grow long, but to cut the hair of their heads. “By the poll” refers to numbering people by their heads.