a vote taken in a legislative body by calling for the ayes and the noes and estimating which faction is more numerous from the volume of the noise
voice vote in American English
noun
a vote based on estimation of the relative strength of ayes and noes called out rather than on a counting of ballots, a roll call, or a division
Word origin
[1925–30]This word is first recorded in the period 1925–30. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: Nazi, decibel, distinctive feature, hot spot, recycle