poise

¹ American  

[poiz] / pɔɪz /

noun

1. a dignified, self-confident manner or bearing; composure; self-possession.

   to show poise in company.

   Synonyms:

   refinement, grace, polish, self-confidence

2. steadiness; stability.

   intellectual poise.

   Antonyms:

   instability

3. a state of balance or equilibrium, as from equality or equal distribution of weight; equipoise.

   Antonyms:

   imbalance, disequilibrium

4. suspense or wavering, as between rest and motion or two phases of motion.

   the poise of the tides.

5. the way of being poised, held, or carried.

6. the state or position of hovering.

   the poise of a bird in the air.

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verb (used with object)

poised, poising

1. to adjust, hold, or carry in equilibrium; balance evenly.

2. to hold supported or raised, as in position for casting, using, etc..

   to poise a spear.

3. to hold or carry in a particular manner.

   She walked, carefully poising a water jug on her head.

4. to put (a person or thing) in a state or position of readiness or preparedness: The mayor is credited with poising the city for impressive growth and development.

   He has poised himself to succeed.

   The mayor is credited with poising the city for impressive growth and development.

5. Obsolete. to weigh.

verb (used without object)

poised, poising

1. to rest in equilibrium; be balanced.

2. to hover, as a bird in the air.

poise ² American  

[pwahz] / pwɑz /

noun

Physics.

1. a centimeter-gram-second unit of viscosity, equal to the viscosity of a fluid in which a stress of one dyne per square centimeter is required to maintain a difference of velocity of one centimeter per second between two parallel planes in the fluid that lie in the direction of flow and are separated by a distance of one centimeter. P

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poise ¹ British  

/ pɔɪz /

noun

1. composure or dignity of manner

2. physical balance or assurance in movement or bearing

3. the state of being balanced or stable; equilibrium; stability

4. the position of hovering

5. suspense or indecision

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verb

1. to be or cause to be balanced or suspended

2. (tr) to hold, as in readiness

   to poise a lance

3. (tr) a rare word for weigh 1

poise ² British  

/ pɔɪz, pwɑːz /

noun

1.  P.  the cgs unit of viscosity; the viscosity of a fluid in which a tangential force of 1 dyne per square centimetre maintains a difference in velocity of 1 centimetre per second between two parallel planes 1 centimetre apart. It is equivalent to 0.1 newton second per square metre

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poise Scientific  

/ poiz,pwäz /

1. The unit of dynamic viscosity in the centimeter-gram-second system, equal to one dyne-second per square centimeter, or 0.1 pascal-seconds.

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Etymology

Origin of poise¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English noun pois(e) “weight,” from Old French ( French poids ), from Late Latin pēnsum, noun use of neuter past participle of Latin pendere “to weigh”; Middle English verb poisen “to weigh,” from Old French poiser, variant, based on tonic stem, of peser, from Latin pēnsāre, frequentative of pendere

Origin of poise²

First recorded in 1910–15; from French; named after Jean Louis Marie Poiseuille (1799–1869), French physician

Explanation

If you have poise, you are cool under stress. People with poise can handle pressure without showing it. If you’re calm while singing the national anthem in front of thirty million people, you’ve got a lot of poise. This is a rare quality people admire. Another meaning is to brace yourself for something difficult, as in: when you hear about a tornado, you're poised for more bad news. You can also be poised as in "on the brink" of something. If you stand on the diving board it could be said you’re poised to take the plunge.

Example Sentences

Poise and power define her batting, affable reticence her private demeanour, and the occasional inability to read the room her chequered time at office.

From BBC • Dec. 25, 2023

Poise is Williams’s defining characteristic, and his team has come to embody it.

From Washington Post • Apr. 2, 2022

Her recent Instagram posts feature ads for a line of Spanish-language books being republished by Disney Books; for a popular brand of baby wipes; and for Poise, which makes pads that postpartum women can use.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 1, 2021

Andrew Nemerov’s ‘Fierce Poise: Helen Frankenthaler and 1950s New York’ charts the rise of an Abstract Expressionist painter knocked for her privilege.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2021

Poise does not consist in the species of ostentatious carelessness which essays to travel through life as a child might wander among hives of bees without taking any precautions against being stung.

From Poise: How to Attain It by Starke, D.

Related Words

• aplomb
• calmness
• confidence
• elegance
• equanimity
• grace
• self-assurance
• serenity
• tact