Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A centimeter-gram-second unit of dynamic viscosity equal to one dyne-second per square centimeter.
  • intransitive verb To carry or hold in equilibrium; balance.
  • intransitive verb To cause to be ready or about to do something.
  • intransitive verb To be balanced or held in suspension.
  • noun Confident composure; self-possession.
  • noun Bearing of the body, especially when graceful.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Weight; ponderosity; gravity.
  • noun A weight; especially, the weight or mass of metal used in weighing with steelyards to balance the substance weighed.
  • noun A thing suspended or attached as a counterweight; hence, that which counterbalances; a counterpoise.
  • noun A state of balance; equipoise; equilibrium; hence, equanimity.
  • noun The condition of balancing or hovering; suspended motion.
  • To weigh; ascertain by weighing or balancing; figuratively, to weigh; ponder; consider.
  • To counterbalance; be of equal weight with.
  • To balance; make of equal weight; hold or place in equilibrium: as, to poise the scales of a balance.
  • To hold suspended or in suspense; delay.
  • To weigh or press down; force.
  • To be balanced or suspended; hence, figuratively, to hang in suspense.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To balance; to make of equal weight.
  • transitive verb To hold or place in equilibrium or equiponderance.
  • transitive verb To counterpoise; to counterbalance.
  • transitive verb To ascertain, as by the balance; to weigh.
  • transitive verb obsolete To weigh (down); to oppress.
  • intransitive verb To hang in equilibrium; to be balanced or suspended; hence, to be in suspense or doubt.
  • noun Weight; gravity; that which causes a body to descend; heaviness.
  • noun The weight, or mass of metal, used in weighing, to balance the substance weighed.
  • noun The state of being balanced by equal weight or power; equipoise; balance; equilibrium; rest.
  • noun That which causes a balance; a counterweight.
  • noun a dignified and self-confident manner; graceful composure and tact in handling difficult social situations.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun obsolete Weight; an amount of weight, the amount something weighs.
  • noun A state of balance, equilibrium or stability
  • noun composure; freedom from embarrassment or affectation
  • noun mien; bearing or deportment of the head or body
  • noun A condition of hovering, or being suspended
  • noun physics A cgs unit of dynamic viscosity equal to one dyne-second per square centimeter.
  • verb obsolete To hang in equilibrium; to be balanced or suspended; hence, to be in suspense or doubt.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a cgs unit of dynamic viscosity equal to one dyne-second per square centimeter; the viscosity of a fluid in which a force of one dyne per square centimeter maintains a velocity of 1 centimeter per second
  • verb hold or carry in equilibrium
  • verb cause to be balanced or suspended
  • noun a state of being balanced in a stable equilibrium
  • noun great coolness and composure under strain
  • verb be motionless, in suspension
  • verb prepare (oneself) for something unpleasant or difficult

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, after Jean Louis Marie Poiseuille, (1799–1869), French physician and physiologist.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English poisen, to balance, weigh, from Old French peser, pois-, from Vulgar Latin *pēsāre, from Latin pēnsāre; see (s)pen- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From a combination of Anglo-Norman pois, Middle French pois ("weight") and Anglo-Norman poise, Middle French poise ("measure of weight").

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Examples

Comments

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  • POiSE

    June 14, 2008

  • Then we hit the street with poise of commando

    Clothes, guitar but arsenal missing one thing

    Exotic Glasgow chick, they call her the 'Carmen Veranda'

    (Mr. Richard, by Belle and Sebastian)

    November 10, 2010