pose

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

pose, n. [AS. gepose; of uncertain origin; cf. W. pas a cough, Skr. kās to cough, and E. wheeze.].

 A cold in the head; catarrh.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]

pose, n. [F. pose, fr. poser. See Pose, v. t.].

 The attitude or position of a person; the position of the body or of any member of the body; especially, a position formally assumed for the sake of effect; an artificial position; as, the pose of an actor; the pose of an artist's model or of a statue.  [1913 Webster]

pose, v. t. [F. poser to place, to put, L. pausare to pause, in LL. also, to place, put, fr. L. pausa a pause, Gr. , fr. to make to cease, prob. akin to E. few. In compounds, this word appears corresponding to L. ponere to put, place, the substitution in French having been probably due to confusion of this word with L. positio position, fr. ponere. See Few, and cf. Appose, Dispose, Oppose, Pause, Repose, Position.].

 To place in an attitude or fixed position, for the sake of effect; to arrange the posture and drapery of (a person) in a studied manner; as, to pose a model for a picture; to pose a sitter for a portrait.  [1913 Webster]

pose, v. i. 

 To assume and maintain a studied attitude, with studied arrangement of drapery; to strike an attitude; to attitudinize; figuratively, to assume or affect a certain character; as, she poses as a prude.  [1913 Webster]
"He . . . posed before her as a hero."  [1913 Webster]

pose, v. t. [Shortened from appose, for oppose. See 2d Appose, Oppose.].

•  To interrogate; to question.  Bacon.  [1913 Webster]
•  To question with a view to puzzling; to embarrass by questioning or scrutiny; to bring to a stand.  [1913 Webster]

  "A question wherewith a learned Pharisee thought to pose and puzzle him."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

pose, v. & n.
--v.
1 intr. assume a certain attitude of body, esp. when being photographed or being painted for a portrait.
2 intr. (foll. by as) set oneself up as or pretend to be (another person etc.) (posing as a celebrity).
3 intr. behave affectedly in order to impress others.
4 tr. put forward or present (a question etc.).
5 tr. place (an artist's model etc.) in a certain attitude or position.
--n.
1 an attitude of body or mind.
2 an attitude or pretence, esp. one assumed for effect (his generosity is a mere pose).

pose, v.tr. puzzle (a person) with a question or problem.

Etymology

obs. appose f. OF aposer var. of oposer OPPOSE

THESAURUS

pose

act, acting, action, actions, activity, acts, address, advance, affectation, affectedness, air, airs, appearance, arrange, ask, assert, attitude, attitudinarianism, attitudinize, attitudinizing, bearing, beck, beckon, befog, behavior, behavior pattern, behavioral norm, behavioral science, bewilder, bluff, bluffing, body language, bring before, bring forward, bring up, broach, cap, carriage, charade, cheating, chironomy, color, coloring, commend to attention, comportment, conduct, confound, confuse, culture pattern, custom, dactylology, deaf-and-dumb alphabet, deception, delusion, demeanor, deportment, disguise, display, dissemblance, dissembling, dissimulation, dog, doing, doings, dumb show, extend, facade, face, fake, fakery, faking, false air, false front, false show, falsity, feign, feigning, feint, folkway, four-flushing, fraud, front, gesticulation, gesture, gesture language, gestures, gilt, give, gloss, goings-on, grandstand, guise, hand signal, hold out, humbug, humbuggery, imitate, impersonate, imposture, introduce, kinesics, launch, lay, lay before, lay down, lugs, maintien, make a motion, manner, mannerism, manners, masquerade, masquerade as, meretriciousness, method, methodology, methods, mien, mimic, model, modus vivendi, moot, motion, motions, move, movement, movements, moves, observable behavior, offer a resolution, open up, ostentation, outward show, pantomime, park, pass as, pass for, pass off, pattern, peacock, peacockery, peacockishness, perplex, place, playacting, poise, port, portray, pose as, pose for effect, posing, posit, position, post, postulate, posture, posturing, practice, praxis, predicate, prefer, presence, present, pretend, pretend to be, pretense, pretension, pretext, prettiness, procedure, proceeding, profess, proffer, propose, proposition, propound, purport, put, put forth, put forward, put it to, put on airs, puzzle, query, question, recommend, represent, representation, seat, seeming, semblance, set, set before, set forth, set up, sham, show, show off, shrug, sign language, simulacrum, simulation, sit, social science, speciousness, stance, start, station, stick, strike a pose, strike an attitude, strut, stumble, style, submit, suggest, tactics, tender, tone, varnish, way, way of life, ways, window dressing

ROGET THESAURUS

pose

Difficulty

VB be difficult, run one hard, go against the grain, try one's patience, put one out, put to one's shifts, put to one's wit's end, go hard with one, try one, pose, perplex, bother, nonplus, gravel, bring to a deadlock, be impossible, be in the way of, meet with difficulties, labor under difficulties, get into difficulties, plunge into difficulties, struggle with difficulties, contend with difficulties, grapple with difficulties, labor under a disadvantage, be in difficulty, fish in troubled waters, buffet the waves, swim against the stream, scud under bare poles, Have much ado with, have a hard time of it, come to the push, come to the pinch, bear the brunt, grope in the dark, lose one's way, weave a tangled web, walk among eggs, get into a scrape, bring a hornet's nest about one's ears, be put to one's shifts, flounder, boggle, struggle, not know which way to turn, perdre son Latin, stick at, stick in the mud, stick fast, come to a stand, come to a standstill, come to a deadlock, hold the wolf by the ears, hold the tiger by the tail, render difficult, enmesh, encumber, embarrass, ravel, entangle, put a spoke in the wheel, lead a pretty dance.

Situation

N situation, position, locality, locale, status, latitude and longitude, footing, standing, standpoint, post, stage, aspect, attitude, posture, pose, environment, surroundings (location), circumjacence, place, site, station, seat, venue, whereabouts, ground, bearings, spot, topography, geography, chorography, map, situate, situated, local, topical, topographical, in situ, in loco, here and there, passim, hereabouts, thereabouts, whereabouts, in place, here, there, in such and such surroundings, in such and such environs, in such and such entourage, amidst such and such surroundings, amidst such and such environs, amidst such and such entourage.

Affectation

VB affect, act a part, put on, give oneself airs, boast, coquet, simper, mince, attitudinize, pose, flirt a fan, overact, overdo.

Form

N form, figure, shape, conformation, configuration, make, formation, frame, construction, cut, set, build, trim, cut of one's jib, stamp, type, cast, mold, fashion, contour, structure, plasmature, feature, lineament, turn, phase, posture, attitude, pose, morphism, isomorphism, forming, formation, figuration, efformation, sculpture, plasmation, formed, plastic, fictile, formative, fluid, plasmic, isomorphous, pleomorphic, protean, changeable.

Uncertainty

VB be uncertain, wonder whether, lose the clue, lose the clew, scent, miss one's way, not know what to make of, not know which way to turn, not know whether one stands on one s head or one's, float in a sea of doubt, hesitate, flounder, lose oneself, lose one's head, muddle one's brains, render uncertain, put out, pose, puzzle, perplex, embarrass, confuse, confound, bewilder, bother, molder, addle the wits, throw off the scent, ambiguas in vulgus spargere voces, keep in suspense, doubt, hang in the balance, tremble in the balance, depend.