poise

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

CIDE DICTIONARY

poise, n. [OE. pois, peis, OF. pois, peis, F. poids, fr. L. pensum a portion weighed out, pendere to weigh, weigh out. Cf. Avoirdupois, Pendant, Poise, v.].

•  Weight; gravity; that which causes a body to descend; heaviness.  Evelyn.  [1913 Webster]
•  The weight, or mass of metal, used in weighing, to balance the substance weighed.  [1913 Webster]
•  The state of being balanced by equal weight or power; equipoise; balance; equilibrium; rest.  Bentley.  [1913 Webster]
•  That which causes a balance; a counterweight.  [1913 Webster]

  "Men of unbounded imagination often want the poise of judgment."  [1913 Webster]
•  a dignified and self-confident manner; graceful composure and tact in handling difficult social situations.  [PJC]

poise, v. t. [OE. poisen, peisen, OF. & F. peser, to weigh, balance, OF. il peise, il poise, he weighs, F. il pèse, fr. L. pensare, v. intens. fr. pendere to weigh. See Poise, n., and cf. Pensive.].

•  To balance; to make of equal weight; as, to poise the scales of a balance.  [1913 Webster]
•  To hold or place in equilibrium or equiponderance.  [1913 Webster]

  "Nor yet was earth suspended in the sky;
  Nor poised, did on her own foundation lie."  [1913 Webster]
•  To counterpoise; to counterbalance.  [1913 Webster]

  "One scale of reason to poise another of sensuality."  [1913 Webster]

  "To poise with solid sense a sprightly wit."  [1913 Webster]
•  To ascertain, as by the balance; to weigh.  [1913 Webster]

  "He can not sincerely consider the strength, poise the weight, and discern the evidence."  [1913 Webster]
•  To weigh (down); to oppress.  [1913 Webster]

  "Lest leaden slumber peise me down to-morrow."  [1913 Webster]

poise, v. i. 

 To hang in equilibrium; to be balanced or suspended; hence, to be in suspense or doubt.  [1913 Webster]
"The slender, graceful spars
Poise aloft in air."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

poise, n. & v.
--n.
1 composure or self-possession of manner.
2 equilibrium; a stable state.
3 carriage (of the head etc.).
--v.
1 tr. balance; hold suspended or supported.
2 tr. carry (one's head etc. in a specified way).
3 intr. be balanced; hover in the air etc.

poise, n. Physics a unit of dynamic viscosity, such that a tangential force of one dyne per square centimetre causes a velocity change one centimetre per second between two parallel planes in a liquid separated by one centimetre.

Etymology

J. L. M. Poiseuille, Fr. physician d. 1869

THESAURUS

poise

accommodate, action, actions, activity, acts, address, adjust, affectation, air, aplomb, arrogance, aspire, assurance, assuredness, back, balance, ballast, bearing, beck, beckon, become airborne, behavior, behavior pattern, behavioral norm, behavioral science, belief, body language, calmness, cancel, carriage, certitude, charade, chironomy, claw skyward, cocksureness, coequality, coextension, compensate, comportment, composure, conduct, confidence, confidentness, control, conviction, cool, coolness, coordinate, correspondence, counterbalance, counterpoise, countervail, courage, culture pattern, custom, dactylology, deaf-and-dumb alphabet, demeanor, deportment, dignity, diplomacy, doing, doings, dumb show, equability, equality, equalize, equanimity, equate, equation, equilibrium, equipoise, equipollence, equiponderance, equity, equivalence, equivalency, even, even up, evenness, faith, fit, float, fly, fly aloft, folkway, gain altitude, gesticulation, gesture, gesture language, gestures, goings-on, grace, guise, hand signal, hang, hover, hubris, identity, imperturbability, integrate, justice, kinesics, kite, leave the ground, level, level head, levelheadedness, levelness, likeness, maintien, manner, manners, method, methodology, methods, mien, modus vivendi, motion, motions, movement, movements, moves, observable behavior, overconfidence, oversureness, overweening, overweeningness, pantomime, par, parallelism, parity, pattern, plane, pomposity, port, pose, positiveness, possession, posture, practice, praxis, prepare, presence, presence of mind, pride, procedure, proceeding, proportion, reserve, restraint, sang-froid, security, sedateness, self-assurance, self-command, self-confidence, self-control, self-importance, self-possession, self-reliance, self-restraint, serenity, settled belief, shrug, sign language, soar, social science, spire, square, stabilitate, staidness, stance, stasis, steady, strike a balance, style, subjective certainty, support, sureness, surety, symmetry, tact, tactics, take off, tone, tranquillity, trust, uphold, way, way of life, ways, well-regulated mind, zoom

ROGET THESAURUS

poise

Equality

N equality, parity, coextension, symmetry, balance, poise, evenness, monotony, level, equivalence, equipollence, equipoise, equilibrium, equiponderance, par, quits, a wash, not a pin to choose, distinction without a difference, six of one and half a dozen of the other, tweedle dee and tweedle dum, identity, similarity, equalization, equation, equilibration, co-ordination, adjustment, readjustment, drawn game, drawn battle, neck and neck race, tie, draw, standoff, dead heat, match, peer, compeer, equal, mate, fellow, brother, equivalent, equal, even, level, monotonous, coequal, symmetrical, coordinate, on a par with, on a level with, on a footing with, up to the mark, equiparant, equivalent, tantamount, indistinguishable, quits, homologous, synonymous, resolvable into, convertible, much at one, as broad as long, neither more nor less, much the same as, the same thing as, as good as, all one, all the same, equipollent, equiponderant, equiponderous, equibalanced, equalized, drawn, half and half, isochronal, isochronous isoperimetric, isoperimetrical, isobath, isobathic, equally, pari passu, ad eundum, caeteris paribus, in equilibrio, to all intents and purposes, it comes to the same thing, it amounts to the same thing, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gande.

VB be equal, equal, match, reach, keep pace with, run abreast, come to, amount to, come up to, be on a level with, lie on a level with, balance, cope with, come to the same thing, render equal, equalize level, dress, balance, equate, handicap, give points, spot points, handicap, trim, adjust, poise, fit, accommodate, adapt, strike a balance, establish equality, restore equality, restore equilibrium, readjust, stretch on the bed of Procrustes.

Gravity

VB be heavy, gravitate, weigh, press, cumber, load, weigh, poise.