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Poise   /pɔɪz/   Listen
noun
Poise  n.  (Formerly written also peise)  
1.
Weight; gravity; that which causes a body to descend; heaviness. "Weights of an extraordinary poise."
2.
The weight, or mass of metal, used in weighing, to balance the substance weighed.
3.
The state of being balanced by equal weight or power; equipoise; balance; equilibrium; rest.
4.
That which causes a balance; a counterweight. "Men of unbounded imagination often want the poise of judgment."
5.
A dignified and self-confident manner; graceful composure and tact in handling difficult social situations.



verb
Poise  v. t.  (past & past part. poised; pres. part. poising)  (Formerly written also peise)  
1.
To balance; to make of equal weight; as, to poise the scales of a balance.
2.
To hold or place in equilibrium or equiponderance. "Nor yet was earth suspended in the sky; Nor poised, did on her own foundation lie."
3.
To counterpoise; to counterbalance. "One scale of reason to poise another of sensuality." "To poise with solid sense a sprightly wit."
4.
To ascertain, as by the balance; to weigh. "He can not sincerely consider the strength, poise the weight, and discern the evidence."
5.
To weigh (down); to oppress. (Obs.) "Lest leaden slumber peise me down to-morrow."



Poise  v. i.  To hang in equilibrium; to be balanced or suspended; hence, to be in suspense or doubt. "The slender, graceful spars Poise aloft in air."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Poise" Quotes from Famous Books



... suddenly grown shy, stood silent for a moment, for the time rather at a loss to carry on the play which had been easier in the open. I heard Jimmy draw a long breath. He was first to remove his hat. But his companion was quicker to regain his poise, although for a moment he forgot his pirate speech. "Gee!" said he. ...
— The Lady and the Pirate - Being the Plain Tale of a Diligent Pirate and a Fair Captive • Emerson Hough

... foolish things, things which she evidently imagined were clever. There is nothing perhaps more embarrassing than to hear a woman of mature years giving herself away by the childish vapidness of her talk, and exhibiting not only a lack of mental poise, but also utter tactlessness. However, Catherine rattled on, and Dr. Brayle rattled with her,—Mr. Harland threw in occasional monosyllables, but for the most part was evidently caught in a kind of dusty spider's web of thought, and I spoke not at all unless spoken to. Presently ...
— The Life Everlasting: A Reality of Romance • Marie Corelli

... steps ascend the stairs; I heard the door of her room close, creaking. How could I sleep? I knew very well what the coming day would bring; I knew why Harry Tempest preferred to drive. I had need of something beside rest, for sleep was impossible; I needed calmness, quiet, enough poise to ask myself a momentous question, and be candidly answered. This quiet was not to be found in my room, I well knew; every bit of its furniture, its drapery, was haunted, and in any hour of emotion the latent ghosts came out upon me in swarms; ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. II, No. 8, June 1858 • Various

... alliance against the light, shrieking at the sun, and the moon, and stars, as profane spectra:—a company of the blind, beseeching those they lead to remain blind also. "The heavens and the lights that rule them are untrue; the laws of creation are treacherous; the poles of the earth are out of poise. But we are true. Light is in us only. Shut your eyes close and fast, and we ...
— Time and Tide by Weare and Tyne - Twenty-five Letters to a Working Man of Sunderland on the Laws of Work • John Ruskin

... these several features, together with the piquant oval of her face, and remarked that her poise was good and gracious in the uncompromising lines of her riding-habit, he had a mental portrait of her he was not likely soon to forget. For it's not every day that one encounters so pretty a girl in the woods of Long Island's southern shore—or anywhere else, for that ...
— The Bronze Bell • Louis Joseph Vance


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