POISED • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Poised

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/pɔɪzd/ Listen

verb

Poise v. t. (past & past part. poised; pres. part. poising) (Formerly written also peise)

To balance; to make of equal weight; as, to poise the scales of a balance.

To hold or place in equilibrium or equiponderance. "Nor yet was earth suspended in the sky; Nor poised, did on her own foundation lie."

To counterpoise; to counterbalance. "One scale of reason to poise another of sensuality." "To poise with solid sense a sprightly wit."

To ascertain, as by the balance; to weigh. "He can not sincerely consider the strength, poise the weight, and discern the evidence."

To weigh (down); to oppress. (Obs.) "Lest leaden slumber peise me down to-morrow."

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Etymology of 'Poised'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Poised" Quotes from Famous Books

... darting from peak to peak in a swift and dazzling flight as he talked rapidly and brokenly, kissing her cheek, her neck, straining her so close to him that she could hardly breathe. Suddenly it poised above the memory of an old book of Renan's, "The Abbess Juarre," in which the eminent skeptic had somewhat clumsily attempted to demonstrate that if the world unmistakably announced its finish within ...

— The White Morning • Gertrude Atherton

... to Warden, as it was apparent to Jordan—who poised his pencil over the pad of papers and did not move a muscle—that Lawler's wrath was struggling mightily within him. It was also apparent that Lawler's was a cold wrath, held in check by a sanity that forbade surrender to it—a sanity that ...

— The Trail Horde • Charles Alden Seltzer

... it in silent admiration. On the central stalk stood poised the figure of a girl so exquisitely formed and colored and so lovely in the expression of her delicate features that Dorothy thought she had never seen so sweet and adorable a creature in all her life. The maiden's gown was soft as satin and fell about her in ample folds, ...

— Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz • L. Frank Baum.

... watching for his chance to thrust the steel bar in just where it would inflict the most damage. Then raising the bar quickly, he poised for the blow. ...

— The Submarine Boys and the Middies - The Prize Detail at Annapolis • Victor G. Durham

... true, The submarine commander and his followers had succeeded in eluding the crew of the Ventura and dashed to the rail. There they poised themselves a brief moment, and then flung themselves headlong into the sea. Directly, dripping, they appeared on the deck of the submarine and dashed ...

— The Boy Allies with the Victorious Fleets - The Fall of the German Navy • Robert L. Drake

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