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APG.American
Pronunciation Guide
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

poise

/pɔɪz/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
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What does poise mean?

noun

  1. A state of balance, equilibrium or stability.
  2. Composure; freedom from embarrassment or affectation.
  3. Mien; bearing or deportment of the head or body.
More meanings (14)

noun

  1. A condition of hovering, or being suspended.
  2. A CGS unit of dynamic viscosity equal to one dyne-second per square centimetre.
  3. The weight, or mass of metal, used in weighing, to balance the substance weighed.
  4. That which causes a balance; a counterweight.
  5. Unit of viscosity in the centimetre–gram–second system of units (CGS).
  6. (obsolete) Weight; an amount of weight, the amount something weighs.

verb

  1. To hold (something) in equilibrium, to hold balanced and ready; to carry (something) ready to be used.
  2. To keep (something) in equilibrium; to hold suspended or balanced.
  3. To ascertain, as if by balancing; to weigh.
  4. (obsolete) To hang in equilibrium; to be balanced or suspended; hence, to be in suspense or doubt.
  5. (obsolete) To counterpoise; to counterbalance.
  6. (obsolete) To be of a given weight; to weigh.
  7. (obsolete) To add weight to, to weigh down.
  8. (archaic) To hold (something) with or against something else in equilibrium; to balance, counterpose.
Wiktionary contributors

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/pɔɪz/

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

“What a movement, what a manner, what a poise of the head! I wonder if she would sit to me.”
Henry JamesRoderick HudsonProject Gutenberg ebook #176
But it demands that every girl shall be in good health, quick-handed, clear-voiced, and with a certain poise and alertness of manner.
Herbert Newton CassonThe History of the TelephoneProject Gutenberg ebook #819
More book examples (2)
SPEED AND SURFACE.--Birds which poise in the air, like the humming bird, do so because they beat their wings with great rapidity.
James Slough ZerbeAeroplanesProject Gutenberg ebook #1445
Two-thirds of the way up her head suddenly took a solicitous poise, and he knew that she had at that moment recognized him.
Thomas HardyJude the ObscureProject Gutenberg ebook #153