poising
/ˈpɔɪzɪŋ/
poising is the present participle and gerund of poise.
Meaning of poise
Verb
poise (third-person singular simple present poises, present participle poising, simple past and past participle poised)
- To hang in equilibrium; to be balanced or suspended; hence, to be in suspense or doubt.
- The slender, graceful spars / Poise aloft in the air.1850, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Seaside and the Fireside
- To counterpoise; to counterbalance.
- one scale of reason to poise another of sensualityc. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
- To be of a given weight; to weigh.
- To add weight to, to weigh down.
- Every man poiseth [translating poise] upon his fellowes sinne, and elevates his owne.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 2, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
- To hold (something) with or against something else in equilibrium; to balance, counterpose.
- you saw her faire none els being by, / Her selfe poysd with her selfe in either eye.c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- To hold (something) in equilibrium, to hold balanced and ready; to carry (something) ready to be used.
- I poised the crowbar in my hand, and waited.
Noun
poising (plural poisings)
- The act by which something is poised.
- And then his father came up beside him where he stood before a tattered last year's circus poster on the other side of the store, gazing rapt and quiet at the scarlet horses, the incredible poisings and convolutions of tulle and tights […]1949, William Faulkner, Barn Burning
Forms of poising
| plural | poisings |
|---|
Questions about poising
- What does poising mean?
- Poising means the act by which something is poised.
- What is poising the present participle and gerund of?
- Poising is the present participle and gerund of poise.
- What part of speech is poising?
- Poising is a noun.
- How do you pronounce poising?
- Poising is pronounced /ˈpɔɪzɪŋ/.
- What is the plural of poising?
- The plural of poising is poisings.
Words near poising in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: poising (page history and authors); poise (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “poising.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/poising. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.