poised

4 definitions found

poised - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Poise \Poise\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Poised, ; p. pr. & vb. n.
     Poising.] [OE. poisen, peisen, OF. & F. peser, to weigh,
     balance, OF. il peise, il poise, he weighs, F. il p[`e]se,
     fr. L. pensare, v. intens. fr. pendere to weigh. See Poise,
     n., and cf. Pensive.] [Formerly written also peise.]
     1. To balance; to make of equal weight; as, to poise the
        scales of a balance.
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     2. To hold or place in equilibrium or equiponderance.
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              Nor yet was earth suspended in the sky;
              Nor poised, did on her own foundation lie. --Dryden.
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     3. To counterpoise; to counterbalance.
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              One scale of reason to poise another of sensuality.
                                                    --Shak.
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              To poise with solid sense a sprightly wit. --Dryden.
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     4. To ascertain, as by the balance; to weigh.
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              He can not sincerely consider the strength, poise
              the weight, and discern the evidence. --South.
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     5. To weigh (down); to oppress. [Obs.]
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              Lest leaden slumber peise me down to-morrow. --Shak.
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  balanced \bal"anced\ adj.
     being in a state of proper balance or equilibrium; --
     opposite of unbalanced. the carefully balanced seesaw a
     properly balanced symphony orchestra a balanced assessment of
     intellectual and cultural history a balanced blend of
     whiskeys the educated man shows a balanced development of all
     his powers [Narrower terms: counterbalanced, counter-balanced, counterpoised
     ; well-balanced; poised]
     [Related terms: stable --- (maintaining equilibrium)]
     [WordNet 1.5]

poised - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  poised
      adj 1: marked by balance or equilibrium and readiness for
             action; "a gull in poised flight"; "George's poised
             hammer"
      2: in full control of your faculties; "the witness remained
         collected throughout the cross-examination"; "perfectly
         poised and sure of himself"; "more self-contained and more
         dependable than many of the early frontiersmen"; "strong and
         self-possessed in the face of trouble" [syn: collected,
         equanimous, poised, self-collected, self-contained,
         self-possessed]

poised - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  70 Moby Thesaurus words for "poised":
     apoise, arrogant, assured, balanced, calm, cocksure, collected,
     composed, confident, controlled, convinced, cool, decided,
     determined, dignified, easy, easygoing, equanimous, equibalanced,
     equilibrious, equiponderant, equiponderous, hovering, hubristic,
     imperturbable, levelheaded, overconfident, oversure, overweening,
     persuaded, placid, pompous, positive, possessed, prepared, proud,
     ready, reassured, recollected, reserved, secure, sedate,
     self-assured, self-confident, self-controlled, self-important,
     self-possessed, self-reliant, self-restrained, serene, staid, sure,
     suspended, symmetric, teetering, together, tottering, tranquil,
     trembling, unafraid, undoubting, unfaltering, unflappable,
     unhesitating, unruffled, unwavering, waiting, wavering,
     well-balanced, wobbling