Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of poise.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • He prodded Hannibal with the end of the broom-handle, after each prod poising it for a stroke.

    CHAPTER XXVII 2010

  • I can't handle undiagnosed "symptoms" that pop up for no good reason: the mystery bruises, the muscle spasms in my lower back, the twitch in my lower lip, the horrible tooth ache it's those silver fillings my dentist put in when I was a kid that is probably filled with mercury and now I have lead poising.

    Pat Gallagher: Can I Borrow a Hug? Pat Gallagher 2012

  • “May I?” he asked, poising his brush above the pot.

    Rogue Oracle 2011

  • Fitzgerald took a notebook from his pocket and flipped it open, poising his pen.

    Choker Elizabeth Woods 2011

  • Fitzgerald took a notebook from his pocket and flipped it open, poising his pen.

    Choker Elizabeth Woods 2011

  • Hurley and his partners were building a company for the long run, while simultaneously poising themselves to accept the right offer from the right company.

    In the Plex Steven Levy 2011

  • Fitzgerald took a notebook from his pocket and flipped it open, poising his pen.

    Choker Elizabeth Woods 2011

  • Hurley and his partners were building a company for the long run, while simultaneously poising themselves to accept the right offer from the right company.

    In the Plex Steven Levy 2011

  • Fitzgerald took a notebook from his pocket and flipped it open, poising his pen.

    Choker Elizabeth Woods 2011

  • “May I?” he asked, poising his brush above the pot.

    Rogue Oracle 2011

Comments

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  • 'His skin became alive again, and remembered the few responding kisses that he had wheedled from her, contacts so shy that they might have been the poisings of a moth.'

    - Rebecca West, The Judge

    July 23, 2009

  • Great use of wheedle here. Poising reminds too much of poisoning to appeal.

    July 23, 2009

  • Yes, you're right. I should have bracketed wheedle. Poising jumped out at me just because of that similarity to poisoning.

    July 23, 2009