poise

Etymology

From Middle English poys, poyse, from Anglo-Norman pois, Middle French pois (“weight”) and Anglo-Norman poise, Middle French poise (“measure of weight”), from Latin pēnsāre (“to ponder, weight, think”).

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.
4. A condition of hovering, or being suspended.
5. (physics) A CGS unit of dynamic viscosity equal to one dyne-second per square centimetre.
   Letterpress and offset gloss varnishes normally have viscosities varying from 50 to 250 poises; they must stain the paper as little as possible, have insufficient tack to cause plucking, […] 1959, E. A. Apps, Printing Ink Technology, page 415
6. (obsolete) Weight; an amount of weight, the amount something weighs.
7. The weight, or mass of metal, used in weighing, to balance the substance weighed.
8. That which causes a balance; a counterweight.

verb

1. (obsolete) 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
2. (obsolete) To counterpoise; to counterbalance.
   1699, John Dryden, Epistle to John Dryden to poise with solid sense a sprightly wit
3. (obsolete) To be of a given weight; to weigh.
4. (obsolete) To add weight to, to weigh down.
5. (now rare) To hold (something) with or against something else in equilibrium; to balance, counterpose.
6. 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.
   to poise the scales of a balance
   The intention to close [Yeovil] Pen Mill was therefore abandoned and instead the economy axe was re-poised over Yeovil Junction. 1964 November, J. H. Lucking, “The Salisbury-Exeter rationalisation—first results and local reaction”, in Modern Railways, page 331
7. To keep (something) in equilibrium; to hold suspended or balanced.
   The rock was poised precariously on the edge of the cliff.
8. To ascertain, as if by balancing; to weigh.