POISE
What does "POISE" mean?
A graceful, balanced, and composed manner; calm self-assurance.
Meanings
- Composure and dignity of manner; calm self-possession. She handled the heckler with remarkable poise.
- Balance or equilibrium; a state of being steadily held. The dancer held the pose in perfect poise.
- To be balanced or held suspended, ready to move. The hawk poised motionless above the field before diving.
- The CGS unit of dynamic viscosity (one dyne-second per square centimetre). The fluid's viscosity was measured at two poise. technical
Did you know?
- The word 'poise' is also a real physics unit - the unit of viscosity - named after Jean Léonard Marie Poiseuille, who measured how thickly blood flows through fine tubes.
Word origin
From Old French 'pois' (weight), from Latin 'pensum' (something weighed), from 'pendere' (to weigh, to hang). The viscosity unit honours physiologist Jean Léonard Marie Poiseuille.
Remember it
POISE = 'poi' + 'se'; hold the word steady on your tongue the way a tightrope walker holds the pole.
A little poem
The hawk does not flap-
it spends a long held second
deciding to fall.
haiku
Wordplay
- How does a physicist stay calm under pressure? Pure poise - measured in dyne-seconds per square centimetre.
What it teaches
Poise is not stillness but readiness: the calm of something perfectly balanced, an instant before it moves.
Quick facts
What does POISE mean?
A graceful, balanced, and composed manner; calm self-assurance.
Is POISE a valid word?
Yes — POISE is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is POISE?
POISE has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does POISE come from?
From Old French 'pois' (weight), from Latin 'pensum' (something weighed), from 'pendere' (to weigh, to hang). The viscosity unit honours physiologist Jean Léonard Marie Poiseuille.
What can POISE teach us?
Poise is not stillness but readiness: the calm of something perfectly balanced, an instant before it moves.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.