Definition of POISED

Examples of poised in a Sentence

The actors were poised on the stage, ready for the curtain to come up. She held the pencil poised over the paper. The company is poised for success. She seemed poised to take on the leadership of the country. He is now poised to become the next big star in country music. a city poised between the mountains and the sea a group of people poised between hope and fear

Recent Examples on the Web

Your colleagues in the Senate are poised to not give him that and not give him the vote. — Fox News, "Sen. Lindsey Graham on Kavanaugh hearings, bid to declassify documents," 9 Sep. 2018 Equipped with her camera, Cassandra Huysentruyt Grey looked poised to capture incredible candid portraits while Sara Foster kept cool in denim cutoffs. — Vogue, "Bumble BFF, The Tot, and Peanut Get Ready for Back-to-School in Style," 27 Aug. 2018 Carolina had its opponents outnumbered in the box and looked poised to slot home a winner, only to be denied time and time again. — Dan Gartland, SI.com, "Watch: Announcer Can’t Help But Laugh During Goal-Less Last-Second Chaos," 9 July 2018 Over in the significantly redder Ohio, Sherrod Brown won reelection, and the governors’ mansions in Michigan and Wisconsin look poised to flip. — Matthew Yglesias, Vox, "4 winners and 2 losers from the 2018 midterm elections," 7 Nov. 2018 Experience was the difference today as Kerber—more familiar with Centre Court, more familiar with playing back-to-back days, more poised to deal with the seven consecutive service breaks—eeked and squeaked out a 6-3, 7-5 victory. — Jon Wertheim, SI.com, "Five Thoughts From Four Women's Quarterfinals at Wimbledon," 10 July 2018 The 13th inning was going to be the game’s last because of time constraints, and the schools looked poised to be named co-champions. — Ethan Bauer, latimes.com, "UCLA's Rachel Garcia is seeking the ultimate emotional moment at the Women's College World Series," 31 May 2018 Makita joins another 33-year-old poised to sign with San Diego. — Dennis Lin, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Padres reportedly agree to two-year deal with Japanese submariner Kazuhisa Makita," 5 Jan. 2018 In a series between two of the NHL’s top regular season teams that looks poised to go the distance, the details are going to be huge. — Michael Blinn, SI.com, "Stanley Cup Playoffs Roundup: Fiala Plays Hero in 2OT as Predators Even Series With Jets," 30 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'poised.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.