poising

verb

present participle of poise
1
as in bracing
to prepare (oneself) mentally or emotionally the disgraced business executive poised herself for the difficult press conference

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in hovering
to rest or move along the surface of a liquid or in the air the falcon poised in the air for an instant before diving to attack its prey

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for poising
  1. bracing
  2. hovering
  3. fortifying
  4. floating
  5. readying
  6. sailing
  7. swimming
Verb
  • And as Aroonpheng spins his narrative into a long, misshapen web, the drama involving Yak vanishes behind a cloud of fog and transforms into the film’s most baffling yet bracing detour.
    — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Hurricane Lowell in Hawaii Hawaii is bracing for Hurricane Lowell, with schools and government offices on the islands of Kauai and Niihau being forced to close.
    — Justina Lee, CNBC, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of bracing
Verb
  • Alcaraz, hovering north and south, blasting the ball into the corners.
    — James Hansen, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Shares fell roughly 20% on Friday, with the stock hovering at an eight-year low.
    — Jordan Valinsky, CNN Money, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of hovering
Verb
  • On Monday, Kiffin said LSU would consider fortifying his team’s defensive tackle depth with another player.
    — Ralph D. Russo, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Residents were busy fortifying their properties ahead of the peak of the weather event, as city officials positioned crews early to begin working on lining the shore with berms.
    — Lesley Marin, CBS News, 30 July 2026
Definition of fortifying
Verb
  • Lima may look unusual today, but floating solar has substantial room to grow.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 10 Sep. 2026
  • In this week's installment of Far-Flung Postcards, NPR's Hannah Bloch sends greetings from Paris, where the floating Olympic cauldron is still rising in the nighttime sky two years after the 2024 Paris Games.
    — Brittney Melton, NPR, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of floating
Verb
  • After suffering through a post-pandemic downturn, the gaming industry is readying an onslaught of fall releases in the hopes of turning the sector back toward growth.
    — Jennifer Maas, Variety, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Regent is reducing the passenger count on Explorer Class ships to expand cabin sizes while readying to unveil the opulent Seven Seas Prestige ship in December.
    — Janice Wald Henderson, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of readying
Verb
  • The 91-meter (298-foot) Alsu is an oil or chemical tanker sailing from Kocaeli, east of Istanbul, to Aliaga on the Aegean coast, according to the Marine Traffic website.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The tanker was sailing in the southern shipping lane close to the Omani coast, the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said in a post on Tuesday, Asia time.
    — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of sailing
Verb
  • Winter also brings memorable encounters with whales across Australia, including swimming with dwarf minke whales along the Great Barrier Reef from June through July and spotting migrating humpbacks along the east coast from May through October.
    — Stuart Rigg, Travel + Leisure, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Grace said her family frequently went swimming together and that Malachi, the youngest of four children, particularly loved the water.
    — Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of swimming
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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poises
poising
poison
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Cite this Entry

“Poising.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poising. Accessed 14 Sep. 2026.

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