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

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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 while global child mortality data for 2025 won’t be available for several months, health officials are already bracing for a surge in deaths among the world’s youngest and most vulnerable.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Even with potential signs of a softening labor market, however, some economists are bracing for a potential upside surprise in the July data or at least indications that inflation is too stubborn for the Fed to ignore.
    — Jeff Cox, CNBC, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of bracing
Verb
  • No one will string the words together and actually say it out loud, but as former players and Campbell tap-dance around the uncomfortable question about what’s changed, the message hovering between the lines is not difficult to read.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Average costs for the potassium-rich fruit have seen little change as of late, hovering between 65 and 67 cents over the last 12 months.
    — Claire Malon, Chicago Tribune, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of hovering
Verb
  • 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
  • Paramount now must strengthen its case for a high-stakes trial while fortifying Paramount’s existing businesses and managing uncertainty among the employee base.
    — Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2026
Definition of fortifying
Verb
  • There, satellite imagery reviewed by CNN shows the Christophe de Margerie sidled up against a sprawling floating storage unit, in a formation typical of ship-to-ship cargo transfers.
    — Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Photos of the outside cemetery show flooding and floating debris.
    — Dave Savini, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of floating
Verb
  • Toyota’s manufacturing facilities in the Kyushu region, where Kumamoto is located, halted production, but are readying to resume production later this week.
    — Yuri Kageyama, Fortune, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Owners in other states are readying for rules that may or may not survive the same challenge.
    — Elie Y. Katz, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of readying
Verb
  • Would Alejandro González Iñárritu’s breathlessly awaited, Tom Cruise vehicle Digger be sailing to the Lido?
    — Radhika Seth, Vogue, 9 Aug. 2026
  • While Homer followed warriors sailing home from Troy, the playwright Euripides — writing some three centuries later — turned to the city’s ruins and its women, forced into exile and enslavement.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of sailing
Verb
  • With the incident over the weekend, a bystander reported seeing the lifeguard’s rescue torpedo come about 6 to 8 feet out of the water, shortly after the lifeguard had begun swimming back toward shore.
    — Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 10 Aug. 2026
  • In Maryland, where over two dozen cases have been confirmed so far this year, health officials warned people to be cautious about swimming in Chesapeake Bay.
    — Mark Strassmann, CBS News, 10 Aug. 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 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of poising for Spanish Speakers

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