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
  • This bifurcated reality—strong revenue growth alongside deteriorating loan books—suggests banks are bracing for a potential economic downturn.
    — Mayra Rodriguez Valladares, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026
  • More than 60 million people from Ohio to Massachusetts and Virginia are bracing for possible flash flooding on Monday following a deadly holiday weekend heat wave that left much of the East Coast sweltering in triple-digit temperatures.
    — Kenton Gewecke, ABC News, 6 July 2026
Definition of bracing
Verb
  • Joe Raedle | Getty Images Mortgage rates have been hovering in a tight range for more than a month, and that range is on the relatively high side.
    — Diana Olick, CNBC, 8 July 2026
  • The Guajes de Ayala community had warned law enforcement that the cartel was closing in on their town and also shared videos of cartel drones hovering overhead and the location of cartel fighters inching closer to their homes on social media.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 July 2026
Definition of hovering
Verb
  • The Gulf has made significant progress in fortifying its cyber resilience and digital infrastructure, but many argue that its insurance frameworks have not kept pace with the growing systemic risks posed by today’s cybercriminals.
    — Melissa Hancock, Fortune, 7 July 2026
  • Moscow has spent years fortifying Crimea, tripling its troop presence, deploying advanced air defenses and coastal batteries, and studding the land with missile launch systems.
    — Marc Santora, New York Times, 4 July 2026
Definition of fortifying
Verb
  • Officials have said the pool most likely would need to be drained again for liner repairs after chunks of blue coating were seen floating at the surface.
    — Michael Kunzelman, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026
  • Officials said the debris was scattered across a wide area, with strong winds, rough seas and shifting ocean currents carrying floating wreckage away from the crash site, complicating efforts to locate the missing crew.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 July 2026
Definition of floating
Verb
  • In an interview with the Financial Times, Eurostar CEO Gwendoline Cazenave said the company is readying itself for temperatures normally associated with Saudi Arabia.
    — Anna Cooban, CNN Money, 10 July 2026
  • European producer-distributor Off The Fence has now boarded the pic and is readying it as a package for the market.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 6 July 2026
Definition of readying
Verb
  • Royal Caribbean also paid homage to the original Legend of the Seas, which began sailing for the line in the 1990s until 2017, with a model of that ship on display in Schooner Bar.
    — Nathan Diller, USA Today, 6 July 2026
  • Two other small tankers exited the Persian Gulf by sailing closer to Iran.
    — Weilun Soon, Fortune, 5 July 2026
Definition of sailing
Verb
  • Her three kids could be seen posing on the beach, getting ready to go swimming.
    — Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 6 July 2026
  • Then much farther north, a beach was closed to swimming in Maine after a report of two sharks near Reid State Park.
    — Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 6 July 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 12 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on poising

Nglish: Translation of poising for Spanish Speakers

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