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

Relevance

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
  • Instead, Ellison is bracing for a long and costly fight to keep the $111 billion deal alive after 12 state attorneys general filed suit to block it on antitrust grounds.
    — Brent Lang, Variety, 5 Aug. 2026
  • The city is bracing for triple digit temperatures this week as another heat wave scorches Central and Eastern Europe, driving fears that levels could drop even further.
    — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of bracing
Verb
  • Shares are down more than 28 percent over the past month, currently hovering around $114, which is miles below its mid-June record high of $225.
    — Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Future tests could include trying to use giant arms at its Starbase launching site in Texas to grab the rocket and its booster upon its hovering return to earth.
    — Bernard Condon, Fortune, 4 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
  • The project, which involves a partnership between the University of Miami Rosenstiel School and other researchers, focuses on collecting floating coral egg and sperm bundles.
    — Joan Murray, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Next is the soft fragrance of iris floating from a field of blooms to the right.
    — Dana Thomas, Architectural Digest, 6 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
  • On Tuesday, July 28, the Viking Ullur ship was sailing down the Danube River, Europe’s second-longest river that flows from southwestern Germany to the Black Sea.
    — Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 30 July 2026
  • That connection comes into focus on the Lake-to-Estate Voyage, sailing from the Kelowna Yacht Club to three of the city’s best vineyards and tracing the journey from water to wine.
    — Lisa Kadane, Travel + Leisure, 29 July 2026
Definition of sailing
Verb
  • Kat and Aesha take the guests swimming in some nearby caves while the rest of the crew holds down the fort.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Sanchez said that the ruling had been intentionally misconstrued by migrant smugglers to convince thousands of people to cross by swimming around the border fence.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 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.

Browse Nearby Words

poises
poising
poison
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Poising.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poising. Accessed 8 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on poising

Nglish: Translation of poising for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of nurture

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

How long is a jiffy?
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All