I. noun
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
poised between sth and sth
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Ahead of it the Wyrmberg turned from a distant toy to several billion tons of rock poised between heaven and earth.
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Like families gathered at Christmas, social animals are poised between cooperation and conflict.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Anne is tall and thin, but lacks poise .
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Margerie was very beautiful, with the grace and poise of a movie star.
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The Bears were 13 points behind, but Coach Stenstrom maintained his poise and confidence.
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They felt that he lacked sufficient poise and confidence for the job.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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And it was a humdinger, delivered with passion and poise .
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And yet this gangsta poise coexists with a weirdly playful quality.
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From a state of poise and self-confidence, she was suddenly overwhelmingly self-conscious.
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Junior Marquez Shaw showed a lot of poise in completing nine of 12 passes for 150 yards and three touchdowns.
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Nigel was ostentatiously smoking a big cigar to give an illusion of poise .
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On the other hand, I can think of no group that will handle defeat with more poise and grace.
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With remarkable poise , he quickly put the two broken pieces in one hand and made an attempt to paddle canoe-style.
II. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
now
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The worm is now poised to emerge from its dormant phase and begin to spread rapidly by colonising more machines and sites.
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From outside bets to reach the play-offs, Leicester are now poised to break into the top two.
over
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The child's spoon was poised over the food.
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Bethany poised over the bed, a slight abstract frown clouding her face.
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At least, not until the three months had passed and the knife was poised over his own neck.
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Harold was flexing his muscles for the perfect balance, teeth bared, knife poised over his head.
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This girl looked as if she was on her first assignment, as she sat with pencil poised over her shorthand notebook.
■ NOUN
brink
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Now, at 18, Crowell is a teen-ager poised on the brink of adult-sized fame.
edge
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A chunk of rubble half as high as a man was poised on the edge above the telephone box.
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She went very still, the sensation of being poised too near the edge of a precipice sweeping over her again.
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We are poised on the edge .
■ VERB
appear
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To be sure, the on-line travel industry is still in its infancy, but it appears poised for explosive growth.
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People who can present themselves well appear more clever, poised and promotable.
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Now, the Seahawks appear poised to leave their solid fan base in Seattle for Southern California.
seem
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But many now seem poised to vote for them.
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But platinum-blond Conger seemed poised and sensible.
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Apple seems poised on the verge of something.
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To Heather, she seemed delicate looking, poised with her hands loosely clasped in front.
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Katherine seemed more poised than she had the previous week.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Bryant has a reputation as an unusually poised, thoughtful teenager, and Twardzik believes that those qualities would ripen in college.
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Feel elegant and poised as you do them.
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He made it plain, quite quickly, that he was poised to adore Anna.
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The man remained poised between the two like a bridge, without moving in one direction or the other.
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They are held together, poised upright like a pencil standing on its point, by the recursive dynamics of coevolution.
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To sit down in meditation and think of these mystical ideas is to poise oneself for the transcendent journey.