POISE

I. verb (~d; poising) see: pensive Date: 1598 transitive verb 1. balance , to hold supported or suspended without motion in a steady position , to hold or carry (the head) in a particular way, to put into readiness ; brace , intransitive verb to become drawn up into readiness, hover , II. noun see: pendant Date: 1649 a stably balanced state ; equilibrium , 2. easy self-possessed assurance of manner ; gracious tact in coping or handling, a particular way of carrying oneself ; bearing , carriage , see: tact III. noun Etymology: French, from Jean Louis Marie Poiseuille died 1869 French physician and anatomist Date: 1913 a centimeter-gram-second unit of viscosity equal to the viscosity of a fluid that would require a shearing force of one dyne to impart to a one-square-centimeter area of an arbitrary layer of the fluid a velocity of one centimeter per second relative to another layer separated from the first by a distance of one centimeter