poise 
= Sp. Pg. pcsar, pcnsar = It. pesarr, /.<- 
.;ir, weigh, poise (el'. ( IF. and F. prnxrr = Sp. 
Pg. i>CM<ir = It. pritsiin; think, consider), < L. 
l>riixiin; weigh, counterbalance, compensate, 
etc., also weigh, ponder, consider, freq. otpen- 
dcre,T>p.pensus, weigh: see pendent. Ct. poise, 
.] I. trans. 1. To weigh; ascertain by weigh- 
ing or balancing; figuratively, to weigh; pon- 
der; consider. 
Ac the potinde that she payed by poised aquarteroun more 
Than inyiie owne auncere who-so weyjed treuthe. 
Piers Plan-man (B), v. 218. 
Payse euery thyng In 3owre lust aduertence. 
Political Poenu, etc. (ed. Furnlvall), p. 46. 
And pfiise the cause in justice* equal scales, 
\Mnisu beam stands sure, whose rightful cause prevails. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., ii. 1. 204. 
Much more lett 's peiz and ]>onder 
'I'll' Almighties Works, and at his Wisedum wonder. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas s Weeks, i. 2. 
2. To counterbalance; be of equal weight with. 
Your good opinion shall in weight poite me 
Against a thousand ill. 
Fletcher (atui another), Love's Cure, ii. 2. 
Thou continent of wealth, whose want of store, 
For that It could not prize th' unequal scale 
Of avarice, uiv'st matter to my moan ! 
Middleton, Family of Love, it 4. 
Be it the weightiest and most rich affair 
That ever was included in yuur breast, 
My faith shall poise it. 
B. Jonson, Case Is Altered, I. 2. 
3. To balance : make of equal weight ; hold or 
place in equilibrium: as, to poise the scales of 
a balance. 
Moderatly exercise your body with some labour, or play- 
eng at the tennys, or castyng abowle, orpaysyny weyghtes 
or plommettes of lecde in your handes, or some other 
thyng, to open your poores, & to augment naturall heatc. 
Ba& Boo* (E. Ii. T. 8.), p. 247. 
The just skale of even, poized thought*. 
Marstou, What you Will, Prol. 
The world, who of itself Is /*/-../ well, 
Made to run wen upon even ground. 
Shak., K. John, II. 1. 575. 
Chaos wild 
Reign'd where these heavens now roll, where earth now 
ITSts 
I'pon her centre poised. Milton, P. I.., v. 579. 
The falcon, poised on Roaring wing, 
Watches the wild duck by the spring. 
Scott, Rokeby, III. 1. 
He became conscious of a soul beautifully potted upon 
Itself, nothing doubting, nothing desiring, clothed in 
peace. R. L. Stevenson, Will o' the Mill. 
4f. To hold suspended or in suspense ; delay. 
I speak too long ; but 'tis to peize the time, 
To eke It and to draw it out in length. 
Shak., M. of V., Hi. 2. 22. 
5. To weigh or press down ; force. 
Chawmbyrs with chymnes, and many cheefe Inns ; 
Paysede and pelid downe playstercde walles. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 3043. 
II. intrans. To be balanced or suspended; 
hence, figuratively, to hang in suspense. 
Breathless racers whose hopes poite upon the last few 
steps. Keats. 
And everywhere 
The slender, graceful spars 
Poise aloft in the air. 
Lon'jfMuir, Building of the Ship. 
poise (poiz), n. [Formerly also poi:e, peise, 
prize, paige; < ME. poyse, peix, (a) < OF. pois, 
pets, m., F. poids (the d introduced during the 
sixteenth century on account of a supposed 
derivation from L. pondus, weight) = Pr. pens, 
pes = 8p. Pg. It. peso, m., a weight; (6) < OF. 
poise, peise, f., weight, balance ; < L. pensum, 
anything weighed, prop. neut. of penstis, pp. 
of pendere, weigh : see poise, v.~\ 1. Weight; 
ponderosity; gravity. 
Full heauie Is the paist of Princes ire. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 110. 
Some others were in such sort bound vnto pillera with 
their faces turned to the wall, hauing no stale vnder their 
feet, and were violentlie weighed down with the peise of 
their bodies. Foxe, Martyrs, The Ten First Persecutions. 
When I have suit, . . . 
It shall be full of poise and difficult weight, 
And fearful to be granted. Shak., Othello, Hi. 3. 82. 
A stone of such a paise 
That one of this time's strongest men, with both hands, 
could not raise. Chapman, Iliad, xii. 
2. A weight ; especially, the weight or mass of 
metal used in weighing with steelyards to bal- 
ance the substance weighed. 
They make many smaule diamundes. whlche ... are 
soulde by a poyse or weight which they caule Mangiar. 
R. Eden, tr. of Antonio Pigaletta( First Books on America, 
[ed. Arber, p. 265). 
Laborynge with poyses made of leadde or other niftall. 
Sir T. Elyot, The Governour, 1. 1. 
3. A thing suspended or attached as a counter- 
weight; hence, that which counterbalances; a 
counterpoise. 
4587 
Men of an unbounded Imagination often want the poite 
of judgment I >,-,!, . 
4. A state of balance ; equipoise ; equilibrium ; 
hence, equanimity. 
The particles that formed the earth must convene from 
all quarters toward the middle, which would make the 
whole compound to rest In a poise. Bentlty, Sermons. 
It is Indeed hard for the weak and unsteady hearts of 
men to carry themselves in such a poize between U.i Ii as 
not to make the shunning of one Inconvenience the fall* 
Ing Into another. South, Sermons, XI. vll. 
But what was most remarkable, and, perhaps, showed a 
more than common poise In the young m:m, was the fact 
that, amid all these personal Ylcissitiides, he had never 
lost his identity. Hatrthorne, Seven Gables, xlL 
5. The condition of balancing or hovering; 
suspended motion. 
Like water reed* the poise 
Of her soft body, dainty thin. 
D. a. Koaetti, Staff and Scrip. 
The tender poise of pausing feet. 
A. C. Swinburne, Life of Blake. 
poiseless (poiz'les), a. [Formerly also priz- 
Icxs; < poise + -less.'} Without weight; light. 
poiser (poi'zer), n. [Formerly also peizer,pay- 
ser; < poise + -'.] 1. One who poises or 
weighs; a weigher. 
The officers deputed to manage the coynage are porters 
to beare the tynne, peizers to weigh It, a steward, comp- 
troller, and receiver to keepe the account. 
Care w, Survey of Cornwall, fol. 14. 
2. That which poises or balances ; specifically, 
in entoni., the halter or balancer of a dipterous 
insect or a male coccid. See cut under halter. 
poison ( poi ' z n ) , n . [< ME. poisou n , poyson, poy- 
sone, puysoit, puixuit, a potion, poison, < OF. poi- 
son, puisoii, potion, poison, F. poison, poison, = 
Pr. poizo = Sp. pocion, potion (panzofki, poison, 
= Pg.peconh, poison), = It. jtozione, potion,< L. 
potio(n-), drink, a draught, a poisonous draught, 
a potion, < potare, drink: see potion, of which 
lutison is but an older form.] If. A drink; 
a draught ; a potion. 
And nailede hym [Christ] with thre nayles naked on the 
rode, 
And with a pt>\e poyson putten to hus lippes, 
And beden nym drynke, hus deth to lett, and hus dayes 
lengthen. Piers Plowman (C), xxi. 62. 
2. Any substance which, introduced into the 
living organism directly, tends to destroy the 
life or impair the health of that organism. 
Hereby was signified that, as glasse by nature holdcth 
no poyson, so a faythful counsellor holdeth no treason. 
Xorton and SacleviUe, Ferrex and Porrex, 11. 
Tobacco, coffee, alcohol, hashish, prusslc acid, strych- 
nine, are weak dilutions ; the surest poison is time. 
Emerson, Old Age. 
3. Hence, that which taints or destroys moral 
purity or health or comfort: as, the poison of 
evil example. 
Plato also, that dlulne Philosopher, hath many Godly 
medicines agaynst the poyson of vayne pleasure. 
Ascham, The Scholemaster, p. 77. 
Why linger We? see, see your I/over's gone; 
Perhaps to fetch more poison for your heart 
J. Beauniant, Psyche, 11. 115. 
Aerial poison. Same as miamia. Arrow-poison, the 
juice of various plants used by savages In Africa, South 
America, Java, etc., for anointing arrows to render them 
deadly. The plants so used include several euphorbias, 
two species of Stryehnos, the manchlnerl, and the poison 
bulb. See especially n/rnri. Poison of Pahonlas or 
Phonias, an exceedingly violent poison obtained from the 
seeds of StrophantJius hixpitltts, an apocynaceous plant of 
the Gaboon, where it is used as an arrow-poison, under the 
name of inSe, onaye, or onaye. 
poison (poi'zn), v . t. [< ME. poisonen, poysnyn, < 
OF. poisonner = Sp. ponzoflar (cf. Pg.peqonhen- 
tar), poison; from the noun.] 1. To infect 
with poison ; put poison into or upon ; add poi- 
son to : as, to poison an arrow. 
This even-handed justice 
Commends the ingredients of our puum'd chalice 
To our own lips. Shak.. Macbeth, I. 7. 11. 
1'hepoysoned weed is much in shape like our English luy. 
Capt John Smith, Works, n. 113. 
None knew, till guilt created fear, 
What darts or poison'd arrows were. 
. of Horace's Odes, L 22. 
2. To administer poison to; attack, injure, or 
kill by poison. 
He was so discouraged that he poisoned himself and died. 
2 Mac. x. IS. 
How easy 'twere for any man we trust 
To poison one of us in such a bowl. 
Beau, and Fl., Maid's Tragedy, Iv. 2. 
3. To taint; mar; impair; vitiate; corrupt. 
My rest 
Was poison'd with th' extremes of grief and fear. 
Quarles, Emblems, Iv. 11. 
Constantino with his mischevoiis donations pay son' d Sil- 
vester and the whole Church. Mitten, Kikonoklastes, xrii. 
poisonsome 
poisonable (poi'/.n-a-bl), n. [< poixon + -,ihlr. \ 
It. Capable of poisoning; venomous. 
Tainted with Arianlsm and Pelagianlsm, as of old. or 
Anataptimn and Libertinism, or such like pouanaolt In t. 
slea, as of late. 
roofer, Kabrick of the Church (1604), p. 54. (Latham ) 
2. Capable of being poisonril. 
poison-ash (poi'zn-ash), H. Same as /...<-.< 
MMMM, 
poison-bag (poi'zn-bag), n. Same as poixoii- 
xttc. 
poison-bay (poi'zn-ba), . An evergreen shrub, 
Illiciiiiu tloridttnum, whose leaves are reputed 
pouonous. 
poison-berry (poi'zn-ber'i), w. Any one of the 
various species of Centrum; also, the boragi- 
naceous shrub Jiourreria suecttlcula. [West 
Indies.] 
poison-bulb (poi'zn-bulb), n. The South Af- 
rican herb Buphane (IliriiHiHthus) toiicaria of 
the Amaryllitlcir, whose coated bulb is said to 
furnish the Kafirs an arrow-poison. 
poison-cup (poi'zu-kup), M. A name given to 
certain old glass beakers, tankards, etc., from 
the belief that poison poured into them would 
break them and thus be detected. 
poison-dogwood (poi'zn-dog'wud), n. Hame 
as poison-xtttntic. 
poison-elder d>oi'zn-el'der), w. Same as poi- 
xoH'Sttntttc. 
poisoner ipoi'zn-cr), . One who poisons or 
corrupts, or that which poisons or corrupts. 
poison-fang (poi'zn-fang), . One of the supe- 
rior maxillary teeth of certain serpents, us the 
viper and rattlesnake, having a channel in it 
through which the poisonous fluid is conveyed 
into the wound when they bite; a venom-fang. 
Tlie fang ordinarily lies recumbent, but when the serpent 
bites it is erected and the ]K>ison-gland IH at the game time 
compressed and emptied of its secretion, which is injected 
through the hollow fung Into the wound. .Sec cut under 
Crutalus. 
poisonfult (poi'zn-ful), . [< poinon + -fill.] 
Poisonous; full of poison. 
The spider, a pnisnnjull vennlne, yet climes to the roof 
of the king's palace. White, Hermons (lfl5), p. 63. 
poison-gland (poi'zn-glund), w. A gland which 
secretes poison, as in a venomous serpent. See 
cuts under chclicera and Hytncnoptera. 
poison-hemlock (poi'zn-hem'lok), w. Same as 
hemlock, 1. 
poisoniet, a. Same as poisotiy. 
poison-ivy (poi'zn-I'vi), ii. A shrub-vine of 
North America, Khus Toxicodendron, sometimes 
low and erect, but commonly a climber on trees, 
rocks, fences, etc. it poisons many persons either by 
contact or by Its effluvium, causing a severe cutaneous 
eruption with Intense smarting and itching. It Is popu- 
larly distinguished as thrre-lra.fetl IP;/ from the innocuous 
Virginia creeper, Ampelopris quiiufuejolia, the nve-leafed 
Ivy, their leaves having respectively three and five leaf- 
leta. It is often confounded with the common clematis (Cle- 
matis \'inriniaiia\ but the trifoliate leaves of that plant 
are opposite, not alternate as In the poiaon-ivy. See pot* 
son-oak. 
poison-nut (poi'zn-uut), H. 1. The nux vomica. 
2. The fruit of Cerbera Tanghiu, and doubt- 
less of C. Odollam. 
poison-oak (poi'zn-6k), . The poison-ivy, or 
properly its low form ; also, the kindred plant of 
Pacific North America, Khus diversiloba, which 
is similarly poisonous and not high-climbing. 
The latter is also called yeara. 
poison-Organ (poi'zn-or'gan), n. Any part or 
organ capable of inflicting a poisoned wound ; 
an organic apparatus for poisoning. 
poisonous (poi'zn-us), a. [Formerly also poi- 
snous, pousnous (=: Sp. ponzoftoso); as poison + 
-ous.] Having the properties of a poison ; con- 
taining poison; venomous; hence, corrupting, 
vitiating, or impairing. 
O sovereign mistress of true melancholy, 
The poisonous damp of night dixponge upon me. 
Shak., A. andC., iv. 9. 13. 
Serpents & poysnous toads, as In their bowers, 
Doe closely lurke vnder the sweetest flowers. 
Times' Whittle (E. E. T. S.), p. 23. 
poisonously (poi'zn-us-li), tulr. In a poisonous 
milliner; with fatal or injurious effects. 
poisonousness (poi'zn-us-nes), n. The charac- 
ter of being poisonous. 
poison-pea ipoi'zn-pe), . Set- Nirni .. 
poison-plant (poi'zn-plant), . (a) One of va- 
rious species of Gastrolobium. (b) The Swain- 
son pea. See Suainsona. (c) A bird's-foot tre- 
foil, 1,'itn.i mixtriilis. (All Australian.] 
poison-sac (poi'zn-sak)jH. A sacorpouch con- 
tiiiniiii; <>r M'<-rctiii',' piiisnn; a poison-gland. 
poisonsomet (poi'zn -sum), a. [< poison + 
.] Poisonous. Hollo ml. 
