English Explanatory Dictionary

pose

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Common cold, head cold; catarrh.
verb
  1. To place in an attitude or fixed position, for the sake of effect.
  2. To ask; to set (a test, quiz, riddle, etc.).
  3. To constitute (a danger, a threat, a risk, etc.).
  4. To falsely impersonate (another person or occupation) primarily for the purpose of accomplishing something or reaching a goal.
  5. To assume or maintain a pose; to strike an attitude.
  6. To behave affectedly in order to attract interest or admiration.
  7. To interrogate; to question.
  8. To question with a view to puzzling; to embarrass by questioning or scrutiny; to bring to a stand.
noun
  1. Position, posture, arrangement (especially of the human body).
  2. Affectation.
verb
  1. To ask (someone) questions; to interrogate.
  2. to puzzle, non-plus, or embarrass with difficult questions.
  3. To perplex or confuse (someone).

Pronunciation

/poʊz/ /pəʊz/ en-us-pose.ogg

Word forms

pose poses posing posed poze

Etymology

From Middle English pose, from Old English ġeposu pl (“cold in the head; catarrh”, literally “(the) sneezes; (the) snorts”), from Old English pos, ġepos (“sneeze, snort”), from Proto-West Germanic *pos, from Proto-Germanic *pusą (“sneeze, snort”), from Proto-Germanic *pusōną, *pusjaną (“to snort, blow”), from *pus- (“to blow, breathe hard”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). Compare Low German pusten (“to blow, puff”), German dialectal pfausen (“to sneeze, snort”), Norwegian dialectal pysa (“to blow”).

Related words

puzzle appose compose contrapose counterpose decompose depose dispose expose impose indispose juxtapose oppose postpose predispose prepose presuppose propose recompose repose superimpose superpose suppose transpose

Derived words

malpose posable poseable posingly posing pouch unpose banana pose child's pose cobra pose composite pose cool pose corpse pose crow pose multipose pigeon pose posedown poselet posey T pose T-pose triangle pose vacuum pose poser
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on P Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary