What does "poise" mean?

Additional senses

1. 2.The state of being balanced by equal weight or power; equipoise; balance; equilibrium; rest. Bentley.
2. 3.That which causes a balance; a counterweight. Men of unbounded imagination often want the poise of judgment. Dryden.
3. 4.To balance; to make of equal weight; as, to poise the scales of a balance.
4. 5.To hold or place in equilibrium or equiponderance. Nor yet was earth suspended in the sky; Nor poised, did on her own foundation lie. Dryden.
5. 6.To counterpoise; to counterbalance. One scale of reason to poise another of sensuality. Shak. To poise with solid sense a sprightly wit. Dryden.
6. 7.To ascertain, as by the balance; to weigh. He can not sincerely consider the strength, poise the weight, and discern the evidence. South.
7. 8.To weigh (down); to oppress. [Obs.] Lest leaden slumber peise me down to-morrow. Shak.
8. 9.To hang in equilibrium; to be balanced or suspended; hence, to be in suspense or doubt. The slender, graceful spars Poise aloft in air. Longfellow.