Pose

//poʊz// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Common cold, head cold; catarrh. archaic

    "Now […] have we many chimnies, and yet our tenderlings complain of rheums, catarrhs, and poses."

  2. 2
    Position, posture, arrangement (especially of the human body).

    "Please adopt a more graceful pose for my camera."

  3. 3
    a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display wordnet
  4. 4
    Affectation.
  5. 5
    affected manners intended to impress others wordnet
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  1. 6
    a posture assumed by models for photographic or artistic purposes wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To place in an attitude or fixed position, for the sake of effect. transitive

    "To pose a model for a picture."

  2. 2
    To ask (someone) questions; to interrogate. obsolete

    "And hit fortuned that after .iii. dayes, they founde hym in the temple sittinge in the middes of the doctours, both hearynge them, and posinge them."

  3. 3
    be a mystery or bewildering to wordnet
  4. 4
    To ask; to set (a test, quiz, riddle, etc.). transitive
  5. 5
    to puzzle, non-plus, or embarrass with difficult questions. archaic
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  1. 6
    pretend to be someone you are not; sometimes with fraudulent intentions wordnet
  2. 7
    To constitute (a danger, a threat, a risk, etc.). transitive

    "Rather, they are concerned with the threat Iran poses to the region and the world."

  3. 8
    To perplex or confuse (someone). archaic
  4. 9
    put into a certain place or abstract location wordnet
  5. 10
    To falsely impersonate (another person or occupation) primarily for the purpose of accomplishing something or reaching a goal. transitive
  6. 11
    assume a posture as for artistic purposes wordnet
  7. 12
    To assume or maintain a pose; to strike an attitude. intransitive

    "He […] posed before her as a hero."

  8. 13
    behave affectedly or unnaturally in order to impress others wordnet
  9. 14
    To behave affectedly in order to attract interest or admiration. intransitive

    "dressed-to-kill babes and their sugar daddies would rather pose in malls, and teenagers can find McDonald's anywhere, leaving Váci utterly dependent on tourists for its livelihood and bustle."

  10. 15
    offer for others to consider wordnet
  11. 16
    To interrogate; to question. obsolete, transitive

    "She pretended to […] pose him and sift him."

  12. 17
    To question with a view to puzzling; to embarrass by questioning or scrutiny; to bring to a stand. obsolete, transitive

    "A question wherewith a learned Pharisee thought to pose or puzzle him."

Etymology

Etymology 1

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”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English posen, from Old French poser (“to put, place, stell, settle, lodge”), from Vulgar Latin pausāre (“to blin, cease, pause”), from Latin pausa (“pause”), from Ancient Greek παῦσις (paûsis); influenced by Latin pōnere. Doublet of pause.

Etymology 3

From Middle English posen, from Old French poser (“to put, place, stell, settle, lodge”), from Vulgar Latin pausāre (“to blin, cease, pause”), from Latin pausa (“pause”), from Ancient Greek παῦσις (paûsis); influenced by Latin pōnere. Doublet of pause.

Etymology 4

From Middle English posen, a combination of aphetic forms of Middle English aposen and opposen. More at appose, oppose.

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