From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Poise \Poise\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Poised, ; p. pr. & vb. n.
Poising.] [OE. poisen, peisen, OF. & F. peser, to weigh,
balance, OF. il peise, il poise, he weighs, F. il p[`e]se,
fr. L. pensare, v. intens. fr. pendere to weigh. See Poise,
n., and cf. Pensive.] [Formerly written also peise.]
1. To balance; to make of equal weight; as, to poise the
scales of a balance.
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2. To hold or place in equilibrium or equiponderance.
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Nor yet was earth suspended in the sky;
Nor poised, did on her own foundation lie. --Dryden.
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3. To counterpoise; to counterbalance.
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One scale of reason to poise another of sensuality.
--Shak.
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To poise with solid sense a sprightly wit. --Dryden.
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4. To ascertain, as by the balance; to weigh.
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He can not sincerely consider the strength, poise
the weight, and discern the evidence. --South.
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5. To weigh (down); to oppress. [Obs.]
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Lest leaden slumber peise me down to-morrow. --Shak.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
balanced \bal"anced\ adj.
being in a state of proper balance or equilibrium; --
opposite of unbalanced. the carefully balanced seesaw a
properly balanced symphony orchestra a balanced assessment of
intellectual and cultural history a balanced blend of
whiskeys the educated man shows a balanced development of all
his powers [Narrower terms: {counterbalanced,
counter-balanced, counterpoised}; well-balanced; poised]
[Related terms: stable --- (maintaining equilibrium)]
[WordNet 1.5]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
poised
adj 1: marked by balance or equilibrium and readiness for
action; "a gull in poised flight"; "George's poised
hammer"
2: in full control of your faculties; "the witness remained
collected throughout the cross-examination"; "perfectly
poised and sure of himself"; "more self-contained and more
dependable than many of the early frontiersmen"; "strong and
self-possessed in the face of trouble" [syn: collected,
equanimous, poised, self-collected, self-contained,
self-possessed]