pose
/poʊz/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.10 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To falsely impersonate (another person or occupation) primarily for the purpose of accomplishing something or reaching a goal.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Now […] have we many chimnies, and yet our tenderlings complain of rheums, catarrhs, and poses."
- "Megg yesterday was troubled with a pose, Which, this night hardned, sodders up her nose."
- "The Ague, Cough, the Pyony, the Pose. Aches within, and accidents without, [...]"
- "And whereas some say, that they which use oft washing of their heads shall be very prone to headache, that is not true, but only in such that, after they have been washed, roll up their hair (being yet wet) about their heads; the cold whereof is dangerous to bring them to catarrhs and poses, with other inconveniences."
- "To pose a model for a picture."
- "Rather, they are concerned with the threat Iran poses to the region and the world."
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”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /poʊz/
- British English: /pəʊz/