pose

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To hold a particular position so that someone can paint, draw, or photograph you.

   The family posed for a photo in front of the house.

2. 2
   verb

   To create or present a problem, danger, or question.

   Climate change poses a serious threat to coastal cities.

3. 3
   verb

   To pretend to be someone you are not.

   He posed as a doctor to enter the hospital.

4. 4
   noun

   A particular position in which someone stands, sits, or is photographed.

   She held the pose while the artist sketched her.

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”).

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