balk


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Related to balk: Belk, renege

balk

 (bôk)
v. balked, balk·ing, balks
v.intr.
1. To stop short and refuse to go on: The horse balked at the jump.
2. To refuse obstinately or abruptly: She balked at the very idea of compromise.
3.
a. Sports To make an incomplete or misleading motion.
b. Baseball To make an illegal motion before pitching, allowing one or more base runners to advance one base.
v.tr.
1. To check or thwart by or as if by an obstacle.
2. Archaic To let go by; miss.
n.
1. A hindrance, check, or defeat.
2. Sports An incomplete or misleading motion, especially an illegal move made by a baseball pitcher.
3. Games One of the spaces between the cushion and the balk line on a billiard table.
4.
a. An unplowed strip of land.
b. A ridge between furrows.
5. A wooden beam or rafter.

[Middle English balken, to plow up in ridges, from balk, ridge, from Old English balca and from Old Norse balkr, beam.]

balk′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

balk

(bɔːk; bɔːlk) or

baulk

vb
1. (usually foll by: at) to stop short, esp suddenly or unexpectedly; jib: the horse balked at the jump.
2. (foll by: at) to turn away abruptly; recoil: he balked at the idea of murder.
3. (tr) to thwart, check, disappoint, or foil: he was balked in his plans.
4. (tr) to avoid deliberately: he balked the question.
5. (tr) to miss unintentionally
n
6. (Architecture) a roughly squared heavy timber beam
7. (Architecture) a timber tie beam of a roof
8. (Agriculture) an unploughed ridge to prevent soil erosion or mark a division on common land
9. an obstacle; hindrance; disappointment
10. (Baseball) baseball an illegal motion by a pitcher towards the plate or towards the base when there are runners on base, esp without delivering the ball
[Old English balca; related to Old Norse bálkr partition, Old High German balco beam]
ˈbalker, ˈbaulker n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

balk

(bɔk)
v.i.
1. to refuse curtly and firmly (usu. fol. by at).
2. to stop short and stubbornly refuse to go on.
3. to commit a balk in baseball.
v.t.
4. to place an obstacle in the way of; hinder; thwart.
n.
5. a baseball pitcher's illegal motion or feint, penalized by awarding a runner or runners an advance to the next base.
6. a check or hindrance; defeat; disappointment.
7. a strip of land left unplowed.
8. any heavy timber used for building purposes.
[before 900; Middle English; Old English balca covering, beam, ridge, c. Old Norse bǫlkr bar, partition]
balk′er, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Balk

 a ridge or heap on the ground. See also bank, bar.
Examples: balk of earth; of good ground, 1605; of money, 1652; of sand, 1538.
Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

balk


Past participle: balked
Gerund: balking

Imperative
balk
balk
Present
I balk
you balk
he/she/it balks
we balk
you balk
they balk
Preterite
I balked
you balked
he/she/it balked
we balked
you balked
they balked
Present Continuous
I am balking
you are balking
he/she/it is balking
we are balking
you are balking
they are balking
Present Perfect
I have balked
you have balked
he/she/it has balked
we have balked
you have balked
they have balked
Past Continuous
I was balking
you were balking
he/she/it was balking
we were balking
you were balking
they were balking
Past Perfect
I had balked
you had balked
he/she/it had balked
we had balked
you had balked
they had balked
Future
I will balk
you will balk
he/she/it will balk
we will balk
you will balk
they will balk
Future Perfect
I will have balked
you will have balked
he/she/it will have balked
we will have balked
you will have balked
they will have balked
Future Continuous
I will be balking
you will be balking
he/she/it will be balking
we will be balking
you will be balking
they will be balking
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been balking
you have been balking
he/she/it has been balking
we have been balking
you have been balking
they have been balking
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been balking
you will have been balking
he/she/it will have been balking
we will have been balking
you will have been balking
they will have been balking
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been balking
you had been balking
he/she/it had been balking
we had been balking
you had been balking
they had been balking
Conditional
I would balk
you would balk
he/she/it would balk
we would balk
you would balk
they would balk
Past Conditional
I would have balked
you would have balked
he/she/it would have balked
we would have balked
you would have balked
they would have balked
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

balk

1. A strip of ground left unexcavated between two trenches dug at an archaelogical site.
2. An illegal act by the pitcher while one or more runners are on base. Any runner may then walk on to the next base.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.balk - the area on a billiard table behind the balklinebalk - the area on a billiard table behind the balkline; "a player with ball in hand must play from the balk"
billiard table, pool table, snooker table - game equipment consisting of a heavy table on which pool is played
surface area, expanse, area - the extent of a 2-dimensional surface enclosed within a boundary; "the area of a rectangle"; "it was about 500 square feet in area"
2.balk - something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress
difficulty - a factor causing trouble in achieving a positive result or tending to produce a negative result; "serious difficulties were encountered in obtaining a pure reagent"
albatross, millstone - (figurative) something that hinders or handicaps; "she was an albatross around his neck"
bind - something that hinders as if with bonds
diriment impediment - (canon law) an impediment that invalidates a marriage (such as the existence of a prior marriage)
drag - something that slows or delays progress; "taxation is a drag on the economy"; "too many laws are a drag on the use of new land"
obstacle, obstruction - something immaterial that stands in the way and must be circumvented or surmounted; "lack of imagination is an obstacle to one's advancement"; "the poverty of a district is an obstacle to good education"; "the filibuster was a major obstruction to the success of their plan"
straitjacket - anything immaterial that severely hinders or confines; "they defected because Russian dance was in a straitjacket"; "the government is operating in an economic straitjacket"
3.balk - one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roofbalk - one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof
beam - long thick piece of wood or metal or concrete, etc., used in construction
4.balk - an illegal pitching motion while runners are on basebalk - an illegal pitching motion while runners are on base
pitch, delivery - (baseball) the act of throwing a baseball by a pitcher to a batter
Verb1.balk - refuse to complybalk - refuse to comply      
disobey - refuse to go along with; refuse to follow; be disobedient; "He disobeyed his supervisor and was fired"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

balk

baulk
verb (often with at) recoil, resist, hesitate, dodge, falter, evade, shy away, flinch, quail, shirk, shrink, draw back, jib Even biology graduates may balk at animal experiments.
recoil accept, yield, submit, comply, relent, accede, acquiesce
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

balk

verb
To prevent from accomplishing a purpose:
Informal: cross, stump.
noun
A large, oblong piece of wood or other material, used especially for construction:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

balk

[bɔːk]
A. N
1. (Agr) → caballón m
2. (Billiards) → cabaña f
3. (= building timber) → viga f
B. VT (= thwart) → impedir; (= miss) → perder, no aprovechar
we were balked of the chance to see itperdimos la oportunidad de verlo
C. VI to balk (at) [horse] → plantarse (ante) (fig) [person] some students balk at carrying out animal experimentsalgunos estudiantes se muestran reacios or se resisten a llevar a cabo experimentos con animales
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

balk

[ˈbɔːk] vi
[person] → regimber
to balk at sth [+ task, fact, idea, sum of money] → regimber devant qch
to balk at doing sth → regimber à faire qch
[horse] → se dérober
to balk at sth [+ fence, jump] → se dérober devant qch
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

balk

, baulk
n
(= beam)Balken m
(= obstacle)Hindernis nt, → Hemmschuh m(to für)
vt personhemmen; planvereiteln
vi (person)zurückschrecken (→ at vor +dat); (horse)scheuen, bocken (at bei)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

balk

baulk [bɔːk] vi to balk (at the idea of) (person) → recalcitrare (all'idea di), tirarsi indietro (davanti a); (horse) → recalcitrare or impennarsi (di fronte a)
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
At the very moment when she would have seized her prey, the hare moved and darted along the balk between the winter rye and the stubble.
Edna admired the skill of his maneuver, and avoided any occasion to balk his intentions.
Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans; the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces; the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field; and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.
Ah, would it not be sweet revenge indeed to balk the King in this venture so dear to his heart!
If you interfere to balk his vengeance, you should remember there is one way to shut your testimony out; and that is to put you in the dock.
It's all dead easy if Rosy don't balk when the flag drops.
Hunt was not accustomed to the management of "voyageurs," and he had a crew admirably disposed to play the old soldier, and balk their work; and ever ready to come to a halt, land, make a fire, put on the great pot, and smoke, and gossip, and sing by the hour.
The party returned to camp, balked of their revenge, but still more grievously balked of their supper.
My mother did not relish this at all, and now made many objections to my accepting the situation; in which my sister warmly supported her: but, unwilling to be balked again, I overruled them all; and, having first obtained the consent of my father (who had, a short time previously, been apprised of these transactions), I wrote a most obliging epistle to my unknown correspondent, and, finally, the bargain was concluded.
It was this last habit that gave me the opportunity I craved to capture one of these herbivorous cetaceans--that is what Perry calls them--and make as good a meal as one can on raw, warm-blooded fish; but I had become rather used, by this time, to the eating of food in its natural state, though I still balked on the eyes and entrails, much to the amusement of Ghak, to whom I always passed these delicacies.
The clergyman's shy and sensitive reserve had balked this scheme Roger Chillingworth, however,was inclined to be hardly, if at all, less satisfied with the aspect of affairs, which Providence -- using the avenger and his victim for its own purposes, and, perchance, pardoning, where it seemed most to punish -- had substituted for his black devices A revelation, he could almost say, had been granted to him.
I saw that she was a good housekeeper, for while she talked she kept a corner of her eye on the servants to see that they made no balks in handling the body and getting it out; when they came with fresh clean towels, she sent back for the other kind; and when they had finished wiping the floor and were going, she indicated a crimson fleck the size of a tear which their duller eyes had overlooked.