balk

or baulk

[ bawk ]

/ bɔk /

verb (used without object)

to stop, as at an obstacle, and refuse to proceed or to do something specified (usually followed by at): He balked at making the speech.

(of a horse, mule, etc.) to stop short and stubbornly refuse to go on.

Baseball. to commit a balk.

verb (used with object)

to place an obstacle in the way of; hinder; thwart: a sudden reversal that balked her hopes.

Archaic. to let slip; fail to use: to balk an opportunity.

noun

a check or hindrance; defeat; disappointment.

a strip of land left unplowed.

a crossbeam in the roof of a house that unites and supports the rafters; tie beam.

any heavy timber used for building purposes.

Baseball. an illegal motion by a pitcher while one or more runners are on base, as a pitch in which there is either an insufficient or too long a pause after the windup or stretch, a pretended throw to first or third base or to the batter with one foot on the pitcher's rubber, etc., resulting in a penalty advancing the runner or runners one base.

Billiards. any of the eight panels or compartments lying between the cushions of the table and the balklines.

Obsolete. a miss, slip, or failure: to make a balk.

Idioms for balk

in balk, inside any of the spaces in back of the balklines on a billiard table.

Origin of balk

before 900; Middle English; Old English balca covering, beam, ridge; cognate with Old Norse bǫlkr bar, partition, Dutch balk, Old Saxon balko, German Balken, Old Norse bjalki beam, Old English bolca plank; perhaps akin to Latin sufflāmen, Slovene blazína, Lithuanian balžíenas beam. See balcony

SYNONYMS FOR balk

4 check, retard, obstruct, impede, prevent.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR balk ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM balk

balk·er, noun balk·ing·ly, adverb un·balked, adjective un·balk·ing, adjective

un·balk·ing·ly, adverb

Words nearby balk

balinese, balinese cat, baliol, balisage, balistraria, balk, balkan, balkan frame, balkan mountains, balkan peninsula, balkan states

Example sentences from the Web for balked

If I balked at an act or found it difficult to perform, I was “punished” for my defiance (which is the nature of a BDSM scene).

My ‘Kink’ Nightmare: James Franco’s BDSM Porn Documentary ‘Kink’ Only Tells Part of the Story |Aurora Snow |August 30, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Gerawan consented, but after a few months at the table, UFW balked again.

A Crazy California Union Scandal |James Poulos |August 2, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
When Hayes balked at giving up her child, she claims Romney threatened she could be excommunicated if she refused.

Why Is the Mormon Church Getting Out of the Adoption Business? |Kathryn Joyce |June 23, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Obama administration officials wanted the BSA signed by the end of last year, but Karzai has balked.

Karzai Gambles with the Taliban |Bill Roggio |January 28, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

A Supreme Court decision was met, and balked, with utter defiance.

Alex Haley’s 1965 Playboy Interview with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. |Alex Haley |January 19, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
He thought of what his life might have been, if Isabel Gilbert had not balked all his plans of happiness.

The Doctor's Wife |M. E. Braddon
We idealize in fancy because our idealizations in fact are balked.

Human Nature and Conduct |John Dewey
It was while he was telling me how he had once fooled a country girl that I balked.

The Light in the Clearing |Irving Bacheller
This was effected, and Louis Philippe was balked of his desire to interfere in Portugal to promote a reactionary policy.

The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. |E. Farr and E. H. Nolan
He was balked in this project by no fastidious scruples as to his right thus to dispose of his ward's property.

At Last |Marion Harland

British Dictionary definitions for balked

balk

baulk

/ (bɔːk, bɔːlk) /

verb

(intr usually foll by at) to stop short, esp suddenly or unexpectedly; jib the horse balked at the jump

(intr foll by at) to turn away abruptly; recoil he balked at the idea of murder

(tr) to thwart, check, disappoint, or foil he was balked in his plans

(tr) to avoid deliberately he balked the question

(tr) to miss unintentionally

noun

a roughly squared heavy timber beam

a timber tie beam of a roof

an unploughed ridge to prevent soil erosion or mark a division on common land

an obstacle; hindrance; disappointment

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

Derived forms of balk

balker or baulker, noun

Word Origin for balk

Old English balca; related to Old Norse bálkr partition, Old High German balco beam

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

balk

or baulk

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

noun

Idioms for balk

Origin of balk

SYNONYMS FOR balk

OTHER WORDS FROM balk

Words nearby balk

Example sentences from the Web for balked

British Dictionary definitions for balked

baulk

verb

noun

Derived forms of balk

Word Origin for balk

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

balk

or baulk

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

noun

Idioms for balk

Origin of balk

SYNONYMS FOR balk

OTHER WORDS FROM balk

Words nearby balk

Words related to balked

Example sentences from the Web for balked

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for balked

baulk

verb

noun

Derived forms of balk

Word Origin for balk

British Dictionary definitions for balked