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 balk

Sidebar: the Electoral College is the balk rule of government.

Baseball’s Problem Is Politics’ Problem |Doug McIntyre |November 4, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
“Megalodon fossils appear in shallower marine sediments,” Balk said.

Shark Week Is Lying Again: Megalodon Is Definitely Extinct |David Shiffman |August 15, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Although my temptation is to balk like a sitcom father—“Whaddya mean these guys are famous for Tweeting?!”

My Weird Inside Look at Teen Twitter |Sam Wilkinson |May 22, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Producers are not likely to want to hire another actor who may balk at the pressure of filming the major project.

Meet Jamie Dornan: ’50 Shades of Grey's' New Christian Grey |Kevin Fallon |October 23, 2013 |DAILY BEAST

Unlike entitlement cuts, sequester cuts must be renewed every year by Congress, and sooner or later, Congress will likely balk.

Republicans Don’t Really Care About Reducing America’s Debt |Peter Beinart |October 21, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
Caterers, decorators, florists do not balk at paying commissions on contracts.

The Substitute Prisoner |Max Marcin
Was this common little Tanner woman going to be the one to balk her plans?

A Voice in the Wilderness |Grace Livingston Hill
Why should anyone be staggered at the proposition for the establishment of the Homecroft Reserve, or balk at it because it is big?

Our National Defense: |George Hebard Maxwell
Why then, when it comes to this particular axiom of irrational common-sense, does he balk and sheer off?

The Complex Vision |John Cowper Powys
Ducie challenged, and I was not then in the humour to balk him.

Home as Found |James Fenimore Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for balk

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 balk

British Dictionary definitions for balk

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 balk

Example sentences from the Web for balk

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

baulk

verb

noun

Derived forms of balk

Word Origin for balk

British Dictionary definitions for balk