Definitions of Balk [ɔk]

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Definition of 'Balk'

Random House Webster's College Dictionary

1. (v.i.) balk
to refuse curtly and firmly (usu. fol. by at).

2.  balk
to stop short and stubbornly refuse to go on.

3.  balk
to commit a balk in baseball.

4. (v.t.) balk
to place an obstacle in the way of; hinder; thwart.

5. (n.) balk
a baseball pitcher's illegal motion or feint, penalized by awarding a runner or runners an advance to the next base.

6.  balk
a check or hindrance; defeat; disappointment.

7.  balk
a strip of land left unplowed.

8.  balk
any heavy timber used for building purposes.

Etymology: (bef. 900; ME; OE balca covering, beam, ridge, c. ON b&oogon;lkr bar, partition)

Definition of 'Balk'

Princeton's WordNet

1. (noun) balk, baulk
the area on a billiard table behind the balkline
"a player with ball in hand must play from the balk"

2. (noun) hindrance, hinderance, deterrent, impediment, balk, baulk, check, handicap
something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress

3. (noun) rafter, balk, baulk
one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof

4. (verb) balk
an illegal pitching motion while runners are on base

5. (verb) resist, balk, baulk, jib
refuse to comply

Definition of 'Balk'

Webster Dictionary

1. (verb) Balk
a ridge of land left unplowed between furrows, or at the end of a field; a piece missed by the plow slipping aside

2. (verb) Balk
a great beam, rafter, or timber; esp., the tie-beam of a house. The loft above was called "the balks."

3. (verb) Balk
one of the beams connecting the successive supports of a trestle bridge or bateau bridge

4. (verb) Balk
a hindrance or disappointment; a check

5. (verb) Balk
a sudden and obstinate stop; a failure

6. (verb) Balk
a deceptive gesture of the pitcher, as if to deliver the ball

7. (verb) Balk
to leave or make balks in

8. (verb) Balk
to leave heaped up; to heap up in piles

9. (verb) Balk
to omit, miss, or overlook by chance

10. (verb) Balk
to miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk

11. (verb) Balk
to disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to /hwart; as, to balk expectation

12. (verb) Balk
to engage in contradiction; to be in opposition

13. (verb) Balk
to stop abruptly and stand still obstinately; to jib; to stop short; to swerve; as, the horse balks

14. (verb) Balk
to indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring

'Balk' - Nearby Entries
balk balkan state balkan wars balker balkiness balking balkline

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