balk

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English balke, Old English balca, either from or influenced by Old Norse bálkr (“partition, ridge of land”), from Proto-Germanic *balkô. Cognate with German Balken (“balk”), Italian balcone (“balcony”).

Alternative forms

• baulk

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /bɔːk/

  Rhymes: -ɔːk

• (US) IPA: /bɔ(ː)k/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA: /bɑ(ː)k/

Noun

balk (plural balks)

1. ridge, an unplowed strip of land.
2. beam, crossbeam.
3. hindrance.
4. blunder.
5. (sports) deceptive motion; feint
   1. (baseball) an illegal motion intended to deceive a runner.
   2. (badminton) motion used to deceive an opponent during a serve

Translations

an unplowed strip of land

• Bulgarian: неизорана ивица земя
• Manx: immyr vane (gv) f

• Romanian: hat (ro) n, hotar (ro) n

beam

• Bulgarian: греда (bg) (greda)
• German: Balken (de) m
• Norwegian: bjelke (no) m

• Romanian: grindă (ro) f, lonjeron (ro) n
• Russian: балка (ru) (bálka) f

hindrance

• Bulgarian: , спънка (bg) (spǎnka), пречка (bg) (prečka)

• Romanian: obstacol (ro) n, piedică (ro) f

(sports) deceptive motion; feint

• Bulgarian: финт, лъжливо движение

• Romanian: fentă (ro) f

Verb

balk (third-person singular simple present balks, present participle balking, simple past and past participle balked)

1. (archaic) to pass over or by.
2. to stop, check, block.
3. to stop short and refuse to go on.
4. to refuse suddenly.

Translations

to stop, check, block

• Bulgarian: преча (bg) (preča), спъвам (bg) (spǎvam), затруднявам (bg) (zatrudnjavam)
• Finnish: estää (fi)

• Italian: ostacolare (it)

to stop short and refuse to go on

• Bulgarian: запирам се (bg) (zapiram se)
• French: regimber (fr)

• Italian: tirarsi indietro (it)

to refuse suddenly

• Bulgarian: пропускам (bg) (propuskam), отказвам (bg) (otkazvam)

• French: regimber (fr)

Etymology 2

Probably from Dutch balken (“to bray, bawl”).

Verb

balk (third-person singular simple present balks, present participle balking, simple past and past participle balked)

1. To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɑlk

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch *balko, from Proto-Germanic *balkô.

Noun

balk m (plural balken, diminutive balkje)

1. beam, support
2. (mathematics) cuboid

Etymology 2

Verb

balk

1. first-person singular present indicative of balken
2. imperative of balken