balk
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English[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English balke, Old English balca, either from or influenced by Old Norse bálkr (“partition, ridge of land”),[1] from Proto-Germanic *balkô. Cognate with German Balken (“balk”), Italian balcone (“balcony”).
Alternative forms[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
balk (plural balks)
- ridge, an unplowed strip of land.
- beam, crossbeam.
- hindrance.
- blunder.
- (sports) deceptive motion; feint
Translations[edit]
Verb[edit]
balk (third-person singular simple present balks, present participle balking, simple past and past participle balked)
- (archaic) to pass over or by.
- to stop, check, block.
- to stop short and refuse to go on.
- to refuse suddenly.
Translations[edit]
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Etymology 2[edit]
Probably from Dutch balken (“to bray, bawl”).
Verb[edit]
balk (third-person singular simple present balks, present participle balking, simple past and past participle balked)
- 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 The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
References[edit]
Dutch[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- Rhymes: -ɑlk
Etymology 1[edit]
From Old Dutch *balko, from Proto-Germanic *balkô.
Noun[edit]
balk m (plural balken, diminutive balkje)
Etymology 2[edit]
Verb[edit]
balk
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Old Norse
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
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- English verbs
- English archaic terms
- English terms derived from Dutch
- Webster 1913
- Dutch terms derived from Old Dutch
- Dutch terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Dutch nouns
- nl:Mathematics
- Dutch verb forms