baulk

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bɔː(l)k/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /bɔk/, [bɔɫk]
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /bɑk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  (cot–caught merger)
• Rhymes: -ɔːk

Noun

baulk (plural baulks)

1. (British spelling) Alternative spelling of balk
   • 1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed‎^[1]:

     'And am I to plunge a harpoon into that beast!' 'That's your privilege, my son,' said Malone, 'and, sad to relate, unless I give it a miss in baulk, I shall have to be at your side when you do it.'

Derived terms

• baulk colour
• baulk end
• baulk line
• in baulk

 

Verb

baulk (third-person singular simple present baulks, present participle baulking, simple past and past participle baulked)

1. (British spelling) Alternative spelling of balk
   • 1855, Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, section XII:

     What made those holes and rents / In the dock's harsh swarth leaves, bruised as to baulk / All hope of greenness?

   • 1952, Daphne du Maurier, “Monte Verità”, in The Apple Tree:

     As he talked, slowly, quietly, I had the impression that it must surely be an accident that had happened, but that his mind, unhinged by tragedy, baulked at Anna’s death.

   • 2020 January 2, Philip Haigh, “Is there relief to congestion along Castlefield Corridor?”, in Rail, page 22:

     What wasn't done was the second part of the work to add Piccadilly's two new through platforms. The Department for Transport baulked at Network Rail's price, but nonetheless May 2018's timetable increased services to 15tph. Punctuality dropped.

   • 2023 September 30, Hannah Murphy, “The wildest job in Silicon Valley”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 18:

     Colleagues and confidants describe Yaccarino as a conservative. But when I ask about her personal politics, she baulks.

Anagrams

• Kabul, bulak