balk

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Balk

English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English balke, from Old English balca, either from or influenced by Old Norse bálkr (“partition, ridge of land”),[1] from Proto-Germanic *balkô. Cognate with Dutch balk (“balk”), German Balken (“balk”), Italian balcone (“balcony”).

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

balk (plural balks)

  1. An uncultivated ridge formed in the open field system, caused by the action of ploughing.
    • (Can we date this quote by Fuller and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      Bad ploughmen made balks of such ground.
  2. (archaeology) The wall of earth at the edge of an excavation.
  3. Beam, crossbeam; squared timber; a tie beam of a house, stretching from wall to wall, especially when laid so as to form a loft, "the balks".
  4. A hindrance or disappointment; a check.
    • (Can we date this quote by South and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      a balk to the confidence of the bold undertaker
  5. A sudden and obstinate stop; a failure.
  6. (obsolete) An omission.
  7. (sports) A deceptive motion; a feint.
    1. (baseball) An illegal motion by the pitcher, intended to deceive a runner.
    2. (badminton) A motion used to deceive the opponent during a serve.
  8. (billiards) The area of the table lying behind the line from which the cue ball is initially shot, and from which a ball in hand must be played.
  9. (snooker) The area of the table lying behind the baulk line.
  10. (fishing) The rope by which fishing nets are fastened together.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

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 omit, miss, or overlook by chance.
    Synonyms: miss, overlook
    (Can we add an example for this sense?)
  3. (obsolete) To miss intentionally; to avoid.
    Synonyms: avoid, shun, refuse, shirk
    • (Can we date this quote by Evelyn and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      By reason of the contagion then in London, we balked the nns.
    • (Can we date this quote by Bishop Hall and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      Sick he is, and keeps his bed, and balks his meat.
    • 1627, Michael Drayton, Nymphidia
      Nor doth he any creature balk, / But lays on all he meeteth.
  4. To stop, check, block.
    (Can we add an example for this sense?)
  5. To stop short and refuse to go on.
    The horse balked.
  6. To refuse suddenly.
  7. To disappoint; to frustrate.
    Synonyms: frustrate, foil, baffle, thwart
    to balk expectation
    • (Can we date this quote by Byron and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      They shall not balk my entrance.
  8. To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition.
    • (Can we date this quote by Spenser and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      In strifeful terms with him to balk.
  9. To leave or make balks in.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Gower to this entry?)
  10. To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles.
Translations[edit]

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)

  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.
(See the entry for balk in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

References[edit]

  1. ^ “balk” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2020.

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle Dutch balke, from Old Dutch *balco, from Proto-Germanic *balkô.

Noun[edit]

balk m (plural balken, diminutive balkje n)

  1. beam, support
  2. (mathematics) cuboid
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
  • Afrikaans: balk

Etymology 2[edit]

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb[edit]

balk

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

Swedish[edit]

Noun[edit]

balk c

  1. a wooden or metal beam
  2. (heraldry) a bend (diagonal band)

Declension[edit]

Declension of balk 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative balk balken balker balkerna
Genitive balks balkens balkers balkernas

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=balk&oldid=59659071"