unballasted

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English

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Etymology

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From un- +‎ ballasted.

Adjective

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unballasted (not comparable)

  1. (shipping) Not loaded or stabilised with ballast.
    • 1922, Bertrand W. Sinclair, The Hidden Places[1]:
      Then, as if the clouds had discharged their aqueous cargo and rode light as unballasted ships, they lifted in aerial fleets and sailed away, white in a blue sky.
  2. (figurative) Unstable, liable to flounder.
    • 1908, Allen Chapman, Bart Stirling's Road to Success[2]:
      It was a rickety concern, was unballasted, and looked as if, loosely thrown together, it had never filled its original mission and had been practically abandoned.

Translations

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