About The Word Balk

Bay Area Crosswords

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Balk

Balk Meaning & Definition
Balk Definition And Meaning

What's The Definition Of Balk?

[n] an illegal pitching motion while runners are on base
[n] one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof
[n] something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress
[n] the area on a billiard table behind the balkline; "a player with ball in hand must play from the balk"
[v] refuse to comply

Synonyms | Synonyms for Balk: baulk | baulk | baulk | baulk | check | deterrent | handicap | hindrance | impediment | jib | rafter | resist

Related Terms | Find terms related to Balk: baffle | bafflement | balk at | balking | be unwilling | beam | beat | begrudge | betrayed hope | bevue | bilk | blast | blasted expectation | blighted hope | blow | boggle | brave | buffet | cast down | challenge | check | checkmate | circumvent | comedown | confound | confounding | confront | confusion | contravene | counter | counteract | countermand | counterwork | cross | cruel disappointment | dash | dashed hope | decline | defeat | defeat expectation | defy | destroy | die hard | disappoint | disappointment | discomfit | discomfiture | disconcert | disconcertion | discountenance | dish | disillusion | disillusionment | disrupt | dissatisfaction | dissatisfy | elude | failure | fallen countenance | false move | false step | fiasco | fizzle | flinch | flummox | foil | foiling | forlorn hope | frustrate | frustration | gag | grudge | hang back | hold out | hope deferred | inadvertence | inadvertency | jib | knock the chocks | lapse | lapsus calami | lapsus linguae | let down | letdown | loose thread | mind | mirage | miscue | misstep | nonplus | not budge | not care to | not feel like | object to | omission | oversight | perplex | persevere | quail | rebuff | recoil | refuse | repulse | reversal | reverse | rout | ruin | sabotage | scotch | scruple | setback | shrink | shy | slip | slipup | sore disappointment | spike | spoil | stand out | stand pat | stick | stickle | stonewall | strain | stumble | stump | take no denial | tantalization | tantalize | tease | thwart | thwarting | trip | turn down | upset | would rather not | wrong step

See Also | albatross | area | beam | billiard table | bind | delivery | difficulty | disobey | expanse | millstone | obstacle | obstruction | pitch | pool table | snooker table | surface area

Balk In Webster's Dictionary

\Balk\, n. [AS. balca beam, ridge; akin to Icel. b[=a]lkr partition, bj[=a]lki beam, OS. balko, G. balken; cf. Gael. balc ridge of earth between two furrows. Cf. {Balcony}, {Balk}, v. i., 3d {Bulk}.] 1. A ridge of land left unplowed between furrows, or at the end of a field; a piece missed by the plow slipping aside. Bad plowmen made balks of such ground. --Fuller. 2. A great beam, rafter, or timber; esp., the tie-beam of a house. The loft above was called ``the balks.'' Tubs hanging in the balks. --Chaucer. 3. (Mil.) One of the beams connecting the successive supports of a trestle bridge or bateau bridge. 4. A hindrance or disappointment; a check. A balk to the confidence of the bold undertaker. --South. 5. A sudden and obstinate stop; a failure. 6. (Baseball) A deceptive gesture of the pitcher, as if to deliver the ball. {Balk line} (Billiards), a line across a billiard table near one end, marking a limit within which the cue balls are placed in beginning a game; also, a line around the table, parallel to the sides, used in playing a particular game, called the balk line game.
\Balk\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Balked} (?); p. pr. & vb. n. {Balking}.] [From {Balk} a beam; orig. to put a balk or beam in one's way, in order to stop or hinder. Cf., for sense 2, AS. on balcan legan to lay in heaps.] 1. To leave or make balks in. [Obs.] --Gower. 2. To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles. [Obs.] Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights, Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see. --Shak. 3. To omit, miss, or overlook by chance. [Obs.] 4. To miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk. [Obs. or Obsolescent] By reason of the contagion then in London, we balked the ?nns. --Evelyn. Sick he is, and keeps his bed, and balks his meat. --Bp. Hall. Nor doth he any creature balk, But lays on all he meeteth. --Drayton. 5. To disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to ?hwart; as, to balk expectation. They shall not balk my entrance. --Byron.
\Balk\, v. i. 1. To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition. [Obs.] In strifeful terms with him to balk. --Spenser. 2. To stop abruptly and stand still obstinately; to jib; to stop short; to swerve; as, the horse balks. Note: This has been regarded as an Americanism, but it occurs in Spenser's ``Fa["e]rie Queene,'' Book IV., 10, xxv. Ne ever ought but of their true loves talkt, Ne ever for rebuke or blame of any balkt.
\Balk\, v. i. [Prob. from D. balken to bray, bawl.] To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring.

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