unballasted
Americanadjective
-
not fitted with or carrying ballast.
-
not properly steadied or regulated.
Etymology
Origin of unballasted
First recorded in 1635–45; un- 1 + ballast ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The body loomed beside us like the rolling hull of an unballasted ship. 146With my face over my shoulder I watched old Tom poise the iron.
From Swept Out to Sea Clint Webb Among the Whalers by W. Bertram Foster
The rails were spiked to every alternate sleeper, and then the great 80-ton engine moved cautiously forward along the unballasted track, like an elephant trying a doubtful bridge.
From The River War An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan by Winston Churchill
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.
From Bart Stirling's Road to Success Or, The Young Express Agent by Allen Chapman
Valour unballasted but lands its freight On the enemy's shore.—What has become of Hill?
From The Dynasts by Thomas Hardy
It heeled over like an unballasted yacht under the lash of a hurricane.
From The Air Trust by George Allan England
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
