balk

American  

[bawk] / bɔk /

Or baulk

verb (used without object)

• balks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• balked,
  past participle,  past
• balking
  present participle

1. to stop, as at an obstacle, and refuse to proceed or to do something specified (usually followed byat ).

   He balked at making the speech.

2. (of a horse, mule, etc.) to stop short and stubbornly refuse to go on.

3. Baseball. to commit a balk.

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verb (used with object)

• balks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• balked,
  past participle,  past
• balking
  present participle

1. to place an obstacle in the way of; hinder; thwart.

   a sudden reversal that balked her hopes.

   Synonyms:

   prevent, impede, obstruct, retard, check

2. Archaic. to let slip; fail to use.

   to balk an opportunity.

noun

• balks
  plural

1. a check or hindrance; defeat; disappointment.

2. a strip of land left unplowed.

3. a crossbeam in the roof of a house that unites and supports the rafters; tie beam.

4. any heavy timber used for building purposes.

5. Baseball. an illegal motion by a pitcher while one or more runners are on base, as a pitch in which there is either an insufficient or too long a pause after the windup or stretch, a pretended throw to first or third base or to the batter with one foot on the pitcher's rubber, etc., resulting in a penalty advancing the runner or runners one base.

6. Billiards. any of the eight panels or compartments lying between the cushions of the table and the balklines.

7. Obsolete. a miss, slip, or failure.

   to make a balk.

idioms

1. in balk, inside any of the spaces in back of the balklines on a billiard table.

balk British  

/ bɔːk, bɔːlk /

verb

1. to stop short, esp suddenly or unexpectedly; jib

   the horse balked at the jump

2. to turn away abruptly; recoil

   he balked at the idea of murder

3. (tr) to thwart, check, disappoint, or foil

   he was balked in his plans

4. (tr) to avoid deliberately

   he balked the question

5. (tr) to miss unintentionally

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noun

1. a roughly squared heavy timber beam

2. a timber tie beam of a roof

3. an unploughed ridge to prevent soil erosion or mark a division on common land

4. an obstacle; hindrance; disappointment

5. baseball an illegal motion by a pitcher towards the plate or towards the base when there are runners on base, esp without delivering the ball

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• balker
  noun
• unbalked
  adjective
• unbalking
  adjective
• balkingly
  adverb
• unbalkingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• balks
  plural

Participles

• balking
  present
• balked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• balk
  simple
• balks
  simple
• have balked
  perfect
• has balked
  perfect
• am balking
  progressive
• are balking
  progressive
• is balking
  progressive
• have been balking
  perfect progressive
• has been balking
  perfect progressive

Past

• balked
  simple
• had balked
  perfect
• was balking
  progressive
• were balking
  progressive
• had been balking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will balk
  simple
• will have balked
  perfect
• will be balking
  progressive
• will have been balking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of balk

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English balca “covering, beam, ridge”; cognate with Old Norse bǫlkr “bar, partition,” Dutch balk, Old Saxon balko, German Balken, Old Norse bjalki “beam,” Old English bolca “plank”; perhaps akin to Latin sufflāmen, Slovenian blazína, Lithuanian balžíenas “beam.” See balcony

Explanation

If you balk at your mother's suggestion that you take on more responsibility, you're saying no to added chores. To balk means to refuse to go along with. A donkey balks when it refuses to move forward. This is a good picture for balk which is often used in conjunction with demands. Demands are something people often balk at like a donkey refusing to move. In baseball, a pitcher balks when he or she begins a pitch by winding up, but does not complete it. It is as if he is refusing to complete a started pitch, and it is against the rules.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

balk balks balked balking

As more families balk at costs, some schools are starting to make changes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

But the Dodgers stranded eight runners, going 0 for eight with men in scoring position through eight innings, avoiding their first shutout of the season at home on Adrian Morejon’s balk in the eighth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

And when they balk, it simply doesn’t get done.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

“It’s not like I can casually bring my boyfriend or a random friend who listens to a couple songs”—they balk at the high prices, she said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

There were two main horrors to which it was subject, the first of which was toe horror peculiar to all balls of string—that they invariably became tangles instead of balk.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

What happens if your house is damaged in a storm and the insurance company balks, saying it’s flood damage rather than wind damage, for example?

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

Glushon balks at many of Raman’s positions, including her opposition to a law that allows the city to ban homeless people from the streets near schools.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2026

The Leon Capital Group founder talks about investments in unglamorous businesses, career-defining bets during the financial crisis, and why he still sometimes balks at his dry-cleaning bill.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026

But, Bessent warned, if Beijing balks, the United States has "lots of levers" to retaliate.

From Barron's ● Nov. 16, 2025

His memory was a catalogue of vital notes on horses and men: hangs in the stretch, balks in close quarters, only hits right-handed.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Past governments have looked at how to reform social care and balked at the potential costs.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

But not long after, its Hero4 Session camera flopped, as shoppers balked at the price.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

Reid balked at the idea of licensing away the company’s core technology, Goldsmith said, so RevMed decided to acquire Warp Drive instead.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Where “Jurassic World” balked at doubling down on its single cruel sequence, “The End of Oak Street” has at least 10 stomach-dropping thrills.

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026

Even my solid Plug balked when I tried to hitch him up to help at the Robbinses’.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

Rather, the impasse is due to risk-averse utility customers balking at the outsize capital commitments and poor returns associated with green-field nuclear construction.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

Companies tried to pass along their own price increases to customers, but customers were balking.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026

Demand is strong and consumers aren’t balking at higher fares, plus it’s cutting capacity to mitigate the impact of higher fuel prices.

From Barron's ● Apr. 21, 2026

Customers were balking after a string of price increases.

From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2026

“Anna May does have a ticket for Papa, but he’s balking about going.”

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Related Words

• flinch
• hesitate
• recoil
• refuse
• resist
• turn down