balk

Or baulk

[bawk]

verb (used without object)

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.

verb (used with object)

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

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.

balk

/ 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

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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of balk¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of balk¹

Old English balca ; related to Old Norse bálkr partition, Old High German balco beam

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

Example Sentences

Welty balked at this suggestion, which would have undone a carefully constructed scene: “Ugh! How far could such ‘editing’ lead?

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Some dealmakers and executives see paths to lobby the White House for their deal’s approval even when antitrust cops balk.

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Many balked, saying at the time they didn’t want their products to sit alongside knockoffs, or toothpaste.

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Other carriers have balked at the roughly $50,000-per-aircraft price tag that Airbus charges for the kit, the people said.

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Retailers are closely monitoring whether or when shoppers will balk at prices bumped up by import costs.

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Related Words

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