balk

American  

[bawk] / bɔk /

Or baulk

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.

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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.

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

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

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

As The Seattle Times’ Gene Balk reported, market research surveys suggest that Ann Arbor’s football fervor dwarfs Seattle’s, with more than half of Seattle respondents saying they were “not at all” interested in college football.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 8, 2024

However, 4 years ago the first draft of the whole pea genome sequence was put together and this greatly helped Professor Balk and her team.

From Science Daily • Nov. 15, 2023

Using computational mapping techniques and plant experiments, the team in the group of Dr Balk have identified the exact mutations and their locations on the pea genome.

From Science Daily • Nov. 15, 2023

Billed as an "unofficial sequel" to that most classic of films, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's 1939 sweeping "The Wizard of Oz," "Return" introduces a young Fairuza Balk in her first film role as Dorothy Gale.

From Salon • Mar. 14, 2023

Mrs. Balk was of opinion that Miss Ringwood was not “quite right,” as she expressed it, on some topics; especially did she seem impressed with the idea that The Mere ought to belong to her.

From A Stable for Nightmares or Weird Tales by Young, Charles L. (Charles Lawrence), Sir

Related Words

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