tip the balance

Idioms  

1. Also, tip the scales; turn the scale. Offset the balance and thereby favor one side or precipitate an action. For example, He felt that affirmative action had tipped the balance slightly in favor of minority groups, or New high-tech weapons definitely tipped the scales in the Gulf War, or Just one more mistake will turn the scale against them. Shakespeare used turn the scale literally in Measure for Measure (4:2): “You weigh equally; a feather will turn the scale.” The idioms with tip are much younger, dating from the first half of the 1900s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tip the balance

“If the September PPI report also surprises to the upside, it could tip the balance toward a hike at the meeting,” Bill Adams, an economist at Fifth Third Commercial Bank, said Wednesday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

These two changes were enough to tip the balance.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

Alongside counting calories or eating smaller portions, many people add exercise into the equation when trying to lose weight to help tip the balance.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026

The four overseas seats held by Denmark's two autonomous territories -- two for Greenland and two for the Faroe Islands -- could tip the balance if the election result is very close.

From Barron's ● Mar. 24, 2026

But they must attack right away, Ludendorff insisted, before the Americans arrived to tip the balance.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

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