unballasted

American  

[uhn-bal-uh-stid] / ʌnˈbæl ə stɪd /

adjective

1. not fitted with or carrying ballast.

2. not properly steadied or regulated.

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Etymology

Origin of unballasted

First recorded in 1635–45; un- ¹ + ballast ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

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 Foster, W. Bertram

Upon two descents that were too precipitous to venture unballasted, I tied fair-sized pine trees to the rear of my craft to act as drag-anchors.

From A Mountain Boyhood by Comstock, Enos B. (Enos Benjamin)

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 Churchill, Winston

Then, as if the clouds had discharged their aqueous cargo and rode light as unballasted ships, they lifted in aerial fleets and sailed away, white in a blue sky.

From The Hidden Places by Sinclair, Bertrand W.

Valour unballasted but lands its freight On the enemy's shore.—What has become of Hill?

From The Dynasts by Hardy, Thomas