Balk
A ridge of land left unplowed between furrows, or at the end of a field; a piece missed by the plow slipping aside.
A great beam, rafter, or timber; esp., the tie-beam of a house. The loft above was called "the balks."
One of the beams connecting the successive supports of a trestle bridge or bateau bridge.
A hindrance or disappointment; a check.
A sudden and obstinate stop; a failure.
A deceptive gesture of the pitcher, as if to deliver the ball.
To leave or make balks in.
To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles.
To omit, miss, or overlook by chance.
To miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk.
To disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to /hwart; as, to balk expectation.
To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition.
To stop abruptly and stand still obstinately; to jib; to stop short; to swerve; as, the horse balks.
To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring.
Related Definitions:
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And,
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At,
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Bateau,
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Fishermen,
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From,
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House,
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Left,
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Was
Balk Quotations
I have sympathy for young people, for their growing pains, but I balk when these growing pains are pushed into the foreground, when you make these young people the only vehicles of life's wisdom.
Wislawa Szymborska
I can never tell ahead of time which book will give me trouble - some balk every step of the way, others seem to write themselves - but certainly the mechanics of writing, finding the time and the psychic space, are easier now that my children are grown.
Anne Tyler
I don't ever balk at being considered a Motown person, because Motown is the greatest musical event that ever happened in the history of music.
Smokey Robinson
Presidents with strong nerves are decisive. They don't balk at unpopular decisions. They are willing to make people angry. Bush had strong nerves. Clinton, who passed up a chance to eliminate Osama bin Laden, did not. Obama is a people pleaser, a trait not normally associated with nerves of steel.
Fred Barnes
There are only two guidelines in good sex, don't do anything you don't really enjoy and find out what are your partner needs and don't balk them if you can help it.
Alex Comfort
Balk Translations
balk in German is Hindernis
balk in Spanish is desliz
balk in Swedish is hindra
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