Balk
[bɔːlk;bɔːk] or [bɔk]
Definition
(noun.) an illegal pitching motion while runners are on base.
(noun.) the area on a billiard table behind the balkline; 'a player with ball in hand must play from the balk'.
Typist: Loretta--From WordNet
Definition
(v. i.) A ridge of land left unplowed between furrows, or at the end of a field; a piece missed by the plow slipping aside.
(v. i.) A great beam, rafter, or timber; esp., the tie-beam of a house. The loft above was called "the balks."
(v. i.) One of the beams connecting the successive supports of a trestle bridge or bateau bridge.
(v. i.) A hindrance or disappointment; a check.
(v. i.) A sudden and obstinate stop; a failure.
(v. i.) A deceptive gesture of the pitcher, as if to deliver the ball.
(v. t.) To leave or make balks in.
(v. t.) To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles.
(v. t.) To omit, miss, or overlook by chance.
(v. t.) To miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk.
(v. t.) To disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to /hwart; as, to balk expectation.
(v. i.) To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition.
(v. i.) To stop abruptly and stand still obstinately; to jib; to stop short; to swerve; as, the horse balks.
(v. i.) To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring.
Typed by Clint
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. Disappoint, frustrate, defeat, foil, baffle, disconcert, thwart.
Typed by Benjamin
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Estop, bar, thwart, frustrate, foil, stop, prevent, hinder, neutralize,nullify, mar, counteract, disappoint, defeat, baffle
ANT:Aid, abet, promote, advance, encourage, instigate
Typed by Ethan
Examples
- Mr. Osborne dropped it with the bitterest, deadliest pang of balked affection and revenge. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Real affection, it seemed, he could not have for me; it had been only fitful passion: that was balked; he would want me no more. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Whatever Clara's intention had been in asking to be brought hither, it was balked by the presence of the soldiers. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- How this fascination of the obvious has balked the work of the Commission I need not elaborate. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Mr. Smallweed, purposely balking himself in an aim at the trooper's head, throws the pipe on the ground and breaks it to pieces. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
Inputed by Elvira