Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Balk
Balk
(ba̤k)
, Noun.
1.
A ridge of land left unplowed between furrows, or at the end of a field; a piece missed by the plow slipping aside.
Bad plowmen made
balks
of such ground. Fuller.
2.
A great beam, rafter, or timber; esp., the tie-beam of a house. The loft above was called “the balks.”
Tubs hanging in the
balks
. Chaucer.
3.
(Mil.)
One of the beams connecting the successive supports of a trestle bridge or bateau bridge.
4.
A hindrance or disappointment; a check.
A
balk
to the confidence of the bold undertaker. South.
5.
A sudden and obstinate stop; a failure.
6.
(Baseball)
A deceptive gesture of the pitcher, as if to deliver the ball. It is illegal and is penalized by allowing the runners on base to advance one base.
Balk line
(Billiards)
, a line across a billiard table near one end, marking a limit within which the cue balls are placed in beginning a game; also, a line around the table, parallel to the sides, used in playing a particular game, called the balk line game.
Balk
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Balked
(ba̤kt)
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Balking
.] [From
Balk
a beam; orig. to put a balk or beam in one’s way, in order to stop or hinder. Cf., for sense 2, AS. on balcan legan to lay in heaps.] 1.
To leave or make balks in.
[Obs.]
Gower.
2.
To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles.
[Obs.]
Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights,
Balk'd
in their own blood did Sir Walter see. Shakespeare
3.
To omit, miss, or overlook by chance.
[Obs.]
4.
To miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk.
[Obs. or Obsolescent]
By reason of the contagion then in London, we
balked
the inns. Evelyn.
Sick he is, and keeps his bed, and
balks
his meat. Bp. Hall.
Nor doth he any creature
But lays on all he meeteth.
balk
,But lays on all he meeteth.
Drayton.
5.
To disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to thwart;
as, to
. balk
expectationThey shall not
balk
my entrance. Byron.
Balk
,Verb.
I.
1.
To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition.
[Obs.]
In strifeful terms with him to
balk
. Spenser.
2.
To stop abruptly and stand still obstinately; to jib; to stop short; to swerve;
as, the horse
. balks
☞ This has been regarded as an Americanism, but it occurs in Spenser's “Faërie Queene,” Book IV., 10, xxv.
Ne ever ought but of their true loves talkt,
Ne ever for rebuke or blame of any
Ne ever for rebuke or blame of any
balkt
. Balk
,Verb.
I.
[Prob. from D.
balken
to bray, bawl.] To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring.
Webster 1828 Edition
Balk
BALK
,Noun.
1.
A ridge of land, left unplowed, between furrows, or at the end of a field.2.
A great beam, or rafter.3.
Any thing left untouched, like a ridge in plowing.4.
A frustration; disappointment.18