balk

balk  (bôk)

v. balked, balk·ing, balks

v.intr.

1. To stop short and refuse to go on: The horse balked at the jump.

2. To refuse obstinately or abruptly: She balked at the very idea of compromise.

3.

a. Sports To make an incomplete or misleading motion.

b. Baseball To make an illegal motion before pitching, allowing one or more base runners to advance one base.

v.tr.

1. To check or thwart by or as if by an obstacle.

2. Archaic To let go by; miss.

n.

1. A hindrance, check, or defeat.

2. Sports An incomplete or misleading motion, especially an illegal move made by a baseball pitcher.

3. Games One of the spaces between the cushion and the balk line on a billiard table.

4.

a. An unplowed strip of land.

b. A ridge between furrows.

5. A wooden beam or rafter.

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[Middle English balken, to plow up in ridges, from balk, ridge, from Old English balca and from Old Norse balkr, beam.]

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balker n.

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balk, baulk [bɔːk bɔːlk]

vb

1. (intr; usually foll by at) to stop short, esp suddenly or unexpectedly; jib the horse balked at the jump

2. (intr; foll by at) to turn away abruptly; recoil he balked at the idea of murder

3. (tr) to thwart, check, disappoint, or foil he was balked in his plans

4. (tr) to avoid deliberately he balked the question

5. (tr) to miss unintentionally

n

1. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Architecture) a roughly squared heavy timber beam

2. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Architecture) a timber tie beam of a roof

3. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Agriculture) an unploughed ridge to prevent soil erosion or mark a division on common land

4. an obstacle; hindrance; disappointment

5. (Team Sports / Baseball) Baseball an illegal motion by a pitcher towards the plate or towards the base when there are runners on base, esp without delivering the ball See also baulk

[Old English balca; related to Old Norse bálkr partition, Old High German balco beam]

balker , baulker n

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Balk a ridge or heap on the ground. See also bank, bar.

Examples: balk of earth; of good ground, 1605; of money, 1652; of sand, 1538.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	balk - the area on a billiard table behind the balkline; "a player with ball in hand must play from the balk" baulk billiard table, pool table, snooker table - game equipment consisting of a heavy table on which pool is played surface area, expanse, area - the extent of a 2-dimensional surface enclosed within a boundary; "the area of a rectangle"; "it was about 500 square feet in area"
	2.	balk - something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress deterrent, hinderance, hindrance, impediment, baulk, handicap, check difficulty - a factor causing trouble in achieving a positive result or tending to produce a negative result; "serious difficulties were encountered in obtaining a pure reagent" albatross, millstone - (figurative) something that hinders or handicaps; "she was an albatross around his neck" bind - something that hinders as if with bonds diriment impediment - (canon law) an impediment that invalidates a marriage (such as the existence of a prior marriage) drag - something that slows or delays progress; "taxation is a drag on the economy"; "too many laws are a drag on the use of new land" obstacle, obstruction - something immaterial that stands in the way and must be circumvented or surmounted; "lack of imagination is an obstacle to one's advancement"; "the poverty of a district is an obstacle to good education"; "the filibuster was a major obstruction to the success of their plan" straitjacket - anything immaterial that severely hinders or confines; "they defected because Russian dance was in a straitjacket"; "the government is operating in an economic straitjacket"
	3.	balk - one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof rafter, baulk beam - long thick piece of wood or metal or concrete, etc., used in construction
	4.	balk - an illegal pitching motion while runners are on base pitch, delivery - (baseball) the act of throwing a baseball by a pitcher to a batter
Verb	1.	balk - refuse to comply baulk, jib, resist disobey - refuse to go along with; refuse to follow; be disobedient; "He disobeyed his supervisor and was fired"

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balk baulk

verb (often with at) recoil, resist, hesitate, dodge, falter, evade, shy away, flinch, quail, shirk, shrink, draw back, jib Even biology graduates may balk at animal experiments.
recoil accept, yield, submit, comply, relent, accede, acquiesce

Translations

balk [bɔːk]

A. N

1. (Agr) → caballón m

2. (Billiards) → cabaña f

3. (= building timber) → viga f

B. VT (= thwart) → impedir; (= miss) → perder, no aprovechar
we were balked of the chance to see it → perdimos la oportunidad de verlo

C. VI to balk (at) [horse] → plantarse(ante) (fig) [person] some students balk at carrying out animal experiments → algunos estudiantes se muestran reacios or se resisten a llevar a cabo experimentos con animales

balk [ˈbɔːk] vi

[person] → regimber
to balk at sth [+ task, fact, idea, sum of money] → regimber devant qch
to balk at doing sth → regimber à faire qch

[horse] → se dérober
to balk at sth [+ fence, jump] → se dérober devant qch

balk, baulk

n

(= beam) → Balken m

(= obstacle) → Hindernis nt, → Hemmschuh m → (to für)

vt person → hemmen; plan → vereiteln

vi (person) → zurückschrecken (→ at vor +dat); (horse) → scheuen, bocken (at bei)

balk baulk [bɔːk] vi to balk (at the idea of) (person) → recalcitrare (all'idea di), tirarsi indietro (davanti a); (horse) → recalcitrare or impennarsi (di fronte a)

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balk baulk [bɔːk] vi to balk (at the idea of) (person) → recalcitrare (all'idea di), tirarsi indietro (davanti a); (horse) → recalcitrare or impennarsi (di fronte a)