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English
Etymology 1
From Middle English balke, from Old English balca, either from or influenced by Old Norse bálkr (“partition, ridge of land”), from Proto-Germanic *balkô. Cognate with Dutch balk (“balk”), German Balken (“balk”), Italian balcone (“balcony”).
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Noun
balk (plural balks)
- (agriculture) An uncultivated ridge formed in the open field system, caused by the action of ploughing.
1647, Tho[mas] Fuller, “Scripture Observations”, in Good Thoughts in Worse Times. , London: W. W. for John Williams , →OCLC, section XVI (Text improved), page 89:How fruitfull are the ſeeming Barren places of Scripture. Bad Plow-men, which make Balkes of ſuch Ground.
- (archaeology) The wall of earth at the edge of an excavation.
- Beam, crossbeam; squared timber; a tie beam of a house, stretching from wall to wall, especially when laid so as to form a loft, "the balks".
- A hindrance or disappointment; a check.
1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, 6th edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: J Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, , published 1727, →OCLC: , "Concealment of Sin"
- a balk to the confidence of the bold undertaker
- A sudden and obstinate stop.
- Synonym: failure
- (obsolete) An omission.
- (sports) A deceptive motion.
- Synonym: feint
- (baseball) An illegal motion by the pitcher, intended to deceive a runner.
- (badminton) A motion used to deceive the opponent during a serve.
- (billiards) The area of the table lying behind the line from which the cue ball is initially shot, and from which a ball in hand must be played.
- (snooker) The area of the table lying behind the baulk line.
- (fishing) The rope by which fishing nets are fastened together.
Derived terms
Translations
an unplowed strip of land
(sports) deceptive motion; feint
Verb
balk (third-person singular simple present balks, present participle balking, simple past and past participle balked)
- (archaic) To pass over or by.
- To omit, miss, or overlook by chance.
- Synonyms: miss, overlook
- (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- (obsolete) To miss intentionally; to avoid.
- Synonyms: avoid, shun, refuse, shirk
1641 November 22 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, , 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, ; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, , published 1819, →OCLC:By reason of the contagion then in London, we balked the nns.
1612–1626, [Joseph Hall], “(please specify the page)”, in , volumes (please specify |volume=II, V, or VI), London, →OCLC:Sick he is, and keeps his bed, and balks his meat.
1627, Michael Drayton, Nymphidia:Nor doth he any creature balk, / But lays on all he meeteth.
- To stop, check, block; to hinder, impede.
1932, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, London: Chatto & Windus:Balked for the second time, the passion of his grief had found another outlet, was transformed into a passion of agonized rage.
- To stop short and refuse to go on.
The horse balked.
- To refuse suddenly.
1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter XI, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. , volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., , →OCLC, page 303: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
- To disappoint; to frustrate.
- Synonyms: frustrate, foil, baffle, thwart
- to balk expectation
1821, Lord Byron, “The Two Foscari, an Historical Tragedy”, in Sardanapalus, a Tragedy; The Two Foscari, a Tragedy; Cain, a Mystery, London: John Murray, , →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 195:Well, / I know that none who enter there return / As they have enter'd—many never; but / They shall not balk my entrance.
- To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition.
- To leave or make balks in.
- To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles.
c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights, / Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see.
- (sports, intransitive) To make a deceptive motion to deceive another player.
2013, Aaron Wisewell, The Baseball Coach:The best advice you can receive regarding balking is to always maintain poise and composure on the mound.
Derived terms
Translations
(obsolete in English) to miss intentionally; to avoid
— see also miss,
avoid
- Bulgarian: преча (bg) (preča), спъвам (bg) (spǎvam), затруднявам (bg) (zatrudnjavam)
- Czech: zarazit (cs) pf, zastavit (cs) pf, zmařit pf
- Finnish: estää (fi)
- German: verhindern (de), stoppen (de), blockieren (de), behindern (de), vereiteln (de), Einhalt gebieten, durchkreuzen (de)
- Hungarian: meghiúsít (hu), akadályoz (hu), gátol (hu), hátráltat (hu), keresztülhúzza a számításait
- Italian: ostacolare (it)
|
to stop short and refuse to go on
— see also stop short
- Bulgarian: запирам се (zapiram se)
- Czech: zarazit se pf
- Finnish: seisahtua (fi), tehdä tenä
- French: regimber (fr)
- German: verweigern (de), stoppen (de), scheuen (de), stocken (de)
- Hungarian: megmakacsolja magát (hu), megbokrosodik (hu), megtorpan (hu), vonakodik (hu), húzódozik (hu), habozik (hu), bokkol
- Italian: tirarsi indietro
- Occitan: reguitnar (oc)
- Serbo-Croatian: ustuknuti (sh)
|
to refuse suddenly
— see also refuse
to engage in contradiction; to be in opposition
to leave or make balks in
to leave heaped up; to heap up in piles
sports, intransitive: to make a deceptive motion to deceive another player
Etymology 2
Probably from Dutch balken (“to bray, bawl”).
Verb
balk (third-person singular simple present balks, present participle balking, simple past and past participle balked)
- To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring.
References
Anagrams
Dutch
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle Dutch balke, from Old Dutch *balco, from Proto-West Germanic *balkō, from Proto-Germanic *balkô.
Noun
balk m (plural balken, diminutive balkje n)
- A beam, solid support.
- (mathematics) A cuboid.
- A section, icon et cetera in such rectangular shape.
Derived terms
- beam-shaped
Related terms
Descendants
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
balk
- inflection of balken:
- first-person singular present indicative
- imperative
Swedish
Etymology
From Old Swedish balker, from Old Norse bialki, bǫlkr, from Proto-Germanic *balkuz, from *balkô (“beam, plank”).
Noun
balk c
- a wooden or metal beam
- (heraldry) a bend (diagonal band)
- (law) code (major section of legislation)
- brottsbalk
- criminal code
- (slang, vulgar) penis
Declension
Synonyms
Derived terms
Further reading