[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

balk \balk\ baddk, n. as. balca beam, ridge; akin to icel.
   b=alkr partition, bj=alki beam, os. balko, g. balken; cf.
   gael. balc ridge of earth between two furrows. cf. balcony,
   balk, v. t., 3d bulk.
   1. a ridge of land left unplowed between furrows, or at the
      end of a field; a piece missed by the plow slipping aside.
      1913 webster

            bad plowmen made balks of such ground. --fuller.
      1913 webster

   2. a great beam, rafter, or timber; esp., the tie-beam of a
      house. the loft above was called "the balks."
      1913 webster

            tubs hanging in the balks.            --chaucer.
      1913 webster

   3. mil. one of the beams connecting the successive supports
      of a trestle bridge or bateau bridge.
      1913 webster

   4. a hindrance or disappointment; a check.
      1913 webster

            a balk to the confidence of the bold undertaker.
                                                  --south.
      1913 webster

   5. a sudden and obstinate stop; a failure.
      1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster
see also:
balcony balk bulk balk line 

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

balk \balk\, v. 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.
   1913 webster

[3] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

balk \balk\, v. i.
   1. to engage in contradiction; to be in opposition. obs.
      1913 webster

            in strifeful terms with him to balk.  --spenser.
      1913 webster

   2. to stop abruptly and stand still obstinately; to jib; to
      stop short; to swerve; as, the horse balks.
      1913 webster

   note: this has been regarded as an americanism, but it occurs
         in spenser's "fa"erie queene," book iv., 10, xxv.
         1913 webster

               ne ever ought but of their true loves talkt,
               ne ever for rebuke or blame of any balkt.
         1913 webster

   3. baseball to commit a balk6; -- of a pitcher.
      pjc

[4] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

balk \balk\, v. t. imp.  p. p. balked baddkt; 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.
   1913 webster
   1. to leave or make balks in. obs. --gower.
      1913 webster

   2. to leave heaped up; to heap up in piles. obs.
      1913 webster

            ten thousand bold scots, two and twenty knights,
            balk'd in their own blood did sir walter see.
                                                  --shak.
      1913 webster

   3. to omit, miss, or overlook by chance. obs.
      1913 webster

   4. to miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to
      let go by; to shirk. obs. or obsolescent
      1913 webster

            by reason of the contagion then in london, we balked
            the inns.                             --evelyn.
      1913 webster

            sick he is, and keeps his bed, and balks his meat.
                                                  --bp. hall.
      1913 webster

            nor doth he any creature balk,
            but lays on all he meeteth.           --drayton.
      1913 webster

   5. to disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to
      thwart; as, to balk expectation.
      1913 webster

            they shall not balk my entrance.      --byron.
      1913 webster
see also:
balked balking balk 

[5] : WordNet (r) 2.0

balk
     n 1: the area on a billiard table behind the balkline; "a player
          with ball in hand must play from the balk" syn: baulk
     2: something immaterial that interferes with or delays action
        or progress syn: hindrance, deterrent, impediment,
        baulk, check, handicap
     3: one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof
        syn: rafter, baulk
     4: an illegal pitching motion while runners are on base
     v : refuse to comply syn: resist, baulk, jib
see also:
baulk hindrance deterrent impediment check handicap 
rafter resist jib 

[6] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

137 moby thesaurus words for "balk":
   baffle, bafflement, balk at, balking, be unwilling, beam, beat,
   begrudge, betrayed hope, bevue, bilk, blast, blasted expectation,
   blighted hope, blow, boggle, brave, buffet, cast down, challenge,
   check, checkmate, circumvent, comedown, confound, confounding,
   confront, confusion, contravene, counter, counteract, countermand,
   counterwork, cross, cruel disappointment, dash, dashed hope,
   decline, defeat, defeat expectation, defy, destroy, die hard,
   disappoint, disappointment, discomfit, discomfiture, disconcert,
   disconcertion, discountenance, dish, disillusion, disillusionment,
   disrupt, dissatisfaction, dissatisfy, elude, failure,
   fallen countenance, false move, false step, fiasco, fizzle, flinch,
   flummox, foil, foiling, forlorn hope, frustrate, frustration, gag,
   grudge, hang back, hold out, hope deferred, inadvertence,
   inadvertency, jib, knock the chocks, lapse, lapsus calami,
   lapsus linguae, let down, letdown, loose thread, mind, mirage,
   miscue, misstep, nonplus, not budge, not care to, not feel like,
   object to, omission, oversight, perplex, persevere, quail, rebuff,
   recoil, refuse, repulse, reversal, reverse, rout, ruin, sabotage,
   scotch, scruple, setback, shrink, shy, slip, slipup,
   sore disappointment, spike, spoil, stand out, stand pat, stick,
   stickle, stonewall, strain, stumble, stump, take no denial,
   tantalization, tantalize, tease, thwart, thwarting, trip,
   turn down, upset, would rather not, wrong step

Balk >> B Words
Balk, definition of term: Balk
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