[1] : 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 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

balking
     adj : stopping short and refusing to go on; "a balking"; "a balky
           mule"; "a balky customer" syn: balky
see also:
balky 

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