balk

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

balk, n. [AS. balca beam, ridge; akin to Icel. bālkr partition, bjālki beam, OS. balko, G. balken; cf. Gael. balc ridge of earth between two furrows. Cf. Balcony, Balk, v. t., 3d Bulk.].

•  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."  [1913 Webster]
•  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."  [1913 Webster]
•  One of the beams connecting the successive supports of a trestle bridge or bateau bridge.  [1913 Webster]
•  A hindrance or disappointment; a check.  [1913 Webster]

  "A balk to the confidence of the bold undertaker."  [1913 Webster]
•  A sudden and obstinate stop; a failure.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.

balk, v. t. [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.].

•  To leave or make balks in.  Gower.  [1913 Webster]
•  To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles.  [1913 Webster]

  "Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights,
  Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see."  [1913 Webster]
•  To omit, miss, or overlook by chance.  [1913 Webster]
•  To miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk.  [1913 Webster]

  "By reason of the contagion then in London, we balked the inns."  [1913 Webster]

  "Sick he is, and keeps his bed, and balks his meat."  [1913 Webster]

  "Nor doth he any creature balk,
  But lays on all he meeteth."  [1913 Webster]
•  To disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to thwart; as, to balk expectation.  [1913 Webster]

  "They shall not balk my entrance."  [1913 Webster]

balk, v. i. 

•  To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition.  [1913 Webster]

  "In strifeful terms with him to balk."  [1913 Webster]
•  To stop abruptly and stand still obstinately; to jib; to stop short; to swerve; as, the horse balks.  [1913 Webster]

  " This has been regarded as an Americanism, but it occurs in Spenser's “Faërie 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]
•  to commit a balk{6}; -- of a pitcher.  [PJC]

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]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

balk, var. of BAULK.

THESAURUS

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

ROGET THESAURUS

balk

Hindrance

VB hinder, impede, filibuster, impedite, embarrass, keep off, stave off, ward off, obviate, avert, antevert, turn aside, draw off, prevent, forefend, nip in the bud, retard, slacken, check, let, counteract, countercheck, preclude, debar, foreclose, estop, inhibit, shackle, restrict, obstruct, stop, stay, bar, bolt, lock, block, block up, choke off, belay, barricade, block the way, bar the way, stop the way, forelay, dam up, put on the brake, scotch the wheel, lock the wheel, put a spoke in the wheel, put a stop to, traverse, contravene, interrupt, intercept, oppose, hedge in, hedge round, cut off, inerclude, interpose, interfere, intermeddle, cramp, hamper, clog, clog the wheels, cumber, encumber, incumber, handicap, choke, saddle with, load with, overload, lay, lumber, trammel, tie one's hands, put to inconvenience, incommode, discommode, discompose, hustle, corner, drive into a corner, run foul of, fall foul of, cross the path of, break in upon, thwart, frustrate, disconcert, balk, foil, faze, feaze, feeze, baffle, snub, override, circumvent, defeat, spike guns, spoil, mar, clip the wings of, cripple, put an extinguisher on, damp, dishearten, discountenance, throw cold water on, spoil sport, lay a wet blanket, throw a wet blanket on, cut the ground from under one, take the wind out of one's sails, undermine, be in the way of, stand in the way of, act as a drag, hang like a millstone round one's neck.

Regression

VB recede, regrade, return, revert, retreat, retire, retrograde, retrocede, back out, back down, balk, crawfish, crawl, withdraw, rebound, go back, come back, turn back, hark back, draw back, fall back, get back, put back, run back, lose ground, fall astern, drop astern, backwater, put about, backtrack, take the back track, veer round, double, wheel, countermarch, ebb, regurgitate, jib, shrink, shy, turn tail, turn round, turn upon one's heel, turn one's back upon, retrace one's steps, dance the back step, sound a retreat, beat a retreat, go home.

Disappointment

N disappointment, blighted hope, balk, blow, anticlimax, slip 'twixt cup and lip, nonfulfillment of one's hopes, sad disappointment, bitter disappointment, trick of fortune, afterclap, false expectation, vain expectation, miscalculation, fool's paradise, much cry and little wool, disappointed, disconcerted, aghast, disgruntled, out of one's reckoning, the mountain labored and brought forth a mouse, parturiunt montes, nascitur ridiculus mus, diis aliter visum, the bubble burst, one's countenance falling.

VB be disappointed, look blank, look blue, look aghast, stand aghast, find to one's cost, laugh on the wrong side of one's mouth, find one a false prophet, not realize one's hope, not realize one's expectation, disappoint, frustrate, discomfit, crush, defeat (failure), crush one's hope, dash one's hope, balk one's hope, disappoint one's hope, blight one's hope, falsify one's hope, defeat one's hope, discourage, balk, jilt, bilk, play one false, play a trick, dash the cup from the lips, tantalize, dumfound, dumbfound, dumbfounder, dumfounder (astonish).

Deception

VB deceive, take in, defraud, cheat, jockey, do, cozen, diddle, nab, chouse, play one false, bilk, cully, jilt, bite, pluck, swindle, victimize, abuse, mystify, blind one's eyes, blindfold, hoodwink, throw dust into the eyes, dupe, gull, hoax, fool, befool, bamboozle, flimflam, hornswoggle, trick, impose upon, practice upon, play upon, put upon, palm off on, palm upon, foist upon, snatch a verdict, bluff off, bluff, bunko, four flush, gum, spoof, stuff (a ballot box), circumvent, overreach, outreach, out wit, out maneuver, steal a march upon, give the go-by, to leave in the lurch decoy, waylay, lure, beguile, delude, inveigle, entrap, intrap, ensnare, nick, springe, set a trap, lay a trap, lay a snare for, bait the hook, forelay, spread the toils, lime, trapan, trepan, kidnap, let in, hook in, nousle, nousel, blind a trail, enmesh, immesh, shanghai, catch, catch in a trap, sniggle, entangle, illaqueate, hocus, escamoter, practice on one's credulity, hum, humbug, gammon, stuff up, sell, play a trick upon one, play a practical joke upon one, put something over on one, put one over on, balk, trip up, throw a tub to a whale, fool to the top of one's bent, send on a fool's errand, make game, make a fool of, make an April fool of, make an ass of, trifle with, cajole, flatter, come over, gild the pill, make things pleasant, divert, put a good face upon, dissemble, cog, cog the dice, load the dice, stack the deck, live by one's wits, play at hide and seek, obtain money under false pretenses, conjure, juggle, practice chicanery, deacon, play off, palm off, foist off, fob-off, lie, misinform, mislead, betray, be deceived.