balk

Plural: balks

Noun

• the area on a billiard table behind the balkline
  • "a player with ball in hand must play from the balk"
• something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress
• one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof
• an illegal pitching motion while runners are on base
• An uncultivated ridge formed in the open field system, caused by the action of ploughing.
• 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.
• A sudden and obstinate stop.
• An omission.
• A deceptive motion.
• An illegal motion by the pitcher, intended to deceive a runner.
• A deceptive motion.
• A motion used to deceive the opponent during a serve.
• 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.
• The area of the table lying behind the baulk line.
• The rope by which fishing nets are fastened together.
• A small brass ornament fixed at the top of a wand.

Verb

Verb Forms: balked, balking, balks

• To hesitate or be unwilling to accept an idea or proceed.
• refuse to comply
• To pass over or by.
• To omit, miss, or overlook by chance.
• To miss intentionally; to avoid.
• To stop, check, block; to hinder, impede.
• To stop short and refuse to go on.
• To refuse suddenly.
• To disappoint; to frustrate.
• To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition.
• To leave or make balks in.
• To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles.
• To make a deceptive motion to deceive another player.

Examples

• Don’t balk at playing a two-letter word if it’s the best move.
• The horse balked.
• to balk expectation

Synonyms

baulk, check, deterrent, handicap, hinderance, hindrance, impediment, jib, rafter, resist, avoid, baffle, failure, feint, foil#Verb_2, frustrate, miss, overlook, refuse, shirk, shun, thwart

Anagrams of balk