Balk

·vt To leave or make balks in.

II. Balk ·vt To omit, miss, or overlook by chance.

III. Balk ·vi A sudden and obstinate stop; a failure.

IV. Balk ·vi A hindrance or disappointment; a check.

V. Balk ·vt To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles.

VI. Balk ·vi To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition.

VII. Balk ·vi A deceptive gesture of the pitcher, as if to deliver the ball.

VIII. Balk ·vi One of the beams connecting the successive supports of a trestle bridge or bateau bridge.

IX. Balk ·vi A great beam, rafter, or timber; ·esp., the tie-beam of a house. The loft above was called "the balks.".

X. Balk ·vi To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring.

XI. Balk ·vi A ridge of land left unplowed between furrows, or at the end of a field; a piece missed by the plow slipping aside.

XII. Balk ·vi To stop abruptly and stand still obstinately; to Jib; to stop short; to Swerve; as, the horse balks.

XIII. Balk ·vt To miss intentionally; to Avoid; to Shun; to Refuse; to let go by; to Shirk.

XIV. Balk ·vt To Disappoint; to Frustrate; to Foil; to Baffle; to /hwart; as, to balk expectation.