Balk Word Meaning

late Old English balc, from Old Norse bálkr ‘partition’. The original use was ‘unploughed ridge’, later ‘land left unploughed by mistake’, hence ‘blunder, omission’, giving rise to the verb use ‘miss (a chance)’. A late Middle English sense ‘obstacle’ gave rise to the verb senses ‘hesitate’ and ‘hinder’

hesitate or be unwilling to accept an idea or undertaking

hesitate

• he balked at such a drastic solution

• baulk

a roughly squared timber beam

timber beam

• a balk of timber

the area on a billiard table between the balk line and the bottom cushion, within which in some circumstances a ball is protected from a direct stroke.

area on billiard table

an unlawful action made by a pitcher that may deceive a base runner.

unlawful action by pitcher

a ridge left unploughed between furrows.

unploughed ridge

• baulk