▪ I. balk, baulk, n.1
(bɔːk)
Forms: 1 balca, balc, 3–7 balke, 5–7 baulke, 6 balcke, 7–9 baulk (north. dial. bauk, bawk), 3– balk.
[Common Teutonic, presenting several variant stems, with partial differentiation of sense: OE. balca ridge, bank = OFris. balca, OS. balco, MDu. balke, balc, Du. balk, OHG. balcho, balco, MHG. balke, G. balken, ‘beam, trabs,’ also OE. bolca ‘gangway of a ship,’ and ON. bjalki (Sw. biælke, bielke, Da. bjelke) ‘beam,’ corresponding respectively to an OTeut. ablaut-series *balkon-, *bolkon-, *belkon-; also ON. bálkr, bǫ́lkr, ‘beam, bar, partition, division’, OSw. balker, bolker, Sw. balk ‘beam, balk, partition, section of a law’:—OTeut. *balku-z. OE. balc ‘porca’ (see 3), is either an error for balca, or = ON. bálkr. The relation of OE. bælc ‘covering (? flooring)’ is doubtful. The original sense was perh. ‘bar’; cf. L. suf-fla(g)men, from Aryan *bhalg-, bhlag-. The OE. balca (balc) and ON. bálkr appear to be combined in the ME.; whether the latter distinguished balke and balk, the evidence does not show. Balk is the analogous spelling: cf. stalk, talk, walk, etc.; but baulk is frequent, and in Billiards (sense 9) the prevailing spelling.]
I. A ridge generally, a dividing ridge; a bar.
† 1. A ridge, heap, or mound upon the ground; e.g. a grave-mound. Obs.
| c 885 K. ælfred Boeth. xvi. §2 Þa het he h{iacu} bindan, and on balcan leᵹan. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 62 My body on balke þer bod in sweuen. |
† 2. A dividing ridge (of land); an isthmus; a bar of sand, etc. Obs.
| 1538 Leland Itin. V. 16 A litle Balk of Sand cast up, the wich at low waters prohibitih the Se to cum about. 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. vi. (1593) 140 The narrow balke at which two seas do meete at hand. Ibid. vii. 164 The balcke that makes the strait divorce Between the seas Ionian and Aegean. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. iv. xi, A border-city these two coasts removing; Which, like a balk..Disparts the terms of anger and of loving. |
II. A ridge left in ploughing; a miss, slip.
3. A ridge between two furrows (L. porca), or a strip of ground left unploughed as a boundary line between two ploughed portions.
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wright Voc. (W.) 147 Porca, balc. a 1300 W. de Biblesworth in Wright Voc. 159 Vert choral, a grene balke. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. ix. 114 Dykers and deluers diggeden vp þe balkes. 1483 Cath. Angl. 19/1 Balke betwyx twa furris; creb(r)o, porca. 1562 W. Bullein Bk. Simples 16 b, Euery mere and balke is full of it [Scabios] in June. 1563 Homilies ii. Rogat. Week iv. (1859) 498 How covetous men nowe a dayes plow vp so nigh the common balkes and walkes. 1576 Gascoigne Steele Glas (Arb.) 78 Earing vp the balks that part their bounds. 1604 Breton Pass. Sheph. 13 The merrie countrie lad, Who upon a faire greene balk May at pleasure sit and walke. 1725 A. Ramsay Gent. Sheph. v. iii, Last night I met him on a bawk, Whare yellow corn was growing. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 196 These earthern boundaries (baulks) are wearing fast out. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 104 He takes his rambles..Down narrow balks that intersect the fields. |
4. a. A ridge or piece left unploughed by accident or carelessness; a piece missed in ploughing. (Often in phrase to make a balk or balks.)
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. ii. 15 The balke, that thai calle, unered lande And overheled, beholde that there be noon. c 1430 Lydg. Bochas. vii. viii b (1554) 172 Making no balkes, y⊇ plough was truely hold. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §7 If he goo to the ploughe, and loke backwarde, he seeth not, whether the plough..make a balke. 1647 Fuller Good Th. in Worse T. Observ. xvi, The husbandman may dart forth an ejaculation, and not make a balk the more. a 1703 Burkitt On N.T. Luke ix. 62 He that ploughs must keep on, and make no balks. 1840 Penny Cycl. XVIII. 277/2 The leaving of balks is a great fault, and is owing to..the ploughman not holding his plough upright. |
b. Hence fig., esp. in to make a balk of good ground: to waste or throw away a good chance.
| 1605 Camden Rem. (1637) 302 Make hay while sunne shines. Make not a balke of good ground. 1640 Fuller Joseph's Coat (1867) 35 The rich Corinthians, in not inviting the poor, made balks of good ground. a 1652 Brome New Acad. iii. i, Your plow makes vile baulkes of my money. 1857 Bohn Handbk. Prov. 69 Make not balks of good ground. |
5. † a. fig. A slip, mistake, a blunder. to make a balk: to blunder, go wrong. Obs.
| c 1430 Hymns to Virg. (1867) 92 Þouȝ a ȝong man make a balke, Ȝit take to þi mynde reuertere. 1661 W. Annand Panem Quotid. 18 They..make such bawlks in their prayer. 1717 Tudway in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 435 IV. 311 Bentley's baulks and blunders about the king's reception. |
b. U.S. In baseball: (see quot. 1867). Also attrib.
| 1845 in Appleton's Ann. Cycl. (1886) X. 77/2 A runner can not be put out..when a balk is made by the pitcher. 1867 H. Chadwick Beadle's Dime Base-Ball Player 53 A balked Ball.—Should the pitcher move his foot in delivery—thereby making a ‘balk’—and the Umpire call a ‘balk’ until the ball is returned to the pitcher, [etc.]. 1913 Amer. Mag. Sept. 24/1 Kilroy caught seven by his balk motion. |
† 6. fig. An omission, an exception. Obs. or dial.
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. xi. 16 They fall to strokes..Not sparing wight, ne leaving any balke. 1666 Bunyan Grace Ab. ¶315 But then I have asked why they made baulks? why they did salute the most handsome and let the ill favoured go? 1775 J. Collier Tim Bobbin 60 I'r so keen bitt'n I made no bawks at o hay seed. |
III. A ridge in one's path; A stumbling-block, check; a term in billiards.
† 7. A ridge in the way, over which one may stumble; a stumbling-block, obstacle. Obs.
| 1549 Latimer Serm. bef. Edw. VI (1869) 36 We wold not walke in by-walkes, where are many balkes. 1562 Sternhold & H. Ps. xviii. 35 So that my feete shall neuer slip, Nor stumble at a balke. 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict. N j, How many Baulks and Obstructions..happen by the way. |
8. fig. a. A hindrance, check, or defeat.
| 1660 T. M. Hist. Indep. iv. 78 As a balk to which the Committee of safety declared..that they had transmitted a great part of a form of government, etc. a 1716 South Serm. VI. 311 (T.) There cannot be a greater balk to the tempter. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 341 This was a balk to them and put a damp to their new projects. 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. i. xxi. (1865) 162 It would be some balk to the spirit of conversation if you knew. |
b. A disappointment.
| 1733 Swift Wks. (1745) VIII. 122 Poor Tom has got a plaguy baulk. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. viii. 244 It was a great baulk to her, that you did not comply with my request. |
c. Of a horse: an instance of balking (cf. balk v.1 3).
| 1866 E. Keyes Diary 28 Apr. in Colorado Mag. (1933) X. 72 The horses were not used to being driven together..we had balks innumerable..but in the end on we would go as merry as ever. |
9. a. transf. The part of a billiard table behind a transverse line (the ‘baulk-line’) near one end, within the D or half-circle of which a player whose ball is in hand must place it to make his stroke. (As, in billiards, such player must play out from baulk, and can strike only indirectly at a ball lying within it, the original sense of the term was perhaps that of ‘check.’) In U.S., baulk-line is also applied to one of four lines drawn parallel to the side of the table or diagonally across the corners; also designating a carom billiards game in which these lines restrict scoring (see quot. 1910). Also attrib.
| 1800 Hoyle's Games 250 When the striker's and the red ball are within the baulk, he is not obliged to pass the ball. 1839 E. Kentfield Billiards 3 At the lower end of the table..is a line technically termed the Baulk Line. 1874 G. J. Whyte-Melville Uncle John ix, She strung to begin—won—and put her ball in balk. 1896 W. Broadfoot et al. Billiards ix. 283 (heading) Safety and baulk play. Ibid. ix. 285 A few examples of safety and baulk strokes. 1906 Daily Chron. 19 Apr. 4/7 The 18.1 in. baulk-line champion. 1910 Encycl. Brit. III. 939/1 Various schemes have been devised to make the game more difficult. One of these is known as the ‘continuous baulk-line’. Lines are drawn, 8, 14, 18 or even 22 in. from the rails, parallel to the side of the table...In the case of the Triangular Baulk-line, lines are drawn at the four corners. Ibid., The ‘anchor baulk-lines’..are drawn at the end of a baulk-line where it touches the rail. |
b. to make a baulk: to bring one's own and the red ball within the baulk, when the opponent's ball is in hand.
| 1839 E. Kentfield Billiards 24 Directions for making what are termed baulks. |
IV. A beam of wood.
10. A roughly squared beam of timber; sometimes used technically to designate Baltic timber, which is roughly dressed before shipment.
| c 1300 Cursor M. 8783 Þe balk þat mast þe werk suld bind Þai soght, and noþer-quar cuth find. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's Prol. 66 He can wel in myn eye see a stalke, But in his owne he can nought seen a balke. 1483 Cath. Angl. 19/1 Balke of a howse, trabs. 1662 Pepys Diary 23 June, Deales, spars, and bulks. 1666 Lond. Gaz. No. 35/4 Laden with Oaken and Firr Balks. 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 157 Bauk, a piece of Fir unslit, from four to ten inches square. 1734 Builder's Dict., Balks..so some call great pieces of Timber coming from beyond Seas by Floats. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §38 A course of squared oak balks. 1881 Mechanic §136 The strongest timber obtainable..is that which is sawn out of baulks. 1884 Timber Tr. Jrnl. 14 June 417/3 Danzig fir balks. |
11. A tie-beam of a house, stretching from wall to wall. In old one-storey houses these were often exposed and used for hanging or placing articles on, or laid with boards so as to form a loft, called ‘the balks.’ Now chiefly north.
| a 1300 W. de Biblesworth in Wright Voc. 170 Les trayes (gloss balkes). c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 440 Laddres thre To clymben by the ronges..Unto the tubbes hangyng in the balkes. 1535 Coverdale Zeph. ii. 14 Foules shal synge in the wyndowes and rauens shal syt vpon the balckes. 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. viii. (1593) 202 A flitch of restie bacon from the balke made blacke with smoke. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (1856) 53 When wee have brought up the farre roomestead as high as the balke. 1691 Ray N. Countr. Wds. 5 The Balk or Bawk, the Summer-beam or Dorman. c 1760 ? Mickle Nae Luck about the Hoose, There's twa fat hens upon the bauk. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. i. xii. (D.) The stiffest balk bends more or less; all joists creak. |
12. A cross-beam or bar in a chimney or kiln.
| 1432 Test. Ebor. (1855) II. 23 Unum instrumentum ferreum in camino aulæ, vocatum balk. ? a 1600 Felon Sow of Rokeby, The sew was in the kiln hole down As they were on the balke aboon. |
13. The beam of a balance. Obs. exc. dial.
| 1399 Fabric Rolls Yk. Minstr. in Linc. Gloss. (E.D.S.), I balke ferri cum les scales et ponderibus. 1571 Wills & Inv. N.C. (1855) II. 364 Payre of great skales w{supt}{suph} y⊇ balk. 1671 J. Flavel Fount. Life iv. 10 The Balk of a Balance, to weigh Christ's excellency. 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. xxiii. (1858) 509 To give..his customers ‘the cast of the baulk.’ Sc. Proverb, The young lamb comes as often to the bauk as the auld ewe. |
14. Comb. † balk-line, ? a line hanging from the cross-beams; † balk-staff, a quarter-staff; balk-yard, a timber-yard.
| c 1400 Beryn 153 He berith a Bal[k]staff quod the toon, and els a rakis ende. 1506 in Blomefield Norfolk V. 1670 A new balk-line to the star, and rysing star, viij{supd}. 1664 Cotton Scarron. i. (1715) 10 Balk-Staves and Cudgels, Pikes and Truncheons. 1674 Ray N. Countr. Wds. 4 Balk-staff, a Quarter-staff, a great Staff like a Pole or Beam. 1823 Let. in Polwhele Trad. & Recoll. (1826) II. 770 Straying into a balk-yard fell over a beam of timber. |
V. In fishing. [The connexion of 16 with the other senses is doubtful.]
15. dial. A set of stout stakes surrounded by netting or wicker work for catching fish.
| 1836 Sir G. Head Home Tour 430, I observed some fish ‘balks’ on the sands..The fish are taken on the sand within the balk at low water. |
16. The stout rope at the top of fishing nets by which they are fastened one to another in a ‘fleet.’ (In Cornw. balch.)
| 1847 H. Miller First. Impr. i. 3 Away from wave-top to wave-top, like the cork baulk of a fisherman's net afloat on the swell. 1880 E. Cornw. Gloss. (E.D.S.), Balch, a stout cord used for the head-line of a fishing net. |
▪ II. balk, n.2
[f. balk v.1 in the local sense of ‘to leave unfinished’.]
Of cloth: in the raw or unfinished state.
| 1841 R. W. Hamilton Nugæ Lit. 357 (Yorks. Dial.) Balk,..cloth in an unfinished state. 1860 S. Jubb Hist. Shoddy-Trade 40 Short Ends were sold to the merchants..in the grey raised (not balk) state. 1876 W. Cudworth Bradford 519 These clothiers attended the Leeds White Cloth Market..selling their cloth in the ‘balk’, or raw state. |
▪ III. balk, v.1
(bɔːk)
Forms: 6 balck, 6–7 balke, 7 baulke, bawk, 8 bauk, 6–9 baulk, 4– balk.
[f. balk, baulk n.1]
I. † 1. trans. (and absol.) To make balks in ploughing; to plough up in ridges. Obs.
| 1393 Gower Conf. III. 296 But so well halt no man the plough, That he ne balketh other while. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 184 To tille a felde man must have diligence, And balk it not. 1583 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 22 With forck King Neptun is ayding. He balcks thee quicksands, and fluds dooth mollefye. 1611 Cotgr., Assilloner, to baulke, or plow up in baulkes. [a 1640 Jackson Creed xi. cxxxix. Wks. XI. 203 Whilst we labour to plough up your hearts..we must not balk that saying of St. John.] |
II. 2. trans. To miss or omit intentionally. † a. lit. To pass by (a place), to avoid in passing; to shun.
| 1484 Paston Lett. 859 III. 279 Mastyer Baley..woold not have balkyd this pore loggeyng to Norwyche wardes. 1612–5 Bp. Hall Contempl. N.T. iv. iii. 173 Jericho was in his way from Galilee to Jerusalem: he baulks it not, though it were outwardly cursed. 1684 Lady R. Russell Lett. I. xv. 43, I hope you will not balk Totteridge, if I am here. a 1733 North Exam. ii. iv. ¶94 Going to Lord Clarendon..baulking the Secretary. 1783 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (Morell) s.v. Balk, I will not balk your house. |
b. fig. To pass over, overlook, refrain from noticing (what comes in one's way); to shirk, ignore.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 22 Balkyn, or ouerskyppyn, omitto. 1582 Fleetwood in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 216 III. 90 As for my Lo. Maior..I am dryven every daie to bawk hym and his doynges. 1640 Bp. Hall Episc. i. §11. 39, I may not baulke two pregnant testimonies of the Fathers. 1656 Sanderson Serm. II. 160 The spying of motes in our brother's eye, and baulking of beams in our own. 1684 Cont. Foxe's A. & M. III. 900 The Bayliff would fain have baulked him, As if he had not seen him. 1742 Richardson Pamela III. 42 Let me tell you, (nor will I balk it) my Brother..will want one Apology for his Conduct. 1848 L. Hunt Jar of Honey Pref. 4 No topic is baulked if it come uppermost. |
c. To refuse (anything offered or that comes in course, e.g. food or drink).
| 1587 Turberv. Trag. T. (1837) 230 And balke your bed for shame. 1619 Fletcher M. Thomas i. i. 386 A bait you cannot balk Sir. 1649 W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1653) 183 If the stalk grow big, cattell will balk it. a 1784 Johnson in Boswell (1831) I. 236, I never..balked an invitation out to dinner. 1810 Crabbe Borough xvi, He took them all and never balk'd his glass. |
d. To avoid (a duty or responsibility).
| 1631 Preston Effect. Faith 146 Thou must not balke the way of Religion, because of the troubles thou meetest. a 1707 Beveridge Priv. Th. ii. 103 Not that we should run ourselves into danger, but that we should baulk no Duty to avoid it. 1785 Cowper Tirocin. 257 Such an age as ours baulks no expence. |
e. To let slip, fail to use, seize, keep, reach, etc.
| 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iii. ii. 26 This was look't for at your hand, and this was baulkt. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. Ded. If I balk'd this opportunity. 1724 A. Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 2 This point of a' his wishes He wadna with set speeches bauk. 1826 Hor. Smith Gai. & Grav. in Casquet of Lit. I. 326/2 My adviser insisted upon my not baulking my luck. |
3. a. intr. To stop short as at an obstacle, to pull up, swerve. Esp. of a horse: To jib, refuse to go on, or to leap, to shy; also of the rider, and of any one on foot, refusing a leap. Also fig. (colloq.) to shy or jib at.
| 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 32 Isegrym balked and sayde, ye make moche a doo, sir Tybert. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. x. 25 Ne ever ought but of their true loves talkt, Ne ever for rebuke or blame of any balkt. 1722 De Foe Moll. Fl. (1840) 78 If he balked, I knew I was undone. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters III. 340 No man, that drinks water, baulks at a pint..in the day. 1843 Lever J. Hinton xxv, Burke..suddenly swerved his horse round, and affecting to baulk, cantered back. 1862 Melbourne Leader 5 July, His horse balked at a leap, and threw him. 1908 J. M. Dillon Motor Days Eng. xx. 241 It was the only time I ever saw Maud balk at gooseberries. |
† b. To lie out of the way. Obs.
| 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 268 Labour that did from his liking balke. |
† 4. trans. To miss by error or inadvertence. Obs.
| 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 93 They..balk the right way, and strayen abroad. 1659 Feltham Low Countr. (1677) 46 You cannot baulk your Road without the hazard of drowning. 1710 Palmer Proverbs 6 Young dogs..balk the true game to ply every scent. |
III. 5. trans. To place a balk in the way of. a. To check, hinder, thwart (a person or his action).
| 1589 Warner Alb. Eng. vi. xxxi. (1612) 153, I sometimes proffered kindnesse..but..was balked with a blush. 1635 Swan Spec. M. v. §2 (1643) 105 The King..must not be baulked in his late proceedings. 1726 De Foe Hist. Devil i. xi. (1840) 155 An enemy who is baulked and defeated, but not overcome. 1821 Byron Two Foscari i. i, They shall not balk my entrance. 1855 Prescott Philip II, I. ii. xiii. 292 The sturdy cavalier was not to be balked in his purpose. |
b. To check (feelings, or a person in his feelings).
| 1682 Dryden Rel. Laici 212 Nor doth it balk my charity to find The Egyptian Bishop of another mind. 1746 Ld. Malmesbury Lett. I. 37 Lord Talbot was not much baulked with this rebuke. 1855 H. Martineau Autobiog. I. 92 My home affections..all the stronger for having been repressed and baulked. |
c. To disappoint (expectations, or any one in his expectations).
| 1590 Marlowe Edw. II, ii. v, We..must not come so near to balk their lips. 1652 Brome Jov. Crew ii. 389 May your Store Never decay, nor baulk the Poor. 1725 Pope Odyss. x. 135 Balk'd of his prey, the yelling monster flies. 1854 Thackeray Newcomes I. 286 Balk yourself of the pleasure of bullying. 1873 Spenser Stud. Sociol. vii. 161 Time after time our hopes are balked. |
d. To frustrate, foil, render unsuccessful.
| 1635 Quarles Emblems iii. xiv. (1718) 182 To baulk those ills which present joys bewray. 1727 Swift Censure Misc. (1735) V. 104 The most effectual Way to baulk Their Malice, is― to let them talk. 1848 Kingsley Saint's Trag. ii. v. 90 With which we try to balk the curse of Eve. |
† 6. trans. and absol. To meet arguments with objections; to quibble, chop logic, bandy words.
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. iii. ii. 12 Her list in stryfull termes with him to balke. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. i. 34 Balke Lodgicke with acquaintaince that you haue. 1653 Manton Exp. James iii. 2 Wks. IV. 227 They do not divide and baulk with God. |
▪ IV. balk, v.2 ? Obs.
[prob. a. Du. balk-en to bray, bawl, shout, cogn. with OE. bælcan to shout, vociferate (which would itself have given balch).]
To signify to fishing-boats the direction taken by the shoals of herrings or pilchards, as seen from heights overlooking the sea; done at first by bawling or shouting, subsequently by signals. See balker2.
| 1603 Act 1 Jas. I, xxiii, To wache for the saide Fishe, and to balke, hue, conde, direct, and guide the Fishermen which shall be vpon the saide Sea and Sea Coasts for the takinge of the saide Fishe. |