▪ I. ballast, n.
(ˈbæləst)
Forms: 6–8 balast, 6–7 ballace, 6 ballass, -esse, balest, -ist, 7 balasse, -ase, ballasse, -ais, 7 ballast.
[Now found in most of the European langs.; Sw. Da., Fris., Du., LG. (whence Ger., Russ., Fr.) ballast. Origin doubtful: the oldest form is possibly OSw. and ODa. barlast (before 1400, and regularly in 15th c.), f. bar bare + last load, with the sense of ‘bare, naked, or mere load or weight,’ i.e. lading which is mere load, lading for the sake of weight merely. Thence ballast, with ll for rl by assimilation, already in 15th c. Sw. and Da., whence in Eng. soon after 1500. The later Da. bag-last ‘back-load,’ Du. (17th c.) balg-last ‘belly-load,’ were corrupted by ‘popular etymology.’ The final t was lost in Flem. ballas, and the 16–17th c. Eng. ballace, -as (first in the vb, where ballast was plausibly analysed as ballass-ed.) Contact of sense further often confused ballace and ballance.
(The form ballast also occurs before 1400 in LG., and is taken as the original by Schiller and Lübben, who explain it from bal bad (= bale a.) as bad lading ‘schlechte Schiffsfracht, die man nur ladet um dem Schiffe den nöthigen Tiefgang zu geben.’ If this is well founded, barlast would rank with bag-, balg-last, as a popular perversion.)]
1. a. Gravel, sand, stones, iron, lead, or any heavy material, placed in the hold of a ship, in order to sink her to such a depth as to prevent her from capsizing when under sail or in motion.
| 1530 Palsgr. 196/2 Balast of a shyppe, lestage. 1536 Act 27 Hen. VIII, xviii, Balest for shippes. 1568 C. Watson Polyb. 49 b, And cast their ballesse over borde. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 712 Coblestones for ballais. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 285 With sandy Ballast Sailors trim the Boat. 1718 Steele Fish-pool 180 Balast must be used to sink her down to the center of motion. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 727 The gravel which was the ballast of their smack. |
b. A substance,
usu. sand or water, carried in the car of a balloon or airship to steady it in flight, and jettisoned when it is desired to ascend to a higher level. Also
attrib.| 1784 Franklin Let. 16 Jan. (1907) IX. 156 They discharged some of their Ballast of Sand when they would rise again. 1785 Cavallo Aerostation 288 The ballast hitherto used for aerostatic machines has been generally sand. 1908 H. G. Wells War in Air i. 9 The descent of ballast upon his potatoes. 1916 Sphere 18 Mar. 292/1 This Zeppelin..must have got rid of 5 tons of fuel and ballast (i.e., water or ammunition). 1917 Ibid. 3 Nov. 103/1 The water ballast [in a zeppelin] froze. 1927 V. W. Pagé Modern Aircraft (1928) ii. 50 Ballast must be carried on an airship for use in possible emergencies in landing the ship. |
2. in ballast:
a. (also
on the ballast) in the hold.
b. Of ships: Laden with ballast only.
c. Of materials: In the capacity of ballast.
| 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse (ed. 2) 9 Hee will to the sea..and..lyes in brine in Balist, and is lamentable sicke. c 1630 Risdon Surv. Devon §272 Ninety were sick on the ballast. 1691 Lond. Gaz. No. 2637/3 Merchant-men bound in Ballast from Havre de Grace. 1815 Scott Guy M. v, Smuggler, when his guns are in ballast..pirate, when he gets them mounted. 1866 Rogers Agric. & Prices I. xviii. 423 Sea-coal was taken in ballast. 1878 in Daily News 26 Sept. 2/3 When in ballast the Bywell Castle draws 12 feet aft. |
3. fig. That which tends to give stability in morals or politics, to steady the mind or feelings, etc.
| 1612 Bacon Vain-glory, Ess. (Arb.) 464 Solid and sober natures, have more of the ballast, then of the saile. 1670 Walton Lives ii. 100 Having to his great Wit added the ballast of Learning. 1720 Swift Fates Clergym. Wks. 1755 II. ii. 25 It wants the ballast of those, whom the world calls moderate men. 1852 Ld. Cockburn Jeffrey I. 342 Delay is often the ballast of sound legislation. |
† 4. transf. Load, burden, freight.
Obs.| 1620 Quarles Jonah Poems (1717) 54 Go to Niniveh..behold the Ballace And burthen of her bulk, is nought but sin. 1631 Massinger Beleeve as iv. iii, What woulde you have, sir? Ber. My ballace [i.e. some food] about me; I shall nere sayle well els. 1646 J. Hall Poems i. 15 Shall not I congeal to see Doris the Ballast of thine arms? |
5. Gravel, broken stone, slag, or other material, similar to that employed as ballast in ships, used to form the bed of a railroad, in which the sleepers are fixed. Also recently applied to burnt clay used for the same purpose, or as a substratum for new roads, etc.
| 1837 [see ballasting vbl. n.] 1847 in Craig. 1860 Engineer 30 Mar. 207/2 A joint sleeper..laid in the ballast beneath the rail joints. 1876 R. Routledge Discov. 63 The permanent way is formed first of ballast. 1881 Mechanic §1098 When the soil is clayey it may be converted into balast..a useful material for making roads. Mod. A path made with ‘burnt ballast.’ |
6. Comb. a. objective with
vbl. n. or agent-noun, as
ballast-getter,
ballast-heaver;
b. attrib., as
ballast-bag,
ballast-boat,
ballast-engine,
ballast-lighter,
ballast-train,
ballast-wagon. Also
ballast-fin U.S., a fin-shaped metal extension of the keel of a yacht serving to ballast her and to enable her to sail close to the wind,
ballast-man, one employed in supplying ballast to ships;
ballast-office, one controlling the supply of ballast to ships;
ballast-ports, square holes cut in the sides of merchantmen for taking in ballast;
ballast-shovel, ‘a round-mouthed shovel’ (Raymond
Mining Gloss. 1881).
| 1890 A. Giberne Ocean of Air xvii. 151 At 23,000 feet, Mr. Coxwell,..examining his *ballast-bags, decided that we must..descend. |
| 1755 Gentl. Mag. XXV. 445 *Ballast-boats and lighters. |
| 1865 Times 13 Jan., A load was attached to the *ballast-engine. |
| 1894 Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 194/2, I have not a word to say against the *ballast-fin so far as racing is concerned. |
| 1839 Dickens O. Twist (1850) 267/1 Labourers of the lowest class, *ballast-heavers, coal-whippers. |
| 1803 Ann. Reg. 399/1 A *ballast-lighter..struck the side of the ship. |
| 1715 Lond. Gaz. No. 5347/3 Abuses committed by the *Ballastmen upon the..Thames. |
| 1598 Stow Survey (1754) II. v. xviii. 389/2 Deptford strand..where their *Ballast office is also kept. |
| 1835 Penny Cycl. III. 330/2 Ballast-office Corporation, Dublin, or, more correctly, the Corporation for Preserving and Improving the Port of Dublin. |
| 1864 Times 24 Dec., He was in the hinder portion of the *ballast train. |
| 1848 Athenæum 5 Aug. 773 A train of huge iron shovels or *ballast-waggons, as they are called. |
7. Electr. A device used in an electrical circuit to stabilize the current under changing conditions;
esp. in
Comb.| 1924 Roget Dict. Electr. Terms 17/2 Ballast resistance, (1) A steadying resistance used to limit variations of current in a circuit. (2) In Track Circuit Signalling, the leakage resistance across the ballast between the two track rails. 1931 L. B. Turner Wireless v. 121 It is on account of the negative slope resistance that arc lamps are always run with a ballast resistance in series. 1939 Electr. Communication XVIII. 115/1 The iron wire ballast lamp, ballast resistor or barretter, as it is sometimes called, is a device..for maintaining between very narrow limits the electric current flowing in a circuit, in spite of considerable voltage fluctuations. 1962 M. G. Say Conc. Encycl. Electr. Engin. 80/2 A resistor is used as a ballast in a rectifier battery-charging circuit to prevent excessive current in the event of variation in supply voltage. |
▪ II. ballast, v. (
ˈbæləst)
Forms: 6
balase,
-esse,
-isse, 6–7
balasse,
ballasse,
-ace,
-ase, 7
balast,
ballise,
-ize,
-aise, 7–
ballast.
[f. prec. n.] 1. a. trans. To furnish (a ship) with ballast; to render (her) steady under sail by a sufficient weight in the hold.
| 1538 Leland Itin. I. 52 The Shipes were balissed with great coble stone. 1604 Drayton Owle 78 To ballast Ships for steddinesse in winde. 1655 Tuckney Good Day Impr. 34 So much burden would serve to ballast the ship, more would sink it. 1866 Kingsley Herew. v. 114 They ballasted their ship with pebbles. |
b. trans. Also used of balloons and other airships.
| 1784 Boston Mag. June 323/1 The car was ballasted with sand bags. 1786 J. Jeffries Narr. Two Aerial Voyages 20 Those who wish to go a great distance..with a Balloon, should..ballast their Balloon so that it will not rise above a certain height. |
2. transf. To steady (generally).
| 1596 C. Fitzgeffrey Sir F. Drake (1881) 54 Constant stabilitie ballassed her [i.e. Fortune's] feete. 1601 Holland Pliny x. xxiii, Cranes..ballaise themselves with stones in their feet, that they flie more steadie. |
3. fig. To steady mentally or morally.
| c 1600 Pharisaisme & Chr. 35 Ballace your wavering hearts with the sound truth of godlinesse. 1655 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. xi. §i. (1669) 113 If he be not well ballast with humility, a little gust..will tople him into this sin. 1792 A. Young Trav. France 547 Mature deliberation is wanted to ballast the impetuosity of the people. |
† 4. To freight, load (
with cargo).
Obs.| 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iii. ii. 140 Who sent whole Armadoes of Carrects to be ballast at her nose. 1622 Callis Stat. Sewers i, I lanched forth my Ship..furnish'd and ballist with Merchandize. 1666 Lond. Gaz. No. 93/1 Four ships well laden and ballasted with Goods. |
5. transf. and
fig. To load, burden, weight, weigh down.
arch.| 1566 Drant Wail Jerem. K vj, He ballasde me with balefull bitternes. 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse 14 A wolfe being about to deuoure a horse doth balist his belly with earth, that he may hang the heauier vpon him. 1630 R. Brathwait Eng. Gentl. (1641) 299 Their conceits are ever ballased with harshnesse. 1816 Scott Old Mort. ix, These yellow rascals must serve to ballast my purse a little longer. |
6. To fill in or form with ballast (the bed of a railroad, etc.);
cf. ballast n. 5.
| 1864 in Webster. 1881 Chicago Times 4 June, Laying down steel rails and liberally ballasting the whole line. |
¶ Confused with
balance v. See
balance n. 7.
| 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. vi. iv. 55 The cause for Tribute was ballized betwixt them. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 414 We furl'd our Main-sail, and ballasted our Mizen. |