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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Balk \Balk\ (b[add]k), n. [AS. balca beam, ridge; akin to Icel.
b[=a]lkr partition, bj[=a]lki beam, OS. balko, G. balken; cf.
Gael. balc ridge of earth between two furrows. Cf. {Balcony},
{Balk}, v. t., 3d {Bulk}.]
1. A ridge of land left unplowed between furrows, or at the
end of a field; a piece missed by the plow slipping aside.
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Bad plowmen made balks of such ground. --Fuller.
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2. A great beam, rafter, or timber; esp., the tie-beam of a
house. The loft above was called "the balks."
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Tubs hanging in the balks. --Chaucer.
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3. (Mil.) One of the beams connecting the successive supports
of a trestle bridge or bateau bridge.
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4. A hindrance or disappointment; a check.
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A balk to the confidence of the bold undertaker.
--South.
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5. A sudden and obstinate stop; a failure.
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6. (Baseball) A deceptive gesture of the pitcher, as if to
deliver the ball. It is illegal and is penalized by
allowing the runners on base to advance one base.
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{Balk line} (Billiards), a line across a billiard table near
one end, marking a limit within which the cue balls are
placed in beginning a game; also, a line around the table,
parallel to the sides, used in playing a particular game,
called the balk line game.
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Balk \Balk\, v. i.
1. To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition. [Obs.]
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In strifeful terms with him to balk. --Spenser.
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2. To stop abruptly and stand still obstinately; to jib; to
stop short; to swerve; as, the horse balks.
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Note: This has been regarded as an Americanism, but it occurs
in Spenser's "Fa["e]rie Queene," Book IV., 10, xxv.
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Ne ever ought but of their true loves talkt,
Ne ever for rebuke or blame of any balkt.
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3. (Baseball) to commit a balk[6]; -- of a pitcher.
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Balk \Balk\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Balked} (b[add]kt); p. pr. &
vb. n. {Balking}.] [From {Balk} a beam; orig. to put a balk
or beam in one's way, in order to stop or hinder. Cf., for
sense 2, AS. on balcan legan to lay in heaps.]
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1. To leave or make balks in. [Obs.] --Gower.
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2. To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles. [Obs.]
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Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights,
Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see.
--Shak.
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3. To omit, miss, or overlook by chance. [Obs.]
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4. To miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to
let go by; to shirk. [Obs. or Obsolescent]
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By reason of the contagion then in London, we balked
the inns. --Evelyn.
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Sick he is, and keeps his bed, and balks his meat.
--Bp. Hall.
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Nor doth he any creature balk,
But lays on all he meeteth. --Drayton.
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5. To disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to
thwart; as, to balk expectation.
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They shall not balk my entrance. --Byron.
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Balk \Balk\, v. i. [Prob. from D. balken to bray, bawl.]
To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore,
the direction taken by the shoals of herring.
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