(v. t.) To miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk.
(v. i.) A ridge of land left unplowed between furrows, or at the end of a field; a piece missed by the plow slipping aside.
(v. i.) A great beam, rafter, or timber; esp., the tie-beam of a house. The loft above was called "the balks."
(v. i.) One of the beams connecting the successive supports of a trestle bridge or bateau bridge.
(v. i.) A hindrance or disappointment; a check.
(v. i.) A sudden and obstinate stop; a failure.
(v. i.) A deceptive gesture of the pitcher, as if to deliver the ball.
(v. t.) To leave or make balks in.
(v. t.) To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles.
(v. t.) To disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to /hwart; as, to balk expectation.
(v. i.) To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition.
(v. i.) To stop abruptly and stand still obstinately; to jib; to stop short; to swerve; as, the horse balks.
(v. i.) To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring.
Example Sentences:
(1) Since the first is balked by the obstacle of deficit reduction, emphasis has turned to the second.
(2) The US and its allies are balking at Iranian demands for all UN sanctions to be lifted at the start of a deal.
(3) The eastern European nations balked at the “emergency brake” on benefits to EU migrants.
(4) Critics balk at the original asking price of $399, but the initial stock sells out in five hours.
(5) In recent years, though, a number of his near comtemporaries – notably Leonard Cohen and Bruce Springsteen – have been revitalised by taking on the kind of touring schedules that many a younger artist might balk at.
(6) To attract support from moderate Republicans who balked at the plan, an additional $8bn was included over five years to fund so-called high-risk pools that would help subsidize people with preexisting conditions.. Health policy experts have argued the fix is insufficient.
(7) One government source said: "Patrick McLoughlin is not balking at these ideas, which are interesting.
(8) Her work, which tackles the problems women face in Egypt and across the world, has always attracted outrage, but she never seems to have balked at this; she has continued to address controversial issues such as prostitution, domestic violence and religious fundamentalism in her writing.
(9) Young parents who have seen their tax credits cut and wages stagnate might balk at George Osborne’s repeated claims that “the economic plan is working”.
(10) Duration of treadmill exercise on a Balke treadmill protocol increased similarly in the two groups, 62% in the older group (from 8.9 to 14.3 minutes) and 40% in the younger group (from 12.2 to 17.1 minutes) (p = NS).
(11) The Wigan Athletic chairman, Dave Whelan , could step in to save jobs at his stricken former company JJB Sports, which is searching for a buyer after shareholders balked at pumping more cash into the troubled chain.
(12) Republicans in the house have already balked at the $50bn in immediate relief for Sandy that went to the house on Tuesday.
(13) It has been known for weeks that the US balked at Germany’s demand for a no-spy agreement, in part because of the precedent it would set for other countries that might also ask not to be spied on, and in part because Germany , which has limited spy capabilities, had nothing to offer in trade.
(14) Distribution of mitoses and dead hepatocytes in the hepatic balk was investigated.
(15) The new service unveiled on Friday will allow viewers who balk at a monthly Sky pay-TV subscription to access on-demand content including the BBC iPlayer, Facebook and Sky News.
(16) I think we balk at commercialising babies for the same reason that there's no provision under law for financial compensation if you lose a loved one.
(17) The misery of the left was, in the 1980s, matched by the triumphalism of the free marketeers, who had transformed Britain beyond many of their wildest ambitions, and began to balk at the restraints put on their dreams by the European project.
(18) Any Moldy Peach diehards balking at the idea of Green duetting with someone other than Dawson are missing out, though: this record sounds as though he and Shapiro have known each other for ever.
(19) Many countries, including major ones, won’t be willing to make their mitigation commitment legally binding at the international level, and once some balk, the premise of a legal form applicable to all unravels,” he said.
(20) Balking as never before at being the EU's cashpoint, Germany has been the main obstacle, although others have also hidden behind Berlin and quietly egged it on.
Balm
Definition:
(n.) An aromatic plant of the genus Melissa.
(n.) The resinous and aromatic exudation of certain trees or shrubs.
(n.) Any fragrant ointment.
(n.) Anything that heals or that mitigates pain.
(v. i.) To anoint with balm, or with anything medicinal. Hence: To soothe; to mitigate.
Example Sentences:
(1) While ethoxyuridine, bromovinyl deoxyuridine and phosphono formiate gave no response in the animals, aciclovir, vidarabine, idoxuridine, trifluorothymidine, proclu and an extract of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) only induced weak reactions in the guinea pigs.
(2) The characterization of extracellular enzymatic activities of Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium intracellulare which were identified by DNA probe (Gen-Probe, Cal., USA) was carried out using the API ZYM system (API, La Balme Les Grottes, France).
(3) Hung Far Oil caused mild to moderately severe irritation in 8 patients; White Flower Oil, Jaminton Oil and Tiger Balm caused mild irritation in 1 to 3 patients; and the rest showed no positive reactions at all.
(4) Then he must prove that his “neither left nor right” stance can offer the balm, growth and reform that France craves in the face of high unemployment, fear of terrorism, social and racial antagonism and European Union ineffectiveness.
(5) Before serving, whisk the last 200ml of cream, and then decorate the mousse with whipped cream and lemon balm or caramelised julienne-cut lemon zest: let the zest simmer in a syrup made from equal quantities of sugar and water for 15-20 minutes, and then leave to cool.
(6) The results suggested that the use of BALM medium in place of BCYE may improve the recover of L. pneumophila from clinical and environmental specimens.
(7) We studied the effect of methotrexate (MTX) and mTHF in combination on the lymphoid cell lines BALM 3, CEM, MOLT 4 and P3HR1 by evaluating the clonogenic cell reduction in a limiting dilution assay.
(8) For the non-religious, that fact may be this season's true balm and significance.
(9) Everyone wants a slice of the pie, selling plants and resin, marijuana-laced gourmet food, pipes, growing equipment, cultivation courses, balms, you name it.
(10) A retrospective study of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) revealed that smoking, working under poor ventilation, use of nasal balms or oil for nasal and throat troubles, use of herbal drugs, and anti-EBV antibody titer were found statistically associated.
(11) Results are reported for a collaborative study to extend AOAC method 44.A06-44.A08 to extraction of light filth from whole leaves of alfalfa, lemon balm, papaya, and spearmint.
(12) He draws parallels between a good blast of noise and the soothing balm of hymns.
(13) Recently, we identified a spontaneous variant of BALM-3 whose cells express HLA class II molecules in the absence of TPA.
(14) If a leader can convince voters they will not back-slide in this way, then – with probity, empathy and practical balms for a country gripped by a sustained squeeze on living standards – they might still cut through.
(15) A miniaturized 2-h system (RAPIDEC UR; API System, la Balme-les-Grottes, Montalieu-Vercieu, France) that uses nine enzymatic tests for the diagnosis of most uropathogens was challenged with 330 strains.
(16) Moreover, NALM-1 and BALM-2 seem to have retained the characteristics of original leukemic cells from which they may have been derived.
(17) Passive antibody to K562 blocked the immune response of mice to the common antigen on BALM-1 cells.
(18) The ATB 32A system (API System SA, La Balme les Grottes, Montalieu-Vercieu, France) was evaluated for use in the identification of 214 anaerobes.
(19) As an indication of the immune response to antigens common to K562 and BALM-1, the ability of the same antiserum to inhibit the binding of monoclonal antibody 6B1, which detects an epitope common to both cell lines, was measured.
(20) The ATB Anaerobes ID system (API SYSTEM, La Balme Les Grottes, France) was evaluated for its ability to differentiate between species of the pigmented Bacteroides group.