(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.
Bask
Definition:
(v. t.) To lie in warmth; to be exposed to genial heat.
(v. t.) To warm by continued exposure to heat; to warm with genial heat.
Example Sentences:
(1) It followed an unusually wet August, which gave Next and other clothes retailers a good start to the new season but sales of coats and other winter goods have been tough since as many parts of the country have basked in warm sunshine.
(2) For Hague, basking in unaccustomed praise for his "decisive action" in the Commons, this was the successful conclusion of a piece of unorthodox diplomacy – which subtly avoided the use of gunboats.
(3) Instead, he headed to City Hall, attending Mayor's Question Time to watch Johnson bask in the sunshine to which he himself had been accustomed.
(4) On such occasions, one has the distinct sense of a festival simultaneously basking in the limelight while wearing a clothes peg on its nose.
(5) Port Gaverne , a little cove near Port Isaac always described as "quaint", is a good place to watch seals (and occasional basking sharks, dolphins and porpoises), go fishing or rummage in rock pools.
(6) In the bask of the incandescent, you are prone to believe that human beings are essentially good, that tomorrow will be a better day, that love will triumph.
(7) Polysaccharide aminoaryl ethers capable of binding to proteins by azocoupling present special interest in view of their utilization as modifying baskings.
(8) Just as Brown was basking in a rare upturn in the polls following Barack Obama's visit, he has been derailed.
(9) I wish that I could just bask in the knowledge that the pope and the people in the pews share many of my views for a transformed church.
(10) When Vladimir Putin stepped into the ring at Olimpisky stadium in Moscow after a martial arts fight at the weekend, he might have been expecting to bask in the glory of the Russian Fedor Emelianenko's victory over the American Jeff Monson.
(11) "Colleagues at the trust took the decision to conduct it last summer, when the corporation was basking in the Olympic afterglow – that was before the events of last autumn about which much has been written.
(12) Thus Page 3 was able to bask, for the briefest of moments, in its almost accidental association with hippie culture and the sexual revolution.
(13) There are Rumpole societies of lawyers basking undeservedly in his popularity from Los Angeles to Perth.
(14) The size of the telencephalon, 34% of the total brain, equals that in some other sharks, whereas the cerebellum, 30% of the total brain in the basking shark, is significantly larger than in any other shark investigated.
(15) De Bruyne’s finish was immaculate, picking out the bottom corner after Fernandinho’s layoff, and City were left to bask in the warm afterglow of their finest European night of the modern era.
(16) On a clear day, the Firth of Clyde looks resplendent from here, basking “gaily in the sunny beam”.
(17) Spring is a great time to visit – Chengdu is basking in a balmy 20C, and everywhere trees are in blossom.
(18) These high-octane bangers were among the show's strongest moments, allowing both performers to bask in their own unapologetic confidence.
(19) The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) only covers three shark species: whale shark, basking shark and great white shark.
(20) With incredible complacency, politicians from both sides of parliament basked in the glory and reacted smugly when the US and the eurozone hit a brick wall.