balk

noun

1. An uncultivated ridge formed in the open field system, caused by the action of ploughing.

   “How fruitfull are the ſeeming Barren places of Scripture. Bad Plow-men, which make Balkes of ſuch Ground.”

2. The wall of earth at the edge of an excavation.
3. Beam, crossbeam; squared timber; a tie beam of a house, stretching from wall to wall, especially when laid so as to form a loft, "the balks".
4. A hindrance or disappointment; a check.

   “, "Concealment of Sin" a balk to the confidence of the bold undertaker”

5. A sudden and obstinate stop.
6. (obsolete)An omission.
7. A deceptive motion.
8. A deceptive motion.
9. The area of the table lying behind the line from which the cue ball is initially shot, and from which a ball in hand must be played.
10. The area of the table lying behind the baulk line.
11. The rope by which fishing nets are fastened together.
12. (UK, dialectal)A small brass ornament fixed at the top of a wand.

verb

1. To be unwilling to do something; to refuse to proceed or do or allow something, either in general or only temporarily.

   “balked at paying a day's wages for a pencil; he said he would buy her one, but when he saw the price, he balked”

   “Carla balked for a moment, but when the badge and identification was produced, she acquiesced immediately. "Of course, Director, what can I do for you?"”

2. (especially)To stop short and refuse to go on or do something (such as jump).

   “The horse balked.”

   “"Her horse balked at the jump and threw her," said Michael.”

   “I’ve seen cattle that were handled in two identical facilities easily walk through one and balk in the other.”

3. To move fitfully, stopping frequently.

   “The horses balked up the canyon, / But we made it with half a load. / Got to the top with panniers. / Went back for the bedding stowed.”

   “[…] balked up the hills, then careened and slid on the downside, threatening to overturn.”

   “[…] thin road, gunning madly past the old rusty trucks balking up the mountain to Boulem while Badra drifted in and out of consciousness in the back.”

4. To leave or make a balk or balks (ridges) in; to leave a ridge in by leaving partly unploughed.

   “But so well halt no man the plough, / That he ne balketh other while”

   “[…] balking up the field.”

   “[…] balking up the rows and running the water down from the balks;”

5. To stop, check, block (by or as if by an obstacle); to hinder, impede, thwart.

   “My Sport is always balkt, or cut short — I stumble over the Game me I would pursue”

   “[…] the sturdy cavalier was not to be balked in his purpose; […]”

   “Balked for the second time, the passion of his grief had found another outlet, was transformed into a passion of agonized rage.”

   “an incipient accretion of rotundity recently balked his entrance to a boiler wherein his expert scrutiny was imperatively demanded,”

   “[…] had neither been balked nor been frightened by this overwhelming man.”

6. (obsolete, possibly)To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles.

   “Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights, / Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see.”

7. (obsolete, possibly)To pass over or by (either by chance or intentionally); to avoid in passing.

   “Jericho was in his way from Galilee to Jerusalem: he baulks it not, though it were outwardly cursed.”

   “I hope you will not balk Totteridge, if I am here.”

   “Going to Lord Carendon ... baulking the Secretary.”

8. (obsolete, possibly)To pass over or by (either by chance or intentionally); to avoid in passing.

   “[…] you cannot baulk your Road without the hazard of drowning”

9. (obsolete, possibly)To pass over or by (either by chance or intentionally); to avoid in passing.

   “Sick he is, and keeps his bed, and balks his meat.”

   “Nor doth he any creature balk, / But lays on all he meeteth.”

   “By reason of the contagion then in London, we balked the inns.”

   “I'le call ye to Accompt, and if ye bauke me, then / I ranſake ye out, and make ye underſtand / The ſharp-nail'd language of Quiſquilla's hand.”

   “Thou must not balke the way of Religion”

10. (obsolete, possibly)To refuse or fail to use (something), either through error or intentionally.

    “And balke your bed for shame.”

    “A bait you cannot balk Sir.”

    “If the stalk grow big, cattell wil balk it.”

    “I never ... balked an invitation”

    “such an age as ours balks no expense”

11. (obsolete, possibly)To refuse or fail to use (something), either through error or intentionally.

    “to balk an opportunity”

    “This was look'd for at your hand, and this as baulkt.”

    “If I balk'd this opportunity.”

12. To disappoint, frustrate, or check.

    “to balk expectation”

    “Nor doth it balk my charity, to find Th' Egyptian bishop of another mind:”

    “[…] balk yourself of the pleasure of bullying and making her unhappy.”

    “Well, / I know that none who enter there return / As they have enter'd—many never; but / They shall not balk my entrance.”

13. (obsolete, possibly)To quibble or bandy words with; engage in opposing, contradicting, or arguing with.

    “Her list in strifull termes with him to balke”

    “They do not divide and baulk with God.”

14. (intransitive)To make a balk, a deceptive motion to deceive another player.

    “The best advice you can receive regarding balking is to always maintain poise and composure on the mound.”

name

1. A surname.