Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to balk
Participle: balked
Gerund: balking
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | balk |
| you | balk |
| he;she;it | balks |
| we | balk |
| you | balk |
| they | balk |
Perfect
| I | have balked |
| you | have balked |
| he;she;it | has balked |
| we | have balked |
| you | have balked |
| they | have balked |
Past
| I | balked |
| you | balked |
| he;she;it | balked |
| we | balked |
| you | balked |
| they | balked |
Pluperfect
| I | had balked |
| you | had balked |
| he;she;it | had balked |
| we | had balked |
| you | had balked |
| they | had balked |
Future
| I | will balk |
| you | will balk |
| he;she;it | will balk |
| we | will balk |
| you | will balk |
| they | will balk |
Future Perfect
| I | will have balked |
| you | will have balked |
| he;she;it | will have balked |
| we | will have balked |
| you | will have balked |
| they | will have balked |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | balk |
| you | balk |
| he;she;it | balk |
| we | balk |
| you | balk |
| they | balk |
Perfect
| I | have balked |
| you | have balked |
| he;she;it | have balked |
| we | have balked |
| you | have balked |
| they | have balked |
Imperfect
| I | balked |
| you | balked |
| he;she;it | balked |
| we | balked |
| you | balked |
| they | balked |
Pluperfect
| I | had balked |
| you | had balked |
| he;she;it | had balked |
| we | had balked |
| you | had balked |
| they | had balked |
Conditional
Present
| I | would balk |
| you | would balk |
| he;she;it | would balk |
| we | would balk |
| you | would balk |
| they | would balk |
Perfect
| I | would have balked |
| you | would have balked |
| he;she;it | would have balked |
| we | would have balked |
| you | would have balked |
| they | would have balked |
Imperative
| you | balk |
| we | Let's balk |
| you | balk |
Verbs conjugated like 'balk'
abandon,
abduct,
abear,
aberr,
abject,
abord,
abort,
abound,
abraid,
abray,
abrook,
abscind,
abscond,
absist,
absorb,
abstain,
abstract,
accend,
accent,
accept, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'balk'
back,
bald,
bale,
ball,
balm,
bank,
bark,
bask,
baulk,
belk,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- to reject instruction or command
- decline, disobey, disregard, ignore, refuse, unmind
- to withdraw from a position
- back away, back down, beat a retreat, bug out, crawfish, decline, draw back, fall back, pull out, recede, regrade, retire, retreat, retrograde, revert, shrink, sound a retreat, turn tail, withdraw
- refuse
- demur, desist, hesitate
- frustrate
- thwart, check, hinder, prevent
Antonyms
- refuse
- allow, admit, assent, approve
- frustrate
- facilitate, encourage, stimulate, countenance
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. O.E.
balca "ridge," from or influenced by O.N.
balkr "ridge of land," especially between two plowed furrows, both from P.Gmc.
*balkan-, *belkan- (cf. O.S.
balko, Dan.
bjelke, O.Fris.
balka, Ger.
Balken "beam, rafter"), from PIE
*bhelg- "beam, plank" (cf. Gk.
phalanx "trunk, log, line of battle," L.
fulcire "to prop,"
fulcrum "bedpost," Lith.
balziena "cross-bar"). Modern senses are figurative, either representing the balk as a hindrance or obstruction (e.g., of horses, "to stop short before an obstacle," recorded from 1481), or from the verb sense of "to miss or omit intentionally" (attested by 1484) as a lazy or incompetent plowman would in making balks. Baseball sense is first attested 1845.
2. From Middle English balke, from Old English balca, either from or influenced by Old Norse bálkr (“partition, ridge of land”), from Proto-Germanic *balkô. Cognate with Dutch balk (“balk”), German Balken (“balk”), Italian balcone (“balcony”). See: German, old spelling '
Balken'.
Sample Sentences
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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
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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?" [2004, Derek Hart, Tidal Trap, page 114:]
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The horse balked.
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"Her horse balked at the jump and threw her," said Michael. [1974, Sharon Salvato, Briarcliff Manor: A Novel, page 107:]
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I’ve seen cattle that were handled in two identical facilities easily walk through one and balk in the other. [1995, Temple Grandin, Thinking in Pictures, page 6:]
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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. [1915, L. J. Dickinson, John O' Dreams, page 80:]
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[…] balked up the hills, then careened and slid on the downside, threatening to overturn. [1993, Susan C. Feldhake, Seasons of the Heart, page 107:]
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[…] 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. [2006, Bret Lott, The Best Christian Short Stories, volume 1, page 127:]
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But so well halt no man the plough, / That he ne balketh other while [[c. 1386–1390, John Gower, edited by Reinhold Pauli, Confessio Amantis of John Gower: Edited and Collated with the Best Manuscripts, volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III) (in Middle English), London: Bell and Daldy […], published 1857, →OCLC:]
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[…] balking up the field. [1906, Primrose McConnell, The Diary of a Working Farmer, page 151:]
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[…] balking up the rows and running the water down from the balks; [1935, Scientific Horticulture: Journal of the Horticultural, page 89:]
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My Sport is always balkt, or cut short — I stumble over the Game me I would pursue — [1733, William Congreve, The Old Batchelor: A Comedy, page 55:]
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[…] the sturdy cavalier was not to be balked in his purpose; […] [1867 [1855?], William Hickling Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, page 48]
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Balked for the second time, the passion of his grief had found another outlet, was transformed into a passion of agonized rage. [1932, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, London: Chatto & Windus:]
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an incipient accretion of rotundity recently balked his entrance to a boiler wherein his expert scrutiny was imperatively demanded, [1915 May, The National Engineer, volume 19, page 299:]
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[…] had neither been balked nor been frightened by this overwhelming man. [1929, Francis Hackett, Henry the Eighth, page 211:]
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Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights, / Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see. [c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:]
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Jericho was in his way from Galilee to Jerusalem: he baulks it not, though it were outwardly cursed. [1612, Joseph Hall, Contempl. N. T.:]
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I hope you will not balk Totteridge, if I am here. [1664, Lady R. Russell, Letters:]
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Going to Lord Carendon ... baulking the Secretary. [1773, “Exam.”, in North:]
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[…] you cannot baulk your Road without the hazard of drowning [1677, Owen Feltham, Resolves: Divine, Moral, Political. The tenth impression., page 46]
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Sick he is, and keeps his bed, and balks his meat. [1612–1634, [Joseph Hall], “(please specify the page)”, in [Contemplations vpon the Principall Passages of the Holy Storie], volume (please specify |volume=I to VIII), London, →OCLC:]
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Nor doth he any creature balk, / But lays on all he meeteth. [1627, Michaell [i.e., Michael] Drayton, “Nimphidia. The Court of Fayrie.”, in The Battaile of Agincourt. […], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for William Lee, […], →OCLC:]
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By reason of the contagion then in London, we balked the inns. [1641 November 21 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 12 November 1641]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC:]
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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. [a. 1645 (date written), Fra[ncis] Quarles, The Virgin Widow. A Comedie, London: […] R[ichard] Royston, […], published 1649, →OCLC, Act II, page 33:]
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Thou must not balke the way of Religion [1632, Effect. Faith, Preston:]
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The spying of motes in our brother's eye, and baulking of beams in our own. [1696, Robert Sanderson, Sermons:]
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I may not balk two pregnant testimonies of the Fathers [1808 [original 1640?] Joseph Hall, Works: Polemical works, page 526]
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And balke your bed for shame. [1587, Tuberv., Trag. T. (1837), page 230]
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A bait you cannot balk Sir. [1619, Fletcher, M. Thomas]
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If the stalk grow big, cattell wil balk it. [1649, Blith, Eng. Improv. Impr.]
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I never ... balked an invitation [1784, Johnson, Boswell:]
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such an age as ours balks no expense [1870 [?], William Cowper, The Poetical Works of William Cowper, page 90]
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to balk an opportunity
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This was look'd for at your hand, and this as baulkt. [1602, Shakspeare, Twelfth Night]
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If I balk'd this opportunity. [1697, Dryden, Virg. Georg.:]
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to balk expectation
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Nor doth it balk my charity, to find Th' Egyptian bishop of another mind: [1777 [1692?], John Dryden, Original Poems, and Translations,: In Two Volumes [Rel. Laici?], page 223]
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[…] balk yourself of the pleasure of bullying and making her unhappy. [1891 [1854?], William Makepeace Thackeray, The Complete Works of William Makepeace Thackeray, page 365]
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Well, / I know that none who enter there return / As they have enter'd—many never; but / They shall not balk my entrance. [1821, Lord Byron, “The Two Foscari, an Historical Tragedy”, in Sardanapalus, a Tragedy; The Two Foscari, a Tragedy; Cain, a Mystery, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 195:]
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Her list in strifull termes with him to balke [1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 12:]
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They do not divide and baulk with God. [1653, Manton, Works, IV 227]
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The best advice you can receive regarding balking is to always maintain poise and composure on the mound. [2013, Aaron Wisewell, The Baseball Coach:]