Definition of Balk

balk (noun) - the area on a billiard table behind the balkline

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How can balk be used in a sentence?

  1. "I'd like to find out what he called a balk on me.

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  2. The 2nd base umpire calling a balk was totally bogus.

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  3. Yet Congress will likely balk at many of the proposals.

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  4. But both sides would balk at the last second ... garaunteed.

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  5. When the officer started to balk, Barretto stated, Come on, guy.

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  6. Some few tried to balk the ogres, but these were quickly dispatched.

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  7. At each end of the field a high bank, locally called a balk, often 3 or

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  8. Dell's customers were beginning to balk at the company's bulky machines.

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  9. Then perhaps Arafat could say yes to the terms that had made Israel balk.

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  10. He needed no adult-male vision to see that it was a hazard few men would balk at.

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  11. Surely even the publishers of dime novels would balk at such an unlikely situation!

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  12. It is very unusual to have a machine "balk" at two updates in the way that yours has.

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  13. Why balk at a trifle like a watch, when he had already given her an entire new wardrobe?

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  14. CHIDEYA: Some record labels balk when a new artist wants to change what worked the first time.

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  15. "Don't balk at adding numbweed, that is the only thing that depresses the terrible racking cough."

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  16. Many bankers argue that institutional investors will balk at buying securities that convert into equity.

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  17. If Washington is too tough, companies might balk at participating in bailout programs, or lose key employees.

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  18. Beckett got upset with West in the fifth inning after he called a balk on an attempted pickoff toss to first base.

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  19. "Every time you balk, I will react unpre - dictably," she said, reaching across him to touch a button in the chair.

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  20. It is just helping the average American that republiklans balk at, as they have shown us DAILY for the last 11 months.

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  21. "I thought time was called (by the umpire), but it was obviously a pleasant surprise to see them call a balk," said Johnson.

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  22. In the case of a "balk," every occupant of a base, as a base runner, becomes entitled to one base, whether forced by the batsman or not.

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  23. If any Democratic caucus members balk at the public option, the party would need some Republicans to back the bill in order for it to pass.

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  24. And, of course, the kids on the cul-de-sac would balk at coming to the birthday party of an eleven-year-old this year, now that they were all teenagers.

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  25. Daria was usually crew chief, usually the one giving the orders, but this was not an official call, and she didn't balk at following Pete's instructions.

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  26. Unfortunately, most Americans are incapable of thinking long-term and will balk when the neoclowns whisper the word socialism in their oh so receptive ears.

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  27. At a House hearing last month, Mr. Geithner said it was "perfectly reasonable and understandable" that different federal agencies would balk at giving up powers.

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  28. In the centre of this room there was an upright beam, which had been placed at some period as a support for the old, worm-eaten balk of timber which spanned the roof.

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  29. Whether they are celebrities or not, women not only balk at the idea but are unprepared for the possibility that they be liable for paying alimony to their ex-spouses.

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  30. The lib's would cry over that ideal saying, just lock away the po-little darlings but than the same people would balk about having to pay more taxes to build prisons so to house the thugs.

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  31. A vote on the legislation was postponed last week after centrist Democrats began to balk at the measure, which would boost substantially debtors 'leverage in negotiations with their creditors.

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  32. Leifeld has worked this combination pitch either to first base or the plate for years, and the motion for each is so similar that even the umpires cannot detect it and never call a balk on him.

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  33. IN ALL OTHER rule codes, a balk is a delayed dead ball because AFTER the play is over, the offensive manager has the option of taking the result of the play OR the balk if certain criteria are met.

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  34. Too often, new writers lapse into unpronounceable collections of letters, such as Brfstklb. It's unusual, all right, but every time the readers see it, they will balk at such a name and stop reading.

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  35. The traditional champagne bottle was obviously out of the question, and the distinguished ladies who were expected to wield it would balk at carrying out the ceremony while floating around in spacesuits.

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  36. Perry would face one hurdle unique in the field: Will Americans balk at the idea of another former Texas governor occupying the White House, just four years after Bush left with a 34 percent job approval rating?

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  37. * The budget skirmishing continues as Harry Reid prepares to force Senate Republicans to vote on what he calls the "Tea Party" spending plan favored by House GOPers, in the belief that some moderate Republicans will balk.

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  38. A: Under the baseball rules, a balk is a 'no pitch', so we do not count this under the pitch count rules, similarly for throws to the bases by pitchers (pickoffs, to make a play on a runner) or warm-up throws before the inning starts.

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  39. Marian would make the moral case about our responsibility to children, and when some agency official would balk, there would be Peter, knowing every detail of federal law and telling them they had all the statutory authority they needed.

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  40. [Perhaps the word "balk" falls short of expressing the full force of the Chinese word, which implies not an attitude of defense, whereby one might be content to foil the enemy's stratagems one after another, but an active policy of counter - attack.

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  41. "These are public companies where the transactions should stand on their merits," he said, though he added that European regulators may balk at the potential combination of Europe's two biggest futures markets, alongside the lucrative business of clearing the trades.

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Tips for Using balk in a Sentence

You may have an easier time writing sentences with balk if you know what words are likely to come before or after it, or simply what words are often found in the same sentence.

Frequent Predecessors

Words that often come before balk in sentences. For example: "to balk" or "not balk"

  • to
  • not
  • would
  • may
  • a
  • the
  • will
  • might
  • and
  • they

Frequent Successors

Words that often come after balk in sentences. For example: "balk at" or "balk ."

  • at
  • .
  • and
  • the
  • of
  • when
  • or
  • in
  • ra
  • if

Associated Words

Words that aren't necessarily predecessors or successors, but are often found in the same sentence.

  • kra
  • epstein
  • teutonic
  • pitcher
  • whip
  • owed
  • inning
  • runner
  • gale
  • che

Alternate Definitions

  • balk (noun) - an illegal pitching motion while runners are on base
  • balk (noun) - in <em>wool-manuf.</em>, a fullness and suppleness of texture
  • balk (noun) - a ridge; especially, a ridge left unplowed in the body of a field, or between fields; an uncultivated strip of land serving as a boundary, often between pieces of ground held by different tenants
  • balk (noun) - a piece missed in plowing
  • balk (noun) - an omission; an exception
  • balk (noun) - in <em>base-ball</em>, a motion made by the pitcher as if to pitch the ball, but without actually doing so
  • balk (noun) - a barrier in one's way; an obstacle or stumbling-block
  • balk (noun) - a check or defeat; a disappointment
  • balk (noun) - in <em>coal-mining</em>, a more or less sudden thinning out, for a certain distance, of a bed of coal; a nip or want
  • balk (noun) - a beam or piece of timber of considerable length and thickness
  • balk (noun) - <em>milit.</em>, one of the beams connecting the successive supports of a trestle-bridge or bateau-bridge
  • balk (noun) - in <em>carpentry</em>, a squared timber, long or short; a large timber in a frame, floor, etc.; a square log
  • balk (noun) - the beam of a balance
  • balk (noun) - a long wooden or iron table on which paper is laid in the press-room of a printing-office
  • balk (noun) - a set of stout stakes surrounded by netting or wickerwork for catching fish
  • balk (noun) - the stout rope at the top of fishing-nets by which they are fastened one to another in a fleet
  • balk (intransitive verb) - to engage in contradiction; to be in opposition
  • balk (intransitive verb) - to stop abruptly and stand still obstinately; to jib; to stop short; to swerve
  • balk (transitive verb) - to leave heaped up; to heap up in piles
  • balk (transitive verb) - to omit, miss, or overlook by chance
  • balk (transitive verb) - to miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk
  • balk (transitive verb) - to disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to thwart
  • balk (noun) - a ridge of land left unplowed between furrows, or at the end of a field; a piece missed by the plow slipping aside
  • balk (noun) - one of the beams connecting the successive supports of a trestle bridge or bateau bridge
  • balk (noun) - a hindrance or disappointment; a check
  • balk (noun) - a sudden and obstinate stop; a failure
  • balk (noun) - 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
  • balk (intransitive verb) - to indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring
A sentence using balk