Balk

n.	1.	A ridge of land left unplowed between furrows, or at the end of a field; a piece missed by the plow slipping aside. Bad plowmen made balks of such ground. - Fuller.
	2.	A great beam, rafter, or timber; esp., the tie-beam of a house. The loft above was called "the balks." Tubs hanging in the balks. - Chaucer.
	3.	(Mil.) One of the beams connecting the successive supports of a trestle bridge or bateau bridge.
	4.	A hindrance or disappointment; a check. A balk to the confidence of the bold undertaker. - South.
	5.	A sudden and obstinate stop; a failure.
	6.	(Baseball) 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 line (Billiards) a line across a billiard table near one end, marking a limit within which the cue balls are placed in beginning a game; also, a line around the table, parallel to the sides, used in playing a particular game, called the balk line game.
v. t.	1.	To leave or make balks in.
	2.	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. - Shak.
	3.	To omit, miss, or overlook by chance.
	4.	To miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk. By reason of the contagion then in London, we balked the inns. - Evelyn. Sick he is, and keeps his bed, and balks his meat. - Bp. Hall. Nor doth he any creature balk, But lays on all he meeteth. - Drayton.
	5.	To disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to thwart; as, to balk expectation. They shall not balk my entrance. - Byron.
v. i.	1.	To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition. In strifeful terms with him to balk. - Spenser.
	2.	To stop abruptly and stand still obstinately; to jib; to stop short; to swerve; as, the horse balks. Ne ever ought but of their true loves talkt, Ne ever for rebuke or blame of any balkt.
	3.	(Baseball) to commit a balk{6}; - of a pitcher.
	1.	To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring.

Noun	1.	balk - the area on a billiard table behind the balkline; "a player with ball in hand must play from the balk" Synonyms: baulk
	2.	balk - something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress Synonyms: deterrent, hindrance, impediment, baulk, handicap, check
	3.	balk - one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof Synonyms: rafter, baulk
	4.	balk - an illegal pitching motion while runners are on base
Verb	1.	balk - refuse to comply Synonyms: baulk, jib, resist

baffle, bafflement, balk at, balking, be unwilling, beam, beat, begrudge, betrayed hope, bevue, bilk, blast, blasted expectation, blighted hope, blow, boggle, brave, buffet, cast down, challenge, checkmate, circumvent, comedown, confound, confounding, confront, confusion, contravene, counter, counteract, countermand, counterwork, cross, cruel disappointment, dash, dashed hope, decline, defeat, defeat expectation, defy, destroy, die hard, disappoint, disappointment, discomfit, discomfiture, disconcert, disconcertion, discountenance, dish, disillusion, disillusionment, disrupt, dissatisfaction, dissatisfy, elude, failure, fallen countenance, false move, false step, fiasco, fizzle, flinch, flummox, foil, foiling, forlorn hope, frustrate, frustration, gag, grudge, hang back, hold out, hope deferred, inadvertence, inadvertency, jib, knock the chocks, lapse, lapsus calami, lapsus linguae, let down, letdown, loose thread, mind, mirage, miscue, misstep, nonplus, not budge, not care to, not feel like, object to, omission, oversight, perplex, persevere, quail, rebuff, recoil, refuse, repulse, reversal, reverse, rout, ruin, sabotage, scotch, scruple, setback, shrink, shy, slip, slipup, sore disappointment, spike, spoil, stand out, stand pat, stick, stickle, stonewall, strain, stumble, stump, take no denial, tantalization, tantalize, tease, thwart, thwarting, trip, turn down, upset, would rather not, wrong step

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