| 释义 |
▪ I. balance, n.|ˈbæləns|
Forms: 4–5 balaunce, 5 belans, belauns, -nce, 5–6 ballaunce, 6 ballanis, -es, 6–8 ballance, 7 bilanz, 3– balance.
[a. Fr. balance (= Sp. balanza, Pr. balansa, It. bilancia):—late L. *bilancia a pair of scales, f. cl. L. bilanx, bilanc-em, adj. (in libra bilanx) ‘two-scaled,’ f. bi- twice + lanx flat plate, scale.]
I. Literal senses.
1. An apparatus for weighing, consisting of a beam poised so as to move freely on a central pivot, with a scale pan at each end.[c1275in Liber Albus I. 226 Deit estre peise par balaunce le Roy. 1297Lib. Custum. 107 (Probatio Tronæ.) Silvester de Farnham custos balanciæ Domini Regis.] c1350Will. Palerne 947 Wel y understande whider þe balaunce bowes. c1386Chaucer Monk's T. 508 And in a balaunce weyen eche mountaine. c1450in Wright Voc. 227 Bilanx, belans. 1494Act 11 Hen. VII, iv, In every City..should be a common Balance, with common Weights. 1573Bible (Bishops') Prov. xvi. ii A true weight and ballaunce are the Lordes iudgement. 1635N. Carpenter Geog. Del. i. ii. 31 The Bilanz or Ballance. 1771Junius Lett. lii 266 We incline the balance..by lessening the weight in one scale. 1881N.T. (Revised) Rev. vi. 5 He had a balance in his hand [1611 a pair of balances].
†2. sing. One scale of a balance; pl. ‘scales.’
a. with pl. balances. Obs. or dial.
1388Wyclif Ps. lxii. 9 The sones of men ben liers in balauncis. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1868) 65 Alle her good dedes in the same balaunce..and alle her evelle dedes in that other balaunce. 1596Spenser F.Q. v. ii. 35 Weighed out in ballaunces. 1611Bible Rev. vi. 5 A paire of balances in his hand. 1645Digby Nat. Bodies iii. (1658) 19 Take a pinte of air; and weigh it against a pinte of water, and you will see the ballance of the last go down a main.
†b. The plural was sometimes balance. (Partly due to final -s, -ce, partly to confusion of sense.) Obs.
c1430Lydg. Min. Poems 141 Weyed in ballaunce. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 255 Are there ballance heere to weigh the flesh? 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. ii. i. §6 I. 138 In one Hand..a Red Rose, in the other a pair of Ballance.
†3. A flat dish resembling a scale; L. lanx. Obs.
1513Douglas æneis xii. iv. 142 Syne furth of platis or ballancis beliue, Wyth pasit flesch plenist the altaris.
4. a. One of the zodiacal constellations (more commonly called Libra). b. The seventh sign of the Zodiac ♎, into which the sun enters at the autumnal equinox.
In the time of Hipparchus, b.c. 130, the sign corresponded with the constellation, whence the name; but owing to the precession of the equinoxes, its first point is now far in the west of the constellation Virgo.
1488Caxton Chast. Goddes Chyld. 19 A planete that men call libra that is as moche to say as a balaunce. c1500Almanak (for 1386) 2 Saturn es exalted in þe 20 gre of þe Balaunce. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 46 And seated near the Ballance, poise the Days. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. i, The celestial Balance.
5. By recent extension: Any apparatus used in weighing, whether acting by leverage, or by the resistance of a spring.
1829Nat. Philos. I. Mech. ii. v. §45 (U.K.S.) The Danish balance is a steel-yard. 1832― II. Electr. iv. §74 The most perfect electrometer for measuring very small quantities of electricity, is..the torsion balance.
6. Watchmaking.
a. A mechanical contrivance which regulates the speed of a clock or watch.
1660Boyle New Exp. Phys.-Mech. xxvii. 206 The noise made by the ballance. 1727Pope Bathos 114 In clock-making one artist makes the balance, another the spring. 1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 15 Gold balances are preferable to steel.
†b. A pendulum. Obs. rare.
1647H. More Song of Soul Notes 152/2 The nearer you place the lead to the centre, the swifter the balance moves.
7. Naut. The operation or result of reefing with a balance-reef: see 22.
1762–9Falconer Shipwr. ii. 387 The head, with doubling canvas fenced around, In balance near the lofty peak they bound. 1769― Dict. Marine (1789) s.v., The balance of the mizen is thus performed.
¶ Confused with ballast. (Cf. also ballace.)
1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. John 5 No otherwyse than the balans dothe staye the shippes in tyme of tempest. 1656Blount Glossogr., Balasse, ballast, or ballance.
II. Figurative senses.
8. a. The metaphorical balance of justice, reason, opinion, by which actions and principles are weighed or estimated.
c1410Hoccleve Mother of God 20 The fende..wil pluk at the balance To wey vs doun. 1573Scot. Poems 16th C. (1801) II. 297 Beir equal ballanis baith to riche and puir. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. v. 324 A Moth wil turne the ballance, which Piramus which Thisby is the better. 1732Pope Ess. Man i. 121 Snatch from his hands the balance and the rod, Rejudge his justice, be the God of God! 1852Tupper Proverb. Philos. 288 Who..poised in the balances of order the power to attract and to repel?
†b. One scale of the balance. Obs.
1593Shakes. Rich. II, iii. iv. 87 But in the Ballance of great Bullingbrooke, Besides himselfe, are all the English Peeres. 1635Quarles Embl. i. iv. (1718) 17 Put in the triple crown Thy balance will not draw: thy balance will not down.
9. The wavering balance of Fortune or chance, in which issues hang in suspense.
c1320Syr Bevis 1559 Almest is lif was in balaunse. a1420Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 60 Best is I strive nat Ageyn the peys of fortunes balaunce. 1577Holinshed Chron. I. 34/2 The victorie depended long in doubtfull balance. 1612Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 24 Mens lives hang in the ballance. 1718Pope Iliad xxii. 271 Jove lifts the golden balances, that show The fates of mortal men. 1881[see hang v. 17 a].
†10. Hence:
a. Subjective uncertainty; hesitation, wavering, doubt. Obs.
1297R. Glouc. 200 Hii were syker al, wyþoute balance. 1340Ayenb. 30 Hy byeth ine greate balance of hyre helþe of zaule. 1483Caxton G. de la Tour G viij b, As they were in suche balaunces theyr child deyde. 1683Temple Mem. Wks. 1731 I. 439 Our Counsels at Court were so in ballance, between the Desires of living at least fair with France, and the Fears of too much displeasing the Parliaments.
†b. Objective uncertainty or suspense; risk, hazard.
1330R. Brunne Chron. 156 Ten þousand mark & mo, þat now er in balance. 1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 58, I dar lay in balaunce Al that I have in my possessioun. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1868) 56 A woman puttithe her worshipe in balance to ansuere and speke to moche. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cccxiii. 478 For the loue of me ye haue put in balance your landes. 1685Burnet tr. More's Utop. 129 On whom..they cast the chief Balance of the War.
11. Power to decide or determine; authoritative control.
1393Gower Conf. III. 381 There is a state..Above all other on erthe here, Which hath the londe in his balaunce. 1579Fenton Guicciard. (1599) Ep. Ded., God hath..put into your hands the ballance of power. 1760Robertson Hist. Scot. i. (1831) 75 Henry viii. of England held the balance with less delicacy, but with a stronger hand.
III. That which balances, or produces equilibrium.
12. A weight put into one scale to equal the preponderating weight in the other, and produce equilibrium; a counterpoise. Hence fig. a thing of equal influence, importance, or value; a counter-consideration, set-off, match.
1601Shakes. All's Well ii. iii. 183 To whom I promise A counterpoize: If not to thy estate, A ballance more repleat. 1659Neville in Burton Diary (1828) IV. 25 You give them salaries to be your balance. 1723Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 75 A sweet balance, yea, an overbalance, in sweet communion with God. 1876Green Short Hist. vii. §6 (1882) 404 If France..had ceased to be a balance to Spain, she found a new balance in Flanders.
IV. A balanced condition.
13. A condition in which two (or more) opposing forces balance each other; equilibrium:
a. of things ponderable.
1713Derham Phys.-Theol. 14 note, Such Alterations in the æquipoise or ballance of the Atmosphere. 1878Geo. Eliot Coll. Breakf. P. 283 The balance of the planets and the sun.
b. Of things imponderable.
1642Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. ii. §1. 136 Where I find their actions in ballance with my Country-men's, I honour..them. a1718Penn Tracts Wks. 1726 I. 693 Two Degrees of Cold, to two of Heat, make a Poyze in Elements, and a Ballance in Nature. 1869J. Martineau Ess. II. 110 The perfect balance of the two elements of consciousness.
c. balance of power (in Europe): such an adjustment of power among sovereign states that no single state is in a position to interfere with the independence of the rest; international equilibrium.[See 1579 in 11: ballance of power.] 1677A. Yarranton Eng. Impr. To Reader, Great danger might ensue in breaking the Ballance of Europe. 1701in Lond. Gaz. No. 3758/7 Your Glorious Design of Re-establishing a just Ballance of Power in Europe. 1761Churchill Night Poems I. 88 Europe's balance hangs upon his tongue. 1862Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. xi. 204 The battle of Lutzen which determined the balance of power between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism in Germany.
d. balance of nature, a state of equilibrium in nature produced by the interaction of living organisms; ecological balance.
1909G. Abbey (title) The balance of nature and modern conditions of cultivation. 1923H. G. Wells Men like Gods i. vi. 84 But presently he made it clear that there had been something very ancient and beautiful called the ‘Balance of Nature’ which the scientific methods of Utopia had destroyed. 1933Discovery July 224/2 The interference of man with the balance of nature had almost always brought evil in its train. 1962H. Hanson Dict. Ecol. 41 Balance of nature, (Ecological Balance), the state in an Ecosystem when the interrelationships of organisms..are harmonious or integrated to a considerable degree, e.g., a climax forest.
e. Phr. balance of terror, balance of power based on the possession of weapons of ‘terror’, esp. nuclear weapons.
1960B. M. Goldwater Conscience of Conservative 91 If war is unthinkable to us but not to them, the famous ‘balance of terror’ is not a balance at all, but an instrument of blackmail. 1962Listener 29 Mar. 548/1 There are other technical trends which seem to be contributing stability to the balance of terror between the Great Powers. 1962Observer 13 May 15/4 The ‘balance of terror’ is always in danger of being upset by technical advance (e.g., in anti⁓missile missiles). 1965H. Kahn On Escalation xiii. 246 A confusing thing about tactics..in a balance-of-terror situation is the great reliance on messages, symbols..and even ‘spectacles’.
14. a. General harmony between the parts of anything, springing from the observance of just proportion and relation; esp. in the Arts of Design.
1732Pope Ess. Man ii. 120 These mix'd with art..Make and maintain the balance of the mind. 1856Ruskin Mod. Paint. iii. i. viii, In all perfectly beautiful objects, there is found the opposition of one part to another, and a reciprocal balance. 1883― Art of England i. ii Absolutely faithful balances of colour and shade. 1884Sat. Rev. 14 June 778 1 She has in no way attempted to alter the balance of the characters [in a play].
b. spec. of the arrangement and adjustment of sources of sound; the sound thus produced.
1929B.B.C. Year-Bk. 1930 312 For balance and control..a volume control handle varies the input to the control amplifier, and consequently the strength passed to the transmitter. 1929Melody Maker Jan. 61/2 Then again balance is bad all over the place; rhythm gets lost, saxophones are often overpowering. 1933L. E. C. Hughes Elem. Engin. Acoustics vii. 141 As the sensitivities of the two ears are generally different, the balance is again taken with the receivers interchanged. 1941B.B.C. Gloss. Broadc. Terms 4 Balance, placing of artists, speakers, or other sources of sound in relation to a microphone or microphones, or vice versa. Ibid., Balance Test, test to establish the best balance for a particular broadcast. 1946Penguin Music Mag. Dec. 48 In a tutti passage..I am bound to hear the brass to the almost total exclusion of the 'cellos... Therefore..we can seldom hear what you hear in the matter of the all-important balance. 1962A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio i. 13 The man responsible for balance, mixing, and control may be a ‘balance engineer’ or ‘programme engineer’.
15. Stability or steadiness due to the equilibrium prevailing between all the forces of any system.
a. Physical equipoise, perfectly balanced action.
1667Milton P.L. i. 349 In even ballance down they light. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop xxiii, Swayed himself to and fro to preserve his balance. 1859Helps Friends in C. Ser. ii. II. viii. 167 But lost his own balance and fell out of the boat.
b. Equipoise of mind, character, or feelings; equanimity, mental composure, sanity.
1856Kane Arct. Exp. I. xvi. 198 If my mind had retained its balance. 1876Mozley Univ. Serm. xvi. 266 A strong moral character..keeps its balance, and is not carried away by the love of human praise.
c. off balance or out of balance.
1881G. W. Cable Mme Delphine x. 52 As a banker, at least, he was certainly out of balance. 1954F. C. Avis Boxing Ref. Dict. 77 Off balance, with the weight not properly distributed over the legs, and thus in a dangerous position in regard to an opponent. 1960E. P. C. Cotter Tackle Croquet this Way ix. 61 My opponent's tail was up so I decided to get him off balance if I could. 1962Which? (Car Suppl.) Oct. 137/2 Two had wheels out of balance on delivery.
V. The turn of the balance.
16. The preponderating weight; the net result of estimating conflicting principles, forces, etc.
1747Chesterfield Lett. 121 I. 327 This pleasure will increase so that the balance will be greatly to your advantage. 1844Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. xv. (1862) 219 The balance of evidence appears in favour of the due execution. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. iii. 267 In Germany..the balance of unjust interference lay on the imperial side.
VI. The adjustment of accounts.
17. a. The process of finding the difference, if any, between the Dr. and Cr. sides of an account, or set of accounts; the exhibition of this process in a tabular form; the result so ascertained or exhibited.
1588Mellis Briefe Instr. F viij b, The ballance of your booke is to be vnderstoode, a leafe of paper disposed and made in length and crossed in the middes, etc... Yf the summes of money, of Debitor and Creditor bee like, than is your ballance well. 1662Pepys Diary 30 Sept., I have also made up..my monthly ballance and find that..I am worth {pstlg}680. 1727Arbuthnot John Bull 90 John..brought in Frog debtor to him upon the balance, {pstlg}3382 12s. 1882Daily Tel. 4 May, {pstlg}160,000 has been taken out on balance for export.
b. esp. to strike a balance: to determine the exact difference, if any, between the two sides of an account or set of accounts. lit. and fig.
1638Wilkins New World 1 Those rewards and punishments by which..the balance of good and evil in this life is to be struck. 1874Blackie Self-Cult. 87 Not to run long accounts, but to strike clear balances at certain set seasons.
c. gen. A comparative reckoning. Phr. on balance (or upon the balance): taking everything into consideration.
1719W. Wood Surv. Trade 67 This Nation gained upon a Balance of the Ships taken from us, and the Captures we made of the Enemy. 1843Ainsworth's Mag. IV. 308 Upon the ‘balance’, as the betting men say, women are quite as mercenary as men. 1861Pycroft Agony P. xliii. 364 The blessings of the Langley Cottage, whether greater or less upon the balance, were of a kind not known at Langley Hall. 1928Britain's Industr. Future ii. vii. 89 We believe that these provisions would be, on balance, overwhelmingly in the interest of the investor. 1966Listener 6 Jan. 14/2 The impression in India that Britain has tended, on balance, to take the Pakistan side in the Kashmir dispute.
d. balance of trade: the estimation of the difference of value between the commercial exports and imports of a country; the difference itself, as it is in favour of, or against, the country.
1668Child Disc. Trade (1694) 164 The Ballance of Trade..is to be taken by a strict scrutiny of what proportion the value of the Commodities exported out of this Kingdom bear, to those imported. 1721C. King Brit. Merch. II. 12 Portugal pays us a Million every Year upon the Ballance of Trade. 1830Edinb. Encycl. IV. 370 The exploded doctrine of a balance of trade. 1879Fawcett Free Trade & Prot. 18 Granting bounties on exports..with a view of creating a favourable balance of trade.
e. balance of payments: the estimation of the difference of value between payments into and out of a country. (Balance of trade (17 d), i.e. of merchandise, covers the principal items on both sides, but balance of payments also includes the ‘invisible’ items, interest on loans, tourist expenditure, etc.) Also in attrib. use.
1844Mill Ess. Pol. Econ. i. 43 The tribute..restores the balance of payments between the two countries. 1863New Englander Jan. 63 The natural effect of all this was to create for the moment a heavy balance of payments against the North. 1931Economist 12 Dec. 1110/2 Study our national balance of payments, in order to see whether..restriction of imports..might..save the pound from..depreciation. 1955Times 10 Sept. 6/6 Mr. Butler,..said that he thought the balance of payments problem was on the whole being kept in hand. 1958Listener 31 July 151/1 So far, pressures on the balance of payments have been met successfully by foreign loans.
18. An equality between the total of the two sides of an account, when added up, after making all entries on both sides. Cf. 13.
165.Pepys Diary (1879) IV. 139, I do bring my accounts to a very near balance. 1881Gladstone in Times 8 Oct. 6/4 While we exported {pstlg}8,860,000, we imported {pstlg}8,509,000. That is very nearly a balance.
19. a. The difference between the Dr. and Cr. sides of an account, or set of accounts.
1622Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 370 Take all the remainders of the Accounts by Debitor and Creditor, which is the ballance of the Booke. 1819J. Greig Rep. Acc. Edin. 7 The balance shews the increase of the City's debts. 1866Crump Banking iii. 76 Such arrangements may continue for years without the balance ever being a credit-balance.
b. balance (of indebtedness): the difference between the total amounts which two persons, societies, or nations mutually owe each other.
1786Burke Art. agst. Hastings xv. §1 The enormous balances and remissions on that settlement arose from a general collusion between the farmers and collectors. 1818Byron Juan i. clxvii, We..draw the accompts of evil, And find a deuced balance with the devil. 1866Crump Banking vii. 157 The fundamental principle, upon which the price of bills rests in the ‘balance of indebtedness.’
20. a. balance (in hand): the sum of money remaining over after realizing all assets and discharging all liabilities. Also fig., something to spare. b. balance (due): the sum still outstanding on an account.
1720Lond. Gaz. No. 5842/4 A Bill for the Ballance of his Victualling Account. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. I. viii. 175 He required him..to pay the balance due. 1768Smollett Humph. Cl. Let. 3 Oct., Thou hast indeed paid me ‘scot and lot’: and even left a balance in my hands. 1828Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) I. 221 The large balance of the ransom which still remained unpaid. [1847in Thirsk & Imray Suff. Farming 19th Cent. (1958) 163, I have written to Mr. Woodley to ask him what amount he will require in his hands to save us from the interest. We have generally had a balance in his hands of {pstlg}400 or {pstlg}500.] 1865[see fork v. 5]. 1876Hamerton Intell. Life ii. i. 44 A delightful balance at his bankers. 1876Coursing Calendar 5 Wheatear..working with great smartness, won with a nice balance in hand. 1957Hampshire Chron. 3 Aug., At the annual meeting of the Winchester and District Football League..a balance in hand of {pstlg}1 17s. 9d. was reported.
21. Comm. slang: The remainder, the rest. orig. U.S.
1788in Pennsylv. Mag. Hist. & Biog. (1894) XVIII. 62 Arose early and sent off the balance of our things. 1817S. R. Brown Western Gaz. 167 The inhabitants are more than half French; the balance consists of emigrants..from various parts of Europe and America. 1845S. Judd Margaret i. xiii. 96 Deacon Hadlock himself, hearing Obed's entreaties, consented to remit the balance of the penalty. 1875Blackw. Mag. Apr. 443 Balance, long familiar to American ears, is becoming so to ours. In an account of a ship on fire we read ‘Those saved remained the balance of the night watching the burning wreck.’ 1883P. Fitzgerald Recr. Lit. Man 170 Every one is away shooting or riding; a balance of the ladies is left.
22. Comb. balance-beam, the beam of a balance, also the beam keeping a drawbridge balanced aloft; balance-bob (see quot.); balance-crane (see quot. 1904); balance-fish, the hammer-headed shark (Squalus zygæna); balance-frame (see quot.); balance-knife, a table-knife of which the handle is made sufficiently heavy to keep the blade from touching the cloth; balance-man, one who acts as an equipoise and preserves the balance; balance-master, -mistress, a posture-maker, tumbler, ‘equilibrist’; balance-reef, the closest reef of a lower fore-and-aft sail, making it nearly triangular, used to steady the ship in stormy weather, whence balance-reefed; balance-seat, a mode of riding in which the body is balanced in the saddle without support from the stirrups; balance-sheet, a tabular statement of assets and liabilities, showing the character and amount of the balance; balance-step (= goose-step n. b); balance weight, a counterpoise weight; balance-wise adv., in the manner of a balance; balance-yard, the beam of a balance. Also balance-holder, balance-maker, etc., and many attrib. combinations in Watchmaking (see 6), as balance-arc, balance-cock, balance-spring, balance-staff, balance-wheel (also fig.); also, a similar device on a sewing-machine.
1813Scott Trierm. i. xv, The *balance-beams obey'd the blast, And down the trembling drawbridge cast.
c1865J. Wylde in Circ. Sc. I. 404/1 Excess of weight..may..damage the *balance-beam.
1838Civ. Engin. & Archit. Jrnl. I. 409/1 The heavy pump rods, *balance bobs &c., attached to a mining engine. 1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Balance-bob, a heavy lever ballasted at one end, and attached at the other to the pump-rod, the weight of which it thus helps to carry.
a1877Knight Dict. Mech. I. 212/1 The *balance-cock of a watch affords a bearing for the upper pivot of a watch-balance. 1962E. Bruton Dict. Clocks & Watches 19 Balance cock, the cock that holds the bearing, normally a shock absorber, for one end of the balance.
1824R. Stevenson Bell Rock Lighthouse 520 The *Balance-Crane, constructed for building the upper part of the Bell Rock Light-house. 1904Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 136/2 Some heavy weight is fixed..opposite to the point at which the jib is fixed... These arrangements constitute what is called a balance crane.
1683–4Robinson in Phil. Trans. XXIX. 479 The Zygæna or *Ballance Fish, as large as the Saw Fish.
1815Encycl. Brit. XI. 107 Hammer-headed shark, or *balance-fish.
c1850Rudim. Nav. 9 *Balance frames, those frames, or bends of timber, of the same capacity or area, which are equally distant from the centre of gravity.
1880Muirhead Gaius ii. §107 What has been said about witnesses applies equally to the *balance-holder.
1833J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 14 The fabrication of what are called *balance knives.
1611Cotgr., Balancier, a *ballance-maker.
1828H. Steuart Planter's G. 251 Sending up a couple of *Balancemen to the top; who..serve as movable makeweights.
1753Hogarth Anal. Beauty xv. 210 The *balance-master's attention to a single point, in order to preserve his balance.
1801Strutt Sp. & Past. iii. v. (1845) 231 Tymbesteres, or *balance-mistresses.
1782P. Freneau Misc. Works (1788) 387 What he calls single, double, and *balance-reef eyelet holes. 1794D. Steel Rigging & Seamanship I. 86 Balance-reef, a reef-band that crosses a sail diagonally, and is used to contract it in a storm. 1840J. F. Cooper Pathfinder II. v. 184 By half-past two he had put a balance-reef in the sail.
1840R. Dana Bef. Mast v. 10 Under close-reefed topsails, *balance-reefed trysail.
1873Daily News 21 May 5/6 That patent hernia-producing institution, the *balance-seat.
1849Cobden Speeches 4 The *balance-sheets of our merchants and manufacturers have been equally adverse.
1838U.S. Mag. & Democr. Rev. I. 42 He becomes familiar..with trial balances, *balance sheets, [etc.]. 1853Bright Peace, Sp. 13 Oct. (1876) 462 If a balance-sheet could be shown of what Algeria has cost France.
1833Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 16 The *balance step in double time.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 246 The *balance spring has then to be unpinned every time the *balance staff is removed.
1690Lond. Gaz. No. 2550/4 A Silver *Ballance-Watch.
1824R. Stevenson Bell Rock Lighthouse v. 296 The upright shaft of the new crane was to be kept in an erect position by a *balance-weight acting upon the opposite end of the loaded working-beam. 1862Catal. Internat. Exhib. ii. x. 21 The cage returning to the upper floor for a fresh load by means of a balance weight. 1960J. G. Horner Dict. Mech. Engin. (ed. 8) 19 The weights placed in the driving-wheels of locomotives are termed balance weights.
1747Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 806/1 The *balance-wheel obliges the balance to vibrate backwards and forwards like a pendulum. 1958M. E. Burton Lett. M. Wordsworth p. xxviii, Mary often chooses to remain behind. She is the balance-wheel. 1961Which? Nov. 277 (diagram) Balance wheel [of a sewing-machine].
1655Marquis of Worcester Cent. Inv. xx, How to bring up water *Balance-wise.
1669Phil. Trans. IV. 937 Watches, which instead of a *Ballance-wheele are regulated by a Pendulum.
1863Mrs. C. Clarke Shaks. Char. viii. 212 Fabian..is the *balance-wheel between the other two, to keep them in check.
1810Coleridge Friend (1865) 35 The other scale..seemed full up to the very *balance-yard.
Add:[IV.] [14.] c. Esp. in complementary medicine, a state of healthy equilibrium resulting from a harmonious relationship between various aspects of the person, as body and mind, ‘yin’ and ‘yang’, etc.
1964L. Moss Acupuncture & You ii. 21 The distribution and balance are never constant in the human body... An inner rhythm is being stimulated by the Yang. 1978B. Sultanoff in M. Blate Natural Healer's Acupressure Handbk. p. viii, This ‘holistic’ perspective on the essence of healing presents us with a practical challenge: How can we best utilize the knowledge and services encompassed by Western medicine while maintaining a ‘healthstyle’ attuned to principles of order, balance, and self-reliance? 1981V. Kulvinskas et al. Life in 21st Cent. iv. iii. 187 Are you a ‘head’ person or a ‘body’ person or perhaps ‘centered’ in perfect balance and harmony? 1983Hillier & Jewell Health Care & Trad. Med. in China vi. 150 The ‘Huangdi Neijing’ pays great attention to the achievement of good balance both in one's mental and physical states. 1989R. Coward Whole Truth (1990) i. 32 The body is used as a source of ideas about ‘wholeness’, ‘balance’ and ‘harmony’, involving both the body and the mind. 1990A. Stevens On Jung iii. 49 The psyche, like the body, was a self-regulating system. It strives perpetually to maintain a balance.
▪ II. balance, v.|ˈbæləns|
[a. F. balancer, f. balance n. (Like the n., in certain senses confused with ballast.)]
I. To place or weigh in the scales. Chiefly fig.
1. trans. To weigh (a matter); to estimate the two aspects or sides of anything; to ponder.
1694R. Lestrange Fables ccccv. 436 We Weigh and Ballance things before we pronounce them to be either Good or Evil. 1775Sheridan Rivals iii. i, Weighing and balancing what you were pleased to mention. 1847Tennyson Princ. iii. 149 She balanced this a little, And told me she would answer us to-day.
2. To weigh two things, considerations, etc., against each other, so as to ascertain which preponderates.
1596Spenser F.Q. v. ii. 31 Then would he ballaunce heaven and hell together. 1629R. Hill Pathw. Piety II. 137 Christ..is balanced with Barabbas, and thought lighter than a murderer. 1736Butler Anal. i. iii. 47 To weigh and balance Pleasures and Uneasinesses. 1875Grindon Life i. 1 Truth..is determined by balancing probabilities. 1883Gilmour Mongols xviii. 216 His good and bad actions are balanced against each other.
3. To counterbalance or counterpoise one thing by, with, or against another.
1624Ld. Kensington in Ellis Orig. Lett. i. 301 III. 173 That the honor of the Prince..might be deerer to her then to be balanced with that which, etc. 1625Bacon Ess. (1862) 154 Another meanes to curbe them, is to Ballance them by others, as Proud as they. 1850Ruskin Mod. Paint. iii. §i. viii, A mass of subdued colour may be balanced by a point of a powerful one. 1860Pusey Min. Proph. 47 The self-same wisdom which balanced Egypt against Assyria. 1884American VII. 345 To balance asymmetrically-placed entrance-doors with lobsided windows.
4. To bring to or keep in equilibrium. spec. of sources of sound (cf. balance n. 14 b).
1634Habington Castara 47 That Kings, to ballance true content, shall say: Would they were great as we, we blest as they. 1738Pope Epil. Sat. i. 60 Did not the sneer of more impartial men At sense and virtue balance all again. 1810Coleridge Friend (1865) 81 On which it may fix its attention, and thus balance its own energies. 1853G. Brimley Ess. 282 [The painter] may fail to balance his masses. 1928B.B.C. Handbk. 1929 68 A..new design of control room has been decided upon, wherein effects, echoes, background music, etc. can be mixed together and so balanced by a specially-trained operator. 1933L. E. C. Hughes Elem. Engin. Acoustics vii. 141 The..method is to accept the calibration curve of a moving-coil receiver, and to balance their output when supplied by a constant note. 1962A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio ii. 48 Completely dead sound is difficult to balance. Ibid. iii. 52 When balancing music there is..no clear-cut set of rules.
5. a. To steady (a body under the influence of opposing forces); to poise, keep steady or erect.
1840Dickens Old C. Shop xiii, Strong men..balancing chests of drawers..upon their heads. 1875Buckland Log-Bk. 54 Sculptors are sometimes obliged to use a species of tail in balancing their statues.
b. refl. and intr. To keep oneself in equilibrium.
1833Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 15 The Instructor will..make the recruit balance upon the left foot. 1866Howells Venet. Life iv. 58 Balanced herself half over the balcony-rail.
6. To steady, give (mental) balance or ballast to.
1685Baxter Paraphr. N.T. 1 Tim. iii. 6 Young, raw Christians..have had less time to learn the great things which should ballance them. [See balanced ppl. a. 3.]
II. To act as things in the opposite scales of a balance; lit. and fig.
7. trans. To equal in weight, counterpoise, neutralize the weight of. Also absol. to balance (each other).
a1727Newton (J.) The attraction of the glass is balanced..by the contrary attraction of the liquor. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 91 The column of water..balances the atmospheric pressure. Mod. Do these scales balance?
8. Hence: To compensate, neutralize the effect of, make up for.
a1593Marlowe Dido iii. iv, I saw no King like thee, Whose golden crown might balance my content. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. vi. ii. §57 III. 292 Wherefore, to ballance the Protestants, the Jesuits were set on foot. 1726Butler Serm. Rolls Chap. v. 90 So many things..ballance the Sorrow of it. 1837J. H. Newman Par. Serm. I. xxiv. 358 Our duties balance each other. 1870Morris Earthly Par. I. i. 384 And weariness was balanced with delight.
9. intr. To act as a counterpoise, be equal (with).
1579Beard Theat. Gods Judgm. (1612) 539 Could such a punishment ballance with his so..great offences?
III. To oscillate like the beam of a balance.
10. intr. To waver, deliberate, hesitate. Cf. 1.
1655Earl of Orrery Parthen. (1676) 628 Her great danger..invited my assistance, which, without balancing, I ran to pay her. 1753Richardson Grandison (1781) II. xxvi. 246 He had..no very strong aspirations after matrimony, and had balanced about it a good while. 1825R. Ward Tremaine I. v. 37 Mrs. Belson balanced some time upon this, as any good mother would. 1850Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) I. ix. 373 The same disposition to balance and temporize..wrecked his fortunes as a statesman.
11. Of partners in dancing: To move to and fro in converse directions like the arms of a balance, to set to a partner.
1775Sheridan Rivals iii. iv. (1883) 113, I must rub up my balancing, and chasing, and boring. 1859in Worcester.
12. trans. To sway backwards and forwards.
1728Pope Dunc. iii. 200 Tuning his voice and balancing his hands.
IV. Of an account. lit. and fig.
13. trans. To add up the debit and credit sides of an account or set of accounts, and ascertain the difference, if any, between their respective amounts.
1588Mellis Briefe Instr. E vij, At your viages returne..ballance vp the bookes. 1724Swift Drapier's Lett. Wks. 1755 V. ii. 130 To compute and balance my gain and my loss. 1796Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 383 Thus we balance the account;—defeat and dishonour abroad; oppression at home. a1842Tennyson Audley Court 43 ‘Oh! who would cast and balance at a desk?’
14. a. To make such entries in an account or set of accounts as make the two sides equal; to produce an equality in the total amounts of the debit and credit entries of a set of accounts.
b. In this sense, also, accounts are said (intr.) to balance (i.e. themselves); or an entry is said to balance the account, or balance an opposite entry.
1622Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 371 And if he had beene a loser by the Account of profit and losse, then must he make his Capitall Debtor, and the said Account Creditor, to ballance the matter. 1675Gregory in Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men II. 276, I cannot perceive how the balance balanceth the book. 1748Anson Voy. iii. viii. 373 The happy crisis which was to ballance the account of all their past calamities. 1878Jevons Prin. Pol. Econ. 52 To make the profits of the successful business balance the losses of the unfortunate ones.
15. Hence: To settle (an account) by paying an amount due, to clear off a liability
1740Cibber Apol. (1756) I. 142 The end of the season, when dues to ballance came too thick upon 'em. 1877H. Page De Quincey II. xvi. 20 A cheque for {pstlg}30, to balance his account.
V.
16. Naut. To reef with a balance-reef, so as to steady the ship in bad weather: see balance n. 22. Perhaps originally ballast.
[Cf.1697W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 414 We furl'd our Main⁓sail, and ballasted our Mizen.] 1762–9Falconer Shipwr. ii. 460 The balanced mizen, rending to the head. 1769― Dict. Marine (1789), s.v., A boom main-sail is balanced, after all its reefs are taken in, by rolling up..the aftmost lower corner.
¶17. To ballast. Obs. rare. Cf. balance n. 7 ¶ .
1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. (1836) 202 There is no ship so balanced with massie matter as their heades are fraught with all kinde of baudie songes. [Cf.1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Upper-work..that part of a ship which is above the surface of the water when she is properly balanced for a sea-voyage.] |