| 释义 |
▪ I. balk, baulk, n.1|bɔːk|
Forms: 1 balca, balc, 3–7 balke, 5–7 baulke, 6 balcke, 7–9 baulk (north. dial. bauk, bawk), 3– balk.
[Common Teutonic, presenting several variant stems, with partial differentiation of sense: OE. balca ridge, bank = OFris. balca, OS. balco, MDu. balke, balc, Du. balk, OHG. balcho, balco, MHG. balke, G. balken, ‘beam, trabs,’ also OE. bolca ‘gangway of a ship,’ and ON. bjalki (Sw. biælke, bielke, Da. bjelke) ‘beam,’ corresponding respectively to an OTeut. ablaut-series *balkon-, *bolkon-, *belkon-; also ON. bálkr, bǫ́lkr, ‘beam, bar, partition, division’, OSw. balker, bolker, Sw. balk ‘beam, balk, partition, section of a law’:—OTeut. *balku-z. OE. balc ‘porca’ (see 3), is either an error for balca, or = ON. bálkr. The relation of OE. bælc ‘covering (? flooring)’ is doubtful. The original sense was perh. ‘bar’; cf. L. suf-fla(g)men, from Aryan *bhalg-, bhlag-. The OE. balca (balc) and ON. bálkr appear to be combined in the ME.; whether the latter distinguished balke and balk, the evidence does not show. Balk is the analogous spelling: cf. stalk, talk, walk, etc.; but baulk is frequent, and in Billiards (sense 9) the prevailing spelling.]
I. A ridge generally, a dividing ridge; a bar.
†1. A ridge, heap, or mound upon the ground; e.g. a grave-mound. Obs.
c885K. ælfred Boeth. xvi. §2 Þa het he hí bindan, and on balcan leᵹan. c1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 62 My body on balke þer bod in sweuen.
†2. A dividing ridge (of land); an isthmus; a bar of sand, etc. Obs.
1538Leland Itin. V. 16 A litle Balk of Sand cast up, the wich at low waters prohibitih the Se to cum about. 1565Golding Ovid's Met. vi. (1593) 140 The narrow balke at which two seas do meete at hand. Ibid. vii. 164 The balcke that makes the strait divorce Between the seas Ionian and Aegean. 1633P. Fletcher Purple Isl. iv. xi, A border-city these two coasts removing; Which, like a balk..Disparts the terms of anger and of loving.
II. A ridge left in ploughing; a miss, slip.
3. A ridge between two furrows (L. porca), or a strip of ground left unploughed as a boundary line between two ploughed portions.
c1000ælfric Gloss. in Wright Voc. (W.) 147 Porca, balc. a1300W. de Biblesworth in Wright Voc. 159 Vert choral, a grene balke. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. ix. 114 Dykers and deluers diggeden vp þe balkes. 1483Cath. Angl. 19/1 Balke betwyx twa furris; creb(r)o, porca. 1562W. Bullein Bk. Simples 16 b, Euery mere and balke is full of it [Scabios] in June. 1563Homilies ii. Rogat. Week iv. (1859) 498 How covetous men nowe a dayes plow vp so nigh the common balkes and walkes. 1576Gascoigne Steele Glas (Arb.) 78 Earing vp the balks that part their bounds. 1604Breton Pass. Sheph. 13 The merrie countrie lad, Who upon a faire greene balk May at pleasure sit and walke. 1725A. Ramsay Gent. Sheph. v. iii, Last night I met him on a bawk, Whare yellow corn was growing. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 196 These earthern boundaries (baulks) are wearing fast out. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 104 He takes his rambles..Down narrow balks that intersect the fields.
4. a. A ridge or piece left unploughed by accident or carelessness; a piece missed in ploughing. (Often in phrase to make a balk or balks.)
c1420Pallad. on Husb. ii. 15 The balke, that thai calle, unered lande And overheled, beholde that there be noon. c1430Lydg. Bochas. vii. viii b (1554) 172 Making no balkes, y⊇ plough was truely hold. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §7 If he goo to the ploughe, and loke backwarde, he seeth not, whether the plough..make a balke. 1647Fuller Good Th. in Worse T. Observ. xvi, The husbandman may dart forth an ejaculation, and not make a balk the more. a1703Burkitt On N.T. Luke ix. 62 He that ploughs must keep on, and make no balks. 1840Penny Cycl. XVIII. 277/2 The leaving of balks is a great fault, and is owing to..the ploughman not holding his plough upright.
b. Hence fig., esp. in to make a balk of good ground: to waste or throw away a good chance.
1605Camden Rem. (1637) 302 Make hay while sunne shines. Make not a balke of good ground. 1640Fuller Joseph's Coat (1867) 35 The rich Corinthians, in not inviting the poor, made balks of good ground. a1652Brome New Acad. iii. i, Your plow makes vile baulkes of my money. 1857Bohn Handbk. Prov. 69 Make not balks of good ground.
5.
†a. fig. A slip, mistake, a blunder. to make a balk: to blunder, go wrong. Obs.
c1430Hymns to Virg. (1867) 92 Þouȝ a ȝong man make a balke, Ȝit take to þi mynde reuertere. 1661W. Annand Panem Quotid. 18 They..make such bawlks in their prayer. 1717Tudway in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 435 IV. 311 Bentley's baulks and blunders about the king's reception.
b. U.S. In baseball: (see quot. 1867). Also attrib.
1845in Appleton's Ann. Cycl. (1886) X. 77/2 A runner can not be put out..when a balk is made by the pitcher. 1867H. Chadwick Beadle's Dime Base-Ball Player 53 A balked Ball.—Should the pitcher move his foot in delivery—thereby making a ‘balk’—and the Umpire call a ‘balk’ until the ball is returned to the pitcher, [etc.]. 1913Amer. Mag. Sept. 24/1 Kilroy caught seven by his balk motion.
†6. fig. An omission, an exception. Obs. or dial.
1596Spenser F.Q. vi. xi. 16 They fall to strokes..Not sparing wight, ne leaving any balke. 1666Bunyan Grace Ab. ⁋315 But then I have asked why they made baulks? why they did salute the most handsome and let the ill favoured go? 1775J. Collier Tim Bobbin 60 I'r so keen bitt'n I made no bawks at o hay seed.
III. A ridge in one's path; A stumbling-block, check; a term in billiards.
†7. A ridge in the way, over which one may stumble; a stumbling-block, obstacle. Obs.
1549Latimer Serm. bef. Edw. VI (1869) 36 We wold not walke in by-walkes, where are many balkes. 1562Sternhold & H. Ps. xviii. 35 So that my feete shall neuer slip, Nor stumble at a balke. 1747Hooson Miner's Dict. N j, How many Baulks and Obstructions..happen by the way.
8. fig.
a. A hindrance, check, or defeat.
1660T. M. Hist. Indep. iv. 78 As a balk to which the Committee of safety declared..that they had transmitted a great part of a form of government, etc. a1716South Serm. VI. 311 (T.) There cannot be a greater balk to the tempter. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 341 This was a balk to them and put a damp to their new projects. 1823Lamb Elia Ser. i. xxi. (1865) 162 It would be some balk to the spirit of conversation if you knew.
b. A disappointment.
1733Swift Wks. (1745) VIII. 122 Poor Tom has got a plaguy baulk. 1741Richardson Pamela (1824) I. viii. 244 It was a great baulk to her, that you did not comply with my request.
c. Of a horse: an instance of balking (cf. balk v.1 3).
1866E. Keyes Diary 28 Apr. in Colorado Mag. (1933) X. 72 The horses were not used to being driven together..we had balks innumerable..but in the end on we would go as merry as ever.
9. a. transf. The part of a billiard table behind a transverse line (the ‘baulk-line’) near one end, within the D or half-circle of which a player whose ball is in hand must place it to make his stroke. (As, in billiards, such player must play out from baulk, and can strike only indirectly at a ball lying within it, the original sense of the term was perhaps that of ‘check.’) In U.S., baulk-line is also applied to one of four lines drawn parallel to the side of the table or diagonally across the corners; also designating a carom billiards game in which these lines restrict scoring (see quot. 1910). Also attrib.
1800Hoyle's Games 250 When the striker's and the red ball are within the baulk, he is not obliged to pass the ball. 1839E. Kentfield Billiards 3 At the lower end of the table..is a line technically termed the Baulk Line. 1874G. J. Whyte-Melville Uncle John ix, She strung to begin—won—and put her ball in balk. 1896W. Broadfoot et al. Billiards ix. 283 (heading) Safety and baulk play. Ibid. ix. 285 A few examples of safety and baulk strokes. 1906Daily Chron. 19 Apr. 4/7 The 18.1 in. baulk-line champion. 1910Encycl. Brit. III. 939/1 Various schemes have been devised to make the game more difficult. One of these is known as the ‘continuous baulk-line’. Lines are drawn, 8, 14, 18 or even 22 in. from the rails, parallel to the side of the table...In the case of the Triangular Baulk-line, lines are drawn at the four corners. Ibid., The ‘anchor baulk-lines’..are drawn at the end of a baulk-line where it touches the rail.
b. to make a baulk: to bring one's own and the red ball within the baulk, when the opponent's ball is in hand.
1839E. Kentfield Billiards 24 Directions for making what are termed baulks.
IV. A beam of wood.
10. A roughly squared beam of timber; sometimes used technically to designate Baltic timber, which is roughly dressed before shipment.
c1300Cursor M. 8783 Þe balk þat mast þe werk suld bind Þai soght, and noþer-quar cuth find. c1386Chaucer Reeve's Prol. 66 He can wel in myn eye see a stalke, But in his owne he can nought seen a balke. 1483Cath. Angl. 19/1 Balke of a howse, trabs. 1662Pepys Diary 23 June, Deales, spars, and bulks. 1666Lond. Gaz. No. 35/4 Laden with Oaken and Firr Balks. 1677Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 157 Bauk, a piece of Fir unslit, from four to ten inches square. 1734Builder's Dict., Balks..so some call great pieces of Timber coming from beyond Seas by Floats. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §38 A course of squared oak balks. 1881Mechanic §136 The strongest timber obtainable..is that which is sawn out of baulks. 1884Timber Tr. Jrnl. 14 June 417/3 Danzig fir balks.
11. A tie-beam of a house, stretching from wall to wall. In old one-storey houses these were often exposed and used for hanging or placing articles on, or laid with boards so as to form a loft, called ‘the balks.’ Now chiefly north.
a1300W. de Biblesworth in Wright Voc. 170 Les trayes (gloss balkes). c1386Chaucer Miller's T. 440 Laddres thre To clymben by the ronges..Unto the tubbes hangyng in the balkes. 1535Coverdale Zeph. ii. 14 Foules shal synge in the wyndowes and rauens shal syt vpon the balckes. 1565Golding Ovid's Met. viii. (1593) 202 A flitch of restie bacon from the balke made blacke with smoke. 1641Best Farm. Bks. (1856) 53 When wee have brought up the farre roomestead as high as the balke. 1691Ray N. Countr. Wds. 5 The Balk or Bawk, the Summer-beam or Dorman. c1760? Mickle Nae Luck about the Hoose, There's twa fat hens upon the bauk. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. ii. i. xii. (D.) The stiffest balk bends more or less; all joists creak.
12. A cross-beam or bar in a chimney or kiln.
1432Test. Ebor. (1855) II. 23 Unum instrumentum ferreum in camino aulæ, vocatum balk. a1600Felon Sow of Rokeby, The sew was in the kiln hole down As they were on the balke aboon.
13. The beam of a balance. Obs. exc. dial.
1399Fabric Rolls Yk. Minstr. in Linc. Gloss. (E.D.S.), I balke ferri cum les scales et ponderibus. 1571Wills & Inv. N.C. (1855) II. 364 Payre of great skales wth y⊇ balk. 1671J. Flavel Fount. Life iv. 10 The Balk of a Balance, to weigh Christ's excellency. 1854H. Miller Sch. & Schm. xxiii. (1858) 509 To give..his customers ‘the cast of the baulk.’ Sc. Proverb, The young lamb comes as often to the bauk as the auld ewe.
14. Comb. † balk-line, ? a line hanging from the cross-beams; † balk-staff, a quarter-staff; balk-yard, a timber-yard.
c1400Beryn 153 He berith a Bal[k]staff quod the toon, and els a rakis ende. 1506in Blomefield Norfolk V. 1670 A new balk-line to the star, and rysing star, viijd. 1664Cotton Scarron. i. (1715) 10 Balk-Staves and Cudgels, Pikes and Truncheons. 1674Ray N. Countr. Wds. 4 Balk-staff, a Quarter-staff, a great Staff like a Pole or Beam. 1823Let. in Polwhele Trad. & Recoll. (1826) II. 770 Straying into a balk-yard fell over a beam of timber.
V. In fishing. [The connexion of 16 with the other senses is doubtful.]
15. dial. A set of stout stakes surrounded by netting or wicker work for catching fish.
1836Sir G. Head Home Tour 430, I observed some fish ‘balks’ on the sands..The fish are taken on the sand within the balk at low water.
16. The stout rope at the top of fishing nets by which they are fastened one to another in a ‘fleet.’ (In Cornw. balch.)
1847H. Miller First. Impr. i. 3 Away from wave-top to wave-top, like the cork baulk of a fisherman's net afloat on the swell. 1880E. Cornw. Gloss. (E.D.S.), Balch, a stout cord used for the head-line of a fishing net.
▪ II. balk, n.2
[f. balk v.1 in the local sense of ‘to leave unfinished’.]
Of cloth: in the raw or unfinished state.
1841R. W. Hamilton Nugæ Lit. 357 (Yorks. Dial.) Balk,..cloth in an unfinished state. 1860S. Jubb Hist. Shoddy-Trade 40 Short Ends were sold to the merchants..in the grey raised (not balk) state. 1876W. Cudworth Bradford 519 These clothiers attended the Leeds White Cloth Market..selling their cloth in the ‘balk’, or raw state.
▪ III. balk, v.1|bɔːk|
Forms: 6 balck, 6–7 balke, 7 baulke, bawk, 8 bauk, 6–9 baulk, 4– balk.
[f. balk, baulk n.1]
I.
†1. trans. (and absol.) To make balks in ploughing; to plough up in ridges. Obs.
1393Gower Conf. III. 296 But so well halt no man the plough, That he ne balketh other while. c1420Pallad. on Husb. i. 184 To tille a felde man must have diligence, And balk it not. 1583Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 22 With forck King Neptun is ayding. He balcks thee quicksands, and fluds dooth mollefye. 1611Cotgr., Assilloner, to baulke, or plow up in baulkes. [a1640Jackson Creed xi. cxxxix. Wks. XI. 203 Whilst we labour to plough up your hearts..we must not balk that saying of St. John.]
II.
2. trans. To miss or omit intentionally. †a. lit. To pass by (a place), to avoid in passing; to shun.
1484Paston Lett. 859 III. 279 Mastyer Baley..woold not have balkyd this pore loggeyng to Norwyche wardes. 1612–5Bp. Hall Contempl. N.T. iv. iii. 173 Jericho was in his way from Galilee to Jerusalem: he baulks it not, though it were outwardly cursed. 1684Lady R. Russell Lett. I. xv. 43, I hope you will not balk Totteridge, if I am here. a1733North Exam. ii. iv. ⁋94 Going to Lord Clarendon..baulking the Secretary. 1783Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (Morell) s.v. Balk, I will not balk your house.
b. fig. To pass over, overlook, refrain from noticing (what comes in one's way); to shirk, ignore.
c1440Promp. Parv. 22 Balkyn, or ouerskyppyn, omitto. 1582Fleetwood in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 216 III. 90 As for my Lo. Maior..I am dryven every daie to bawk hym and his doynges. 1640Bp. Hall Episc. i. §11. 39, I may not baulke two pregnant testimonies of the Fathers. 1656Sanderson Serm. II. 160 The spying of motes in our brother's eye, and baulking of beams in our own. 1684Cont. Foxe's A. & M. III. 900 The Bayliff would fain have baulked him, As if he had not seen him. 1742Richardson Pamela III. 42 Let me tell you, (nor will I balk it) my Brother..will want one Apology for his Conduct. 1848L. Hunt Jar of Honey Pref. 4 No topic is baulked if it come uppermost.
c. To refuse (anything offered or that comes in course, e.g. food or drink).
1587Turberv. Trag. T. (1837) 230 And balke your bed for shame. 1619Fletcher M. Thomas i. i. 386 A bait you cannot balk Sir. 1649W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1653) 183 If the stalk grow big, cattell will balk it. a1784Johnson in Boswell (1831) I. 236, I never..balked an invitation out to dinner. 1810Crabbe Borough xvi, He took them all and never balk'd his glass.
d. To avoid (a duty or responsibility).
1631Preston Effect. Faith 146 Thou must not balke the way of Religion, because of the troubles thou meetest. a1707Beveridge Priv. Th. ii. 103 Not that we should run ourselves into danger, but that we should baulk no Duty to avoid it. 1785Cowper Tirocin. 257 Such an age as ours baulks no expence.
e. To let slip, fail to use, seize, keep, reach, etc.
1601Shakes. Twel. N. iii. ii. 26 This was look't for at your hand, and this was baulkt. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. Ded. If I balk'd this opportunity. 1724A. Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 2 This point of a' his wishes He wadna with set speeches bauk. 1826Hor. Smith Gai. & Grav. in Casquet of Lit. I. 326/2 My adviser insisted upon my not baulking my luck.
3. a. intr. To stop short as at an obstacle, to pull up, swerve. Esp. of a horse: To jib, refuse to go on, or to leap, to shy; also of the rider, and of any one on foot, refusing a leap. Also fig. (colloq.) to shy or jib at.
1481Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 32 Isegrym balked and sayde, ye make moche a doo, sir Tybert. 1596Spenser F.Q. iv. x. 25 Ne ever ought but of their true loves talkt, Ne ever for rebuke or blame of any balkt. 1722De Foe Moll. Fl. (1840) 78 If he balked, I knew I was undone. 1756C. Lucas Ess. Waters III. 340 No man, that drinks water, baulks at a pint..in the day. 1843Lever J. Hinton xxv, Burke..suddenly swerved his horse round, and affecting to baulk, cantered back. 1862Melbourne Leader 5 July, His horse balked at a leap, and threw him. 1908J. M. Dillon Motor Days Eng. xx. 241 It was the only time I ever saw Maud balk at gooseberries.
†b. To lie out of the way. Obs.
1591Spenser M. Hubberd 268 Labour that did from his liking balke.
†4. trans. To miss by error or inadvertence. Obs.
1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 93 They..balk the right way, and strayen abroad. 1659Feltham Low Countr. (1677) 46 You cannot baulk your Road without the hazard of drowning. 1710Palmer Proverbs 6 Young dogs..balk the true game to ply every scent.
III. 5. trans. To place a balk in the way of. a. To check, hinder, thwart (a person or his action).
1589Warner Alb. Eng. vi. xxxi. (1612) 153, I sometimes proffered kindnesse..but..was balked with a blush. 1635Swan Spec. M. v. §2 (1643) 105 The King..must not be baulked in his late proceedings. 1726De Foe Hist. Devil i. xi. (1840) 155 An enemy who is baulked and defeated, but not overcome. 1821Byron Two Foscari i. i, They shall not balk my entrance. 1855Prescott Philip II, I. ii. xiii. 292 The sturdy cavalier was not to be balked in his purpose.
b. To check (feelings, or a person in his feelings).
1682Dryden Rel. Laici 212 Nor doth it balk my charity to find The Egyptian Bishop of another mind. 1746Ld. Malmesbury Lett. I. 37 Lord Talbot was not much baulked with this rebuke. 1855H. Martineau Autobiog. I. 92 My home affections..all the stronger for having been repressed and baulked.
c. To disappoint (expectations, or any one in his expectations).
1590Marlowe Edw. II, ii. v, We..must not come so near to balk their lips. 1652Brome Jov. Crew ii. 389 May your Store Never decay, nor baulk the Poor. 1725Pope Odyss. x. 135 Balk'd of his prey, the yelling monster flies. 1854Thackeray Newcomes I. 286 Balk yourself of the pleasure of bullying. 1873Spenser Stud. Sociol. vii. 161 Time after time our hopes are balked.
d. To frustrate, foil, render unsuccessful.
1635Quarles Emblems iii. xiv. (1718) 182 To baulk those ills which present joys bewray. 1727Swift Censure Misc. (1735) V. 104 The most effectual Way to baulk Their Malice, is― to let them talk. 1848Kingsley Saint's Trag. ii. v. 90 With which we try to balk the curse of Eve.
†6. trans. and absol. To meet arguments with objections; to quibble, chop logic, bandy words.
1596Spenser F.Q. iii. ii. 12 Her list in stryfull termes with him to balke. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. i. 34 Balke Lodgicke with acquaintaince that you haue. 1653Manton Exp. James iii. 2 Wks. IV. 227 They do not divide and baulk with God.
▪ IV. balk, v.2 ? Obs.
[prob. a. Du. balk-en to bray, bawl, shout, cogn. with OE. bælcan to shout, vociferate (which would itself have given balch).]
To signify to fishing-boats the direction taken by the shoals of herrings or pilchards, as seen from heights overlooking the sea; done at first by bawling or shouting, subsequently by signals. See balker2.
1603Act 1 Jas. I, xxiii, To wache for the saide Fishe, and to balke, hue, conde, direct, and guide the Fishermen which shall be vpon the saide Sea and Sea Coasts for the takinge of the saide Fishe. |