baulk
verb /bɔːk/
/bɔːk/
(British English) (also balk especially in North American English)
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they baulk | /bɔːk/ /bɔːk/ |
| he / she / it baulks | /bɔːks/ /bɔːks/ |
| past simple baulked | /bɔːkt/ /bɔːkt/ |
| past participle baulked | /bɔːkt/ /bɔːkt/ |
| -ing form baulking | /ˈbɔːkɪŋ/ /ˈbɔːkɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive] baulk (at something) to be unwilling to do something or become involved in something because it is difficult, dangerous, etc.
- Many parents may baulk at the idea of paying $100 for a pair of shoes.
- He baulked for a moment. ‘I can’t afford it,’ he finally admitted.
- [intransitive] baulk (at something) (of a horse) to stop suddenly and refuse to jump a fence, etc.
- [transitive, usually passive] (formal) to prevent somebody from getting something or doing something
- (be) baulked of something She looked like a lion baulked of its prey.
Word Originlate Old English balc, from Old Norse bálkr ‘partition’. The original use was ‘unploughed ridge’, later ‘land left unploughed by mistake’, hence ‘blunder, omission’, giving rise to the verb use ‘miss (a chance)’. A late Middle English sense ‘obstacle’ gave rise to the verb senses ‘hesitate’ and ‘hinder’.