balk

American  

[bawk] / bɔk /

Or baulk

verb (used without object)

balks, present (3rd person singular) balked, past participle, past balking present participle

1. to stop, as at an obstacle, and refuse to proceed or to do something specified (usually followed byat ).

   He balked at making the speech.

2. (of a horse, mule, etc.) to stop short and stubbornly refuse to go on.

3. Baseball. to commit a balk.

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verb (used with object)

balks, present (3rd person singular) balked, past participle, past balking present participle

1. to place an obstacle in the way of; hinder; thwart.

   a sudden reversal that balked her hopes.

   Synonyms:

   prevent, impede, obstruct, retard, check

2. Archaic. to let slip; fail to use.

   to balk an opportunity.

noun

balks plural

1. a check or hindrance; defeat; disappointment.

2. a strip of land left unplowed.

3. a crossbeam in the roof of a house that unites and supports the rafters; tie beam.

4. any heavy timber used for building purposes.

5. Baseball. an illegal motion by a pitcher while one or more runners are on base, as a pitch in which there is either an insufficient or too long a pause after the windup or stretch, a pretended throw to first or third base or to the batter with one foot on the pitcher's rubber, etc., resulting in a penalty advancing the runner or runners one base.

6. Billiards. any of the eight panels or compartments lying between the cushions of the table and the balklines.

7. Obsolete. a miss, slip, or failure.

   to make a balk.

idioms

1. in balk, inside any of the spaces in back of the balklines on a billiard table.

balk British  

/ bɔːk, bɔːlk /

verb

1. to stop short, esp suddenly or unexpectedly; jib

   the horse balked at the jump

2. to turn away abruptly; recoil

   he balked at the idea of murder

3. (tr) to thwart, check, disappoint, or foil

   he was balked in his plans

4. (tr) to avoid deliberately

   he balked the question

5. (tr) to miss unintentionally

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noun

1. a roughly squared heavy timber beam

2. a timber tie beam of a roof

3. an unploughed ridge to prevent soil erosion or mark a division on common land

4. an obstacle; hindrance; disappointment

5. baseball an illegal motion by a pitcher towards the plate or towards the base when there are runners on base, esp without delivering the ball

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• balker
  noun
• unbalked
  adjective
• unbalking
  adjective
• balkingly
  adverb
• unbalkingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• balks
  plural

Participles

• balking
  present
• balked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• balk
  simple
• balks
  simple
• have balked
  perfect
• has balked
  perfect
• am balking
  progressive
• are balking
  progressive
• is balking
  progressive
• have been balking
  perfect progressive
• has been balking
  perfect progressive

Past

• balked
  simple
• had balked
  perfect
• was balking
  progressive
• were balking
  progressive
• had been balking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will balk
  simple
• will have balked
  perfect
• will be balking
  progressive
• will have been balking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of balk

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English balca “covering, beam, ridge”; cognate with Old Norse bǫlkr “bar, partition,” Dutch balk, Old Saxon balko, German Balken, Old Norse bjalki “beam,” Old English bolca “plank”; perhaps akin to Latin sufflāmen, Slovenian blazína, Lithuanian balžíenas “beam.” See balcony

Explanation

If you balk at your mother's suggestion that you take on more responsibility, you're saying no to added chores. To balk means to refuse to go along with. A donkey balks when it refuses to move forward. This is a good picture for balk which is often used in conjunction with demands. Demands are something people often balk at like a donkey refusing to move. In baseball, a pitcher balks when he or she begins a pitch by winding up, but does not complete it. It is as if he is refusing to complete a started pitch, and it is against the rules.

Example Sentences

At the same time, big companies and startups are starting to balk at escalating AI costs—leading enterprise customers to look for alternatives, such as open-source models.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 18, 2026

If that happens it would once again restrict the flow of oil, given many Western shippers may balk at paying.

From Barron's • Jun. 17, 2026

When Hank answers the door in a ski mask, Aaron doesn’t balk.

From Salon • Jun. 15, 2026

As competition with Anthropic heats up, and customers balk at the cost of using its products, OpenAI is reportedly considering whether to slash the fees charged for its AI tokens.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 11, 2026

“It’s not like the American version,” he insists when I balk.

From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon

Related Words

• flinch
• hesitate
• recoil
• refuse
• resist
• turn down