ballast
Nautical. any heavy material carried temporarily or permanently in a vessel to provide desired draft and stability.
Aeronautics. something heavy, as bags of sand, placed in the car of a balloon for control of altitude and, less often, of attitude, or placed in an aircraft to control the position of the center of gravity.
anything that gives mental, moral, or political stability or steadiness: the ballast of a steady income.
gravel, broken stone, slag, etc., placed between and under the ties of a railroad to give stability, provide drainage, and distribute loads.
Electricity.
Also called bal·last re·sis·tor [bal-uhst ri-zis-ter] /ˈbæl əst rɪˌzɪs tər/ . a device, often a resistor, that maintains the current in a circuit at a constant value by varying its resistance in order to counteract changes in voltage.
a device that maintains the current through a fluorescent or mercury lamp at the desired constant value, sometimes also providing the necessary starting voltage and current.
to furnish with ballast: to ballast a ship.
to give steadiness to; keep steady: parental responsibilities that ballast a person.
Idioms about ballast
in ballast, Nautical. carrying only ballast; carrying no cargo.
Origin of ballast
1Other words from ballast
- bal·last·er, noun
- bal·last·ic [buh-las-tik], /bəˈlæs tɪk/, adjective
- o·ver·bal·last, verb (used with object)
- sub·bal·last, noun
- un·der·bal·last, verb (used with object)
Words Nearby ballast
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use ballast in a sentence
In particular, it had very dense leg bones, a feature of some aquatic creatures like manatees that need the bones for ballast to stay submerged.
Spinosaurus’ dense bones fuel debate over whether some dinosaurs could swim | Carolyn Gramling | March 23, 2022 | Science NewsOther options include dredging around the ship and offloading ballast water, fuel, or cargo.
How That Massive Container Ship Stuck in the Suez Canal Is Already Costing the World Billions of Dollars | Joseph Hincks | March 25, 2021 | TimeWhile not exactly the Ugly American, Sinatra provided plenty of his own homegrown ballast.
Especially the Southern ones, who by and large run the party, or at least provide its cultural ballast.
What That RNC Aide’s Equal Pay Blunder on MSNBC Says About Her Party | Michael Tomasky | April 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST“Gold lost its structural ballast when it lost its formal relationship to money,” he concludes.
All that Glitters Is Not Gold: Inside the New Bubble | Wendy Smith | December 5, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Straighten up and fly right: the capsule is rolling and jettisoning its remaining ballast masses for parachute deploy.
Curiosity’s Mars Landing Narrated Moment by Moment by Flight Director Keith Comeaux | Keith Comeaux | August 7, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTSpin down, turn to entry attitude and jettison ballast mass in one minute.
Curiosity’s Mars Landing Narrated Moment by Moment by Flight Director Keith Comeaux | Keith Comeaux | August 7, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTSand and gravel are also used for "fill," for engine sands, railroad ballast and glass.
Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia | Dorothy M. TorpeyOld and new measurements, tonnage, time allowances and movable ballast, are all a sealed book to me.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume II (of 3) | Charles James WillsThe big sloop, hard aground and full of iron ballast, was not a thing to be moved easily.
The Rival Campers | Ruel Perley SmithOur new craft worked and sailed well, after a little addition of ballast.
I ordered the ballast to be thrown overboard, and determined, as our only chance, to attempt to force her over the reef.
British Dictionary definitions for ballast
/ (ˈbæləst) /
any dense heavy material, such as lead or iron pigs, used to stabilize a vessel, esp one that is not carrying cargo
crushed rock, broken stone, etc, used for the foundation of a road or railway track
coarse aggregate of sandy gravel, used in making concrete
anything that provides stability or weight
electronics a device for maintaining the current in a circuit
to give stability or weight to
Origin of ballast
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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