Balk
(Balk), v. i. [Prob. from D. balken to bray, bawl.] To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals
from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring.
Balker
(Balk"er) n. [See 2d Balk.] One who, or that which, balks.
Balker
(Balk"er) n. [See last Balk.] A person who stands on a rock or eminence to espy the shoals of
herring, etc., and to give notice to the men in boats which way they pass; a conder; a huer.
Balkingly
(Balk"ing*ly), adv. In a manner to balk or frustrate.
Balkish
(Balk"ish), a. Uneven; ridgy. [R.] Holinshed.
Balky
(Balk"y) a. Apt to balk; as, a balky horse.
Ball
(Ball) n. [OE. bal, balle; akin to OHG. balla, palla, G. ball, Icel. böllr, ball; cf. F. balle. Cf. 1st
Bale, n., Pallmall.]
1. Any round or roundish body or mass; a sphere or globe; as, a ball of twine; a ball of snow.
2. A spherical body of any substance or size used to play with, as by throwing, knocking, kicking, etc.
3. A general name for games in which a ball is thrown, kicked, or knocked. See Baseball, and Football.
4. Any solid spherical, cylindrical, or conical projectile of lead or iron, to be discharged from a firearm; as,
a cannon ball; a rifle ball; — often used collectively; as, powder and ball. Spherical balls for the smaller
firearms are commonly called bullets.
5. (Pyrotechnics & Mil.) A flaming, roundish body shot into the air; a case filled with combustibles intended
to burst and give light or set fire, or to produce smoke or stench; as, a fire ball; a stink ball.
6. (Print.) A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; — formerly used by printers
for inking the form, but now superseded by the roller.
7. A roundish protuberant portion of some part of the body; as, the ball of the thumb; the ball of the
foot.
8. (Far.) A large pill, a form in which medicine is commonly given to horses; a bolus. White.
9. The globe or earth. Pope.
Move round the dark terrestrial ball.
Addison.
Ball and socket joint, a joint in which a ball moves within a socket, so as to admit of motion in every
direction within certain limits. — Ball bearings, a mechanical device for lessening the friction of axle
bearings by means of small loose metal balls. — Ball cartridge, a cartridge containing a ball, as distinguished
from a blank cartridge, containing only powder. — Ball cock, a faucet or valve which is opened or
closed by the fall or rise of a ball floating in water at the end of a lever. — Ball gudgeon, a pivot of
a spherical form, which permits lateral deflection of the arbor or shaft, while retaining the pivot in its
socket. Knight. — Ball lever, the lever used in a ball cock. — Ball of the eye, the eye itself, as
distinguished from its lids and socket; — formerly, the pupil of the eye. — Ball valve (Mach.), a contrivance
by which a ball, placed in a circular cup with a hole in its bottom, operates as a valve. — Ball vein
(Mining), a sort of iron ore, found in loose masses of a globular form, containing sparkling particles. —
Three balls, or Three golden balls, a pawnbroker's sign or shop.
Syn. — See Globe.
