Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages). Noah Webster
without reserve; inelegantly.
Bald¶ness, n. The state or condition of being bald; as, baldness of the head; baldness of style.
This gives to their syntax a peculiar character of simplicity and baldness.
W.D. Whitney.
Bald¶pate· (?), n. 1. A baldheaded person.
Shak.
2. (Zo”l.) The American widgeon (Anas Americana).
Bald¶pate· (?), Bald¶pat·ed (?), } a. Destitute of hair on the head; baldheaded.
Shak.
Bald¶rib· (?),n. A piece of pork cut lower down than the sparerib, and destitute of fat. [Eng.]
Southey.
Bal¶dric (?), n. [OE. baudric, bawdrik, through OF. (cf. F. baudrier and LL. baldringus, baldrellus), from OHG. balderich, cf. balz, palz, akin to E. belt. See Belt, n.] A broad belt, sometimes richly ornamented, worn over one shoulder, across the breast, and under the opposite arm; less properly, any belt. [Also spelt bawdrick.]
A radiant baldric o'er his shoulder tied
Sustained the sword that glittered at his side.
Pope.
Bald¶win (?), n. (Bot.) A kind of reddish, moderately acid, winter apple. [U.S.]
Bale (?), n. [OE. bale, OF. bale, F. balle, LL. bala, fr. OHG. balla, palla, pallo, G. ball, balle, ballen, ball round pack; cf. D. baal. Cf. Ball a round body.] A bundle or package of goods in a cloth cover, and corded for storage or transportation; also, a bundle of straw ? hay, etc., put up compactly for transportation.
Bale of dice, a pair of dice. [Obs.]
B. Jonson.
Bale, v.t. [imp. & p.p. Baled (?); p.pr. & vb.n. Baling.] To make up in a bale.
Goldsmith.
Bale, v.t. See Bail, v.t., to lade.
<—p. 114—>
Bale (?), n. [AS. bealo, bealu, balu; akin to OS. ?alu, OHG. balo, Icel. b”l, Goth. balweins.] 1. Misery; ?alamity; misfortune; sorrow.
Let now your bliss be turned into bale.
Spenser.
2. Evil; an evil, pernicious influence; something causing great injury. [Now chiefly poetic]
Bal·eÏar¶ic (?), a. [L. Balearicus, fr. Gr. ? the Balearic Islands.] Of or pertaining to the isles of Majorca, Minorca, Ivica, etc., in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Valencia.
Balearic crane. (Zo”l.) See Crane.
BaÏleen¶ (?), n. [F. baleine whale and whalibone, L. balaena a whale; cf. Gr. ?. ] (Zo”l. & Com.) Plates or blades of ½whalebone,¸ from two to twelve feet long, and sometimes a foot wide, which in certain whales (Bal‘noidea) are attached side by side along the upper jaw, and form a fringelike sieve by which the food is retained in the mouth.
Bale¶fire· (?), n. [AS. b?lj?r the fire of the ?uneral pile; b?l fire, flame (akin to Icel. b¾l, OSlav. b?l?, white, Gr. ? bright, white, Skr. bh¾la brightness) + f?r, E. fire.] A signal fire; an alarm fire.
Sweet Teviot! on thy silver tide
The glaring balefires blaze no more.
Sir W. Scott.
Bale¶ful (?), a. [AS. bealoful. See Bale misery.] 1. Full of deadly or pernicious influence; destructive. ½Baleful enemies.¸
Shak.
Four infernal rivers that disgorge
Into the burning lake their baleful streams.
Milton.
2. Full of grief or sorrow; woeful; sad. [Archaic]
Bale¶fulÏly, adv. In a baleful manner; perniciously.
Bale¶fulÏness, n. The quality or state of being baleful.
ØBal¶iÏsa·ur (?), n. [Hind.] (Zo”l.) A badgerlike animal of India (Arcionyx collaris).
Bal¶isÏter (?), n. [OF. balestre. See Ballista.] A crossbow. [Obs.]
Blount.
Bal¶isÏtoid (?), a. (Zo”l.) Like a fish of the genus Balistes; of the family Balistid‘. See Filefish.
ØBal·isÏtra¶riÏa (?), n. [LL.] (Anc. Fort.) A narrow opening, often cruciform, through which arrows might be discharged.
ØBaÏlize¶ (?), n. [F. balise; cf. Sp. balisa.] A pole or a frame raised as a sea beacon or a landmark.
Balk (?), n. [AS. balca beam, ridge; akin to Icel. b¾lkr partition, bj¾lki beam, OS. balko, G. balken; cf. Gael. balc ridge of earth between two furrows. Cf. Balcony, Balk, v.i., 3d Bulk.] 1. A ridge of land left unplowed between furrows, or at the end of a field; a piece missed by the plow slipping aside.
Bad plowmen made balks of such ground.
Fuller.
2. A great beam, rafter, or timber; esp., the tieÐbeam ?f a house. The loft above was called ½the balks.¸
Tubs hanging in the balks.
Chaucer.
3. (Mil.) One of the beams connecting the successive supports of a trestle bridge or bateau bridge.
4. A hindrance or disappointment; a check.
A balk to the confidence of the bold undertaker.
South.
5. A sudden and obstinate stop; a failure.
6. (Baseball) A deceptive gesture of the pitcher, as if to deliver the ball.
Balk line (Billiards), a line across a billiard table near one end, marking a limit within which the cue balls are placed in beginning a game; also, a line around the table, parallel to the sides, used in playing a particular game, called the balk line game.
Balk, v.t. [imp. & p.p. Balked (?); p.pr. & vb.n. Balking.] [From Balk a beam; orig. to put a balk or beam in one's way, in order to stop or hinder. Cf., for sense 2, AS. on balcan legan to lay in heaps.]
1. To leave or make balks in. [Obs.]
Gower.
2. To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles. [Obs.]
Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights,
Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see.
Shak.
3. To omit, miss, or overlook by chance. [Obs.]
4. To miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk. [Obs. or Obsolescent]
By reason of the contagion then in London, we balked the ?nns.
Evelyn.
Sick he is, and keeps his bed, and balks his meat.
Bp. Hall.
Nor doth he any creature balk,
But lays on all he meeteth.
Drayton.
5. To disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to ?hwart; as, to balk expectation.
They shall not balk my entrance.
Byron.
Balk, v.i. 1. To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition. [Obs.]
In strifeful terms with him to balk.
Spenser.
2. To stop abruptly and stand still obstinately; to jib; to stop short; to swerve; as, the horse balks.
µ This has been regarded as an Americanism, but it occurs in Spenser's ½Fa‰rie Queene,¸ Book IV., 10, xxv.
Ne ever ought but of their true loves talkt,
Ne ever for rebuke or blame of any balkt.
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.