Both Uses of
balk
in
Gone with the Wind
- And, oh, that dreadful moment when the sick horse balked and cavalry and light cannon rumbled past in the darkness, past where they sat breathless, so close she could almost reach out and touch them, so close she could smell the stale sweat on the soldiers' bodies!†
Chpt 3.24
- But Prissy balked.†
Chpt 3.24 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(balk) to hesitate, refuse, or stop suddenly
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Less common specialized meanings:
Baseball: an illegal pitching motion while runners are on base
Equestrian: when a horse refuses to obey a rider -- especially when stopping in front of a jump
Billiards: an area of the billiard table from which opening shots with the cue ball are made
Bowling: when a bowler stops in mid-swing without releasing the ball
Badminton: any deceptive movement that disconcerts an opponent before or during the service
Archeology: a side wall of an excavated partition of earth left standing between adjoining excavation units
Agriculture: a strip of ground left unplowed as a boundary line between two plowed portions
Architecture: one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof
Carpentry: a thick piece of unfinished wood