Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One who balks, in any sense of the verb.
- noun A man stationed on a cliff or an eminence to look out for shoals of herrings or pilchards, and signal the direction taken by them.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One who, or that which, balks.
- noun 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.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A person who stands on a
rock oreminence to observeshoals ofherring , etc., and to give notice to the men inboats which way they pass.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a person who refuses to comply
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Enjoying the short ride to Grasshopper Level, Leah was mindful of how this horse had been a balker back when Dat first bought him from Uncle Noah Brenneman.
Covenant Lewis, Beverly 2002
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"Which, while they're still fast friends, was the last word ever passed between them on the subject of the funker and the balker."
The Red-Blooded Heroes of the Frontier Edgar Beecher Bronson
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As the boy led her from the stable she came out with her ears laying back and her short tail switching; and I said to myself, "here will be a job breaking a kicker and balker."
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It appeared, upon further acquaintance, that the man paid a hundred dollars for the horse; his brother had paid a hundred and twenty-five for the balker; but it was the belief of our driver that it would be worth the difference when it had reconciled itself to the rising ground of Frascati; as yet it was truly a stranger there.
Roman Holidays, and Others William Dean Howells 1878
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"'Yes,' I said, 'an' I've knowed better judges of hosses to sell a nervous hoss for a balker that had been balked onct by a rattle head.
The Bishop of Cottontown A Story of the Southern Cotton Mills John Trotwood Moore
hernesheir commented on the word balker
See huer.
December 10, 2010