Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of balsa.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Upon these boats, frail as they seemed, such as further south were called balsas, they made considerable journeys to distant islands where they caught vast quantities of fish, some of which they used to manure their land.

    The Virgin of the Sun Henry Rider Haggard 1890

  • These grasses are called balsas [ "rafts or floats"].

    History of the Philippine Islands Antonio de Morga 1597

  • Compared to wooden dugout canoes or balsas made from bundled tule reeds, tomols are faster, more stable at sea, more durable, and able to carry larger loads for longer distances.

    The Polynesian Connection 2005

  • The rivers are crossed on large flat-bottomed boats called _balsas_.

    Through Five Republics on Horseback, Being an Account of Many Wanderings in South America G. Whitfield Ray

  • He caused an immense number of _balsas_ to be constructed, in which he embarked more than 20,000 chosen men; taking with him as captains Huaman Achachi,

    History of the Incas Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa

  • For the men, an occasional pull at the _balsas_ (the rafts of the ferry), a little fishing, and now and then -- when they are in the humour for it --

    Anahuac : or, Mexico and the Mexicans, Ancient and Modern Edward Burnett Tylor

  • He conquered the Huancavelicas although they were very warlike, fighting on land and at sea in _balsas_, from Tumbez to Huañapi, Huamo, Manta,

    History of the Incas Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa

  • Marching and conquering on the coast of Manta, and the island of Puna, and Tumbez, there arrived at Tumbez some merchants who had come by sea from the west, navigating in _balsas_ with sails.

    History of the Incas Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa

  • But all showed that they knew how to place their hopes in God, and they arrived at the river which they crossed in _balsas_, swimming the horses, because the bridge was burned down.

    Relación de la conquista del Perú. English Pedro Sancho 1918

  • But having twenty-four thousand warriors, and by crossing [the stream] again and again to attempt [to set in place the ropes] making use of cords and _balsas_, at last they succeeded in placing the osier ropes and when they had been passed across [the river], the bridge was built in a very short space of time.

    Relación de la conquista del Perú. English Pedro Sancho 1918

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