Balk
/bɔːk/noun
To hesitate or refuse to proceed, or to obstruct or thwart something.
Did you know?In Middle English, a balk could be a ridge, beam, or barrier, and that physical sense of obstruction is what later gave English the verb for refusing or checking something suddenly.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bhelg-
“to swell, bulge, or protrude”
Old English
OE
balca
“a ridge, bank, or beam-like barrier”
Middle English
ME
balke
“a ridge, beam, or dividing strip of unplowed land”
14th–15th Century
English
balken
“to leave a strip unplowed; to hinder or frustrate”
Modern English
English
balk
“to hesitate, refuse, or thwart”