Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- 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.
- noun One who balks, in any sense of the verb.
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