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ballast - 5 dictionary results
bal⋅last
[bal-uh
st] 
–noun
| 1. | Nautical. any heavy material carried temporarily or permanently in a vessel to provide desired draft and stability. |
| 2. | Aeronautics. something heavy, as bags of sand, placed in the car of a balloon for control of altitude and, less often, of attitude, or placed in an aircraft to control the position of the center of gravity. |
| 3. | anything that gives mental, moral, or political stability or steadiness: the ballast of a steady income. |
| 4. | gravel, broken stone, slag, etc., placed between and under the ties of a railroad to give stability, provide drainage, and distribute loads. |
| 5. | Electricity.
|
–verb (used with object)
—Idiom| 6. | to furnish with ballast: to ballast a ship. |
| 7. | to give steadiness to; keep steady: parental responsibilities that ballast a person. |
| 8. | in ballast, Nautical. carrying only ballast; carrying no cargo. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To ballast
| bal·last (bāl'əst) n.
[Perhaps from Old Swedish or Old Danish barlast : bar, mere, bare; see bhoso- in Indo-European roots + last, load.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Ballast
Bal"last\, n. [D. ballast; akin to Dan. baglast, ballast, OSw. barlast, Sw. ballast. The first part is perh. the same word as E. bare, adj.; the second is last a burden, and hence the meaning a bare, or mere, load. See Bare, a., and Last load.]1. (Naut.) Any heavy substance, as stone, iron, etc., put into the hold to sink a vessel in the water to such a depth as to prevent capsizing. 2. Any heavy matter put into the car of a balloon to give it steadiness. 3. Gravel, broken stone, etc., laid in the bed of a railroad to make it firm and solid. 4. The larger solids, as broken stone or gravel, used in making concrete. 5. Fig.: That which gives, or helps to maintain, uprightness, steadiness, and security. It [piety] is the right ballast of prosperity. --Barrow. Ballast engine, a steam engine used in excavating and for digging and raising stones and gravel for ballast. Ship in ballast, a ship carring only ballast.Ballast
Bal"last\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ballasted; p. pr. & vb. n. Ballasting.]1. To steady, as a vessel, by putting heavy substances in the hold. 2. To fill in, as the bed of a railroad, with gravel, stone, etc., in order to make it firm and solid. 3. To keep steady; to steady, morally. 'T is charity must ballast the heart. --Hammond.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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ballast
"heavy material used to steady a ship," 1530, from M.E. bar "bare" (in this case "mere") + last "a load, burden," or borrowed from identical terms in North Sea Gmc. and Scand. (cf. O.Dan. barlast, 14c.). Du. balg-last "ballast," lit. "belly-load," is a folk-etymology corruption.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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