balking

verb

  1. To pass over or by.

  2. To omit, miss or overlook by chance.

  3. To miss intentionally; to avoid.

  4. To stop, check, block.

  5. To stop short and refuse to go on.

    "The horse balked."

  6. To refuse suddenly.

  7. To disappoint; to frustrate.

    "to balk expectation"

  8. To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition.

  9. To leave or make balks in.

  10. To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles.

Synonyms: avoid, refuse, shirk, shun, baffle, foil, frustrate, thwart, miss, overlook

verb

  1. To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring.

noun

  1. A frustration or disappointment; a check.