ballast
/ˈbæl.əst/
Frequency: 3.16 in modern English
Meaning
noun
Heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship (or in the gondola of a balloon), to provide stability.
Uncountable
noun
Coarse gravel or similar material laid to form a bed for roads or railroads, or in making concrete; track ballast.
Uncountable
noun
A material, such as aggregate or precast concrete pavers, which employs its mass and the force of gravity to hold single-ply roof membranes in place.
Uncountable
noun
A material, such as aggregate or precast concrete pavers, which employs its mass and the force of gravity to hold single-ply roof membranes in place.
Uncountable
noun
device used for stabilizing current in an electric circuit (e.g. in a tube lamp supply circuit)
Countable
Example Sentences
- "“Oh, for the-- how much did you waste on that little boondoggle?” “Well, it's not that so much as--” “Krieger.” “Well, I needed ballast, and what better to simulate bricks of cocaine than, you know, bricks of cocaine.”"
- "With 73 minutes gone Rafael Márquez came on to add ballast at the back, appearing in his fifth World Cup aged 39 and with alleged links to drug trafficking, which he denies, on hold for now. And so they sat deep with a thin green line of five defenders ranged across their own penalty area as the game became a Mexican stand-off, attack versus defence."
- "It [piety] is the right ballast of prosperity."
- "The task of a Railway Construction Company, R.E., is to lay and ballast the track; [...]."
- "Although the track is ballasted, it does not prevent clouds of reddish dust from the laterite soil blowing about when the train is in motion; after a journey with the windows open a bath is a necessity!"
- "The noosance was […] that to make the umbrella effective he would have to carry abroad such weight to ballast it as would put the whole contraption out of action for carrying abroad at all."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbæl.əst/
- British English: /ˈbæl.əst/