Transcription
-
- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
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- [bal-uh st]
- /ˈbæl əst/
- /ˈbæl.əst/
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
-
- [bal-uh st]
- /ˈbæl əst/
Definitions of ballast word
- uncountable noun ballast Ballast is any substance that is used in ships or hot-air balloons to make them heavier and more stable. Ballast usually consists of water, sand, or iron. 3
- noun ballast any dense heavy material, such as lead or iron pigs, used to stabilize a vessel, esp one that is not carrying cargo 3
- noun ballast crushed rock, broken stone, etc, used for the foundation of a road or railway track 3
- noun ballast coarse aggregate of sandy gravel, used in making concrete 3
- noun ballast anything that provides stability or weight 3
- noun ballast a device for maintaining the current in a circuit 3
Information block about the term
Origin of ballast
First appearance:
before 1450 One of the 25% oldest English words
1450-1500; < Middle Low German, perhaps ultimately < Scandinavian; compare Old Danish, Old Swedish barlast, equivalent to bar bare1 + last load; see last4
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Ballast
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
ballast popularity
A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 90% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".
ballast usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerSynonyms for ballast
noun ballast
- weight — the amount or quantity of heaviness or mass; amount a thing weighs.
- support — to bear or hold up (a load, mass, structure, part, etc.); serve as a foundation for.
- stability — the state or quality of being stable.
- bracket — If you say that someone or something is in a particular bracket, you mean that they come within a particular range, for example a range of incomes, ages, or prices.
- counterbalance — To counterbalance something means to balance or correct it with something that has an equal but opposite effect.
verb ballast
- stabilise — to make or hold stable, firm, or steadfast.
- freighted — goods, cargo, or lading transported for pay, whether by water, land, or air.
- top off — the highest or loftiest point or part of anything; apex; summit. Synonyms: zenith, acme, peak, pinnacle, vertex. Antonyms: bottom, base, foot, lowest point.
- poise — a centimeter-gram-second unit of viscosity, equal to the viscosity of a fluid in which a stress of one dyne per square centimeter is required to maintain a difference of velocity of one centimeter per second between two parallel planes in the fluid that lie in the direction of flow and are separated by a distance of one centimeter. Symbol: P.
- weighted — having additional weight.
Antonyms for ballast
noun ballast
- instability — the quality or state of being unstable; lack of stability or firmness.
Top questions with ballast
- what is a ballast?
- what does ballast mean?
- what is ballast?
- how to test a ballast?
- how to change a ballast?
- where is ballast point brewery?
- how to replace a ballast?
- how do you spell ballast?
- how does a ballast work?
- how to test a fluorescent ballast?
- how to wire a ballast?
- how to test fluorescent ballast?
- how to check a ballast?
- what does a ballast do?
- what is ballast water?
See also
Matching words
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