meaning of balance
1. An apparatus for weighing.
2. Act of weighing mentally; comparison; estimate.
3. Equipoise between the weights in opposite scales.
4. The state of being in equipoise; equilibrium; even adjustment; steadiness.
5. An equality between the sums total of the two sides of an account; as, to bring ones accounts to a balance; -- also, the excess on either side; as, the balance of an account.
6. A balance wheel, as of a watch, or clock. See Balance wheel (in the Vocabulary).
7. The constellation Libra.
8. The seventh sign in the Zodiac, called Libra, which the sun enters at the equinox in September.
9. A movement in dancing. See Balance, v. i. , S.
10. To bring to an equipoise, as the scales of a balance by adjusting the weights; to weigh in a balance.
11. To support on a narrow base, so as to keep from falling; as, to balance a plate on the end of a cane; to balance ones self on a tight rope.
12. To equal in number, weight, force, or proportion; to counterpoise, counterbalance, counteract, or neutralize.
13. To compare in relative force, importance, value, etc. ; to estimate.
14. To settle and adjust, as an account; to make two accounts equal by paying the difference between them.
15. To make the sums of the debits and credits of an account equal; -- said of an item; as, this payment, or credit, balances the account.
16. To arrange accounts in such a way that the sum total of the debits is equal to the sum total of the credits; as, to balance a set of books.
17. To move toward, and then back from, reciprocally; as, to balance partners.
18. To contract, as a sail, into a narrower compass; as, to balance the boom mainsail.
19. To have equal weight on each side; to be in equipoise; as, the scales balance.
20. To fluctuate between motives which appear of equal force; to waver; to hesitate.
21. To move toward a person or couple, and then back.
22. A wheel which regulates the beats or pulses of a watch or chronometer, answering to the pendulum of a clock; -- often called simply a balance.
23. A ratchet-shaped scape wheel, which in some watches is acted upon by the axis of the balance wheel proper (in those watches called a balance).
24. A wheel which imparts regularity to the movements of any engine or machine; a fly wheel.
Related Words
balance | balanceable | balanced | balanced tree | balancement | balancer | balancereef |
