From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbalkbalk (also baulk British English) /bɔːk, bɔːlk $ bɒːk, bɒːlk/ verb 1 [intransitive]NOT DO something to not want to do or try something, because it seems difficult, unpleasant, or frighteningbalk at Many people would balk at setting up a new business during a recession. Westerners balk at the prospect of snake on the menu.2 [intransitive] if a horse balks at a fence, it stops in front of it and refuses to jump over it3 [intransitive] American EnglishDSB in baseball, to stop in the middle of the action of throwing the ball to the player who is trying to hit it4 [transitive] formalSTOP something THAT IS HAPPENING to stop someone or something from getting or achieving what they want→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
balk• At first, officials in both countries balked.• They are likely to balk at antiabortion legislation.• And then only because he, Verisof, had balked at further appeasement.• And last month, he balked at submitting to an examination by government-appointed psychiatrists.• People may well balk at this and never return to your site again.• As it was he balked, both forefeet thrust stiffly in front of him, jarring me to the bone.• Industry executives balked for years at the idea of program ratings, fearing a loss of advertising dollars.• He balked slightly at that, then he tucked the tenners down his gauntlet and handed it over.• Their strategies to balk the enemy had failed.balk at• Several of the managers balked at enforcing the decision.Origin balk (1400-1500) balk “raised area that gets in the way of forward movement” ((15-21 centuries)), from Old English balca “pile of things on the ground” 