BALK (2)

balk (2). Balk, v. to disappoint, miss of, refuse

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Balk, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Balked (ba̤kt); p. pr. & vb. n. Balking.] [[From Balk a beam; orig. to put a balk or beam in one's way, in order to stop or hinder. Cf., for sense 2, AS. on balcan legan to lay in heaps.]] 1. 1. To leave or make balks in. Gower.
2. 2. To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles.
Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights, Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see. Shak. 3. 3. To omit, miss, or overlook by chance.
4. 4. To miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk.
By reason of the contagion then in London, we balked the inns. Evelyn. Sick he is, and keeps his bed, and balks his meat. Bp. Hall. Nor doth he any creature balk, But lays on all he meeteth. Drayton. 5. 5. To disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to thwart; as, to balk expectation.
They shall not balk my entrance. Byron.