ballast
ballast Lexical Profile
ballast Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Heavy material, such as gravel, sand, iron, or water, placed low in a vessel or vehicle to improve its stability and control its draft or buoyancy.
"The cargo ship took on thousands of gallons of seawater as ballast to remain stable during the rough Atlantic crossing."
Something that provides mental, emotional, moral, or political stability and steadiness.
"Her calm demeanor served as vital emotional ballast for the entire team during the company crisis."
Coarse gravel or crushed rock laid to form a firm bed for railroad tracks or roads.
"Maintenance crews spread fresh granite ballast along the railway tracks to prevent the wooden ties from shifting."
An electrical device placed in series with a load to limit the amount of current in a circuit, especially in fluorescent light fixtures.
"The flickering fluorescent tube in the office needed a replacement ballast rather than a new bulb."
• verb
To furnish or weight with heavy material in order to give stability or steadiness (especially to a ship, balloon, or structure).
"The crew ballasted the hull with heavy stones before setting sail without a full load of cargo."
To fill in or lay (a railway track or roadbed) with crushed stone or gravel.
"Workers spent the week ballasting the newly laid section of track with crushed limestone."
• Rhymes for ballast
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the 16th century from Middle Low German or Scandinavian sources (compare Old Danish barlast, literally 'bare load' or cargo with no commercial value), combined with last meaning 'load' or 'burden'.