Noun

(uncountable) a state in which opposing forces harmonise; equilibrium

(uncountable) mental equilibrium; mental health; calmness, a state of remaining clear-headed and unperturbed

something of equal weight used to provide equilibrium (literally or figuratively); counterweight

These weights are used as a balance for the overhanging verandah.

Blair thought he could provide a useful balance to Bush's policies.

a pair of scales

(uncountable) awareness of both viewpoints or matters; neutrality; rationality; objectivity

(uncountable) the overall result of conflicting forces, opinions etc.; the influence which ultimately "weighs" more than others

The balance of power finally lay with the Royalist forces.

I think the balance of opinion is that we should get out while we're ahead.

* {{quote-news, year=2012

, date=April 19 , author=Josh Halliday , title=Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised? , work=the Guardian citation , page= , passage=The shift in the balance of power online has allowed anyone to publish to the world, from dispirited teenagers in south London to an anonymous cyber-dissident in a Middle East autocracy.}}

(uncountable) apparent harmony in art (between differing colours, sounds, etc.)

(accounting) a list accounting for the debits on one side, and for the credits on the other.

(accounting) the result of such a procedure; the difference between credit and debit of an account.

I just need to nip to a bank and check my balance .

(watchmaking) a device used to regulate the speed of a watch, clock etc.

(legal) the remainder.

The balance of the agreement remains in effect.

(obsolete, astrology) Libra

Noun

(es)

A self-contradictory statement, which can only be true if it is false, and vice versa.

"This sentence is false" is a paradox .

* {{quote-book, 1962, Abraham Wolf, Textbook of Logic, page=255 citation

, passage=According to one version of an ancient paradox , an Athenian is supposed to say "I am a liar." It is then argued that if the statement is true, then he is telling the truth, and is therefore not a liar

A counterintuitive conclusion or outcome.

It is an interesting paradox that drinking a lot of water can often make you feel thirsty.

* 1983 May 21, (Ronald Reagan), "",

The most fundamental paradox is that if we're never to use force, we must be prepared to use it and to use it successfully.

A claim that two apparently contradictory ideas are true.(jump)

Not having a fashion is a fashion; that's a paradox .

* {{quote-book, 1879, , The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan], year_published=1941, chapter=[[w:The Pirates of Penzance, The Pirates of Penzance]

, passage=How quaint the ways of Paradox ! / At common sense she gaily mocks! / Though counting in the usual way years twenty-one I've been alive, / Yet reck'ning by my natal day, / Yet reck'ning by my natal day, / I am a little boy of five!}}

A person or thing having contradictory properties.

He is a paradox ; you would not expect him in that political party.

* {{quote-book, 1999, Virginia Henley, A Year and a Day citation

, passage=You are a paradox of bitch and angel.}}

An unanswerable question or difficult puzzle, particularly one which leads to a deeper truth.

* {{quote-book, 1994, James Joseph Pirkl, Transgenerational Design, page=3 citation

, passage=And only by dismantling our preconceptions of age can we be free to understand the paradox : How young are the old?}}

(obsolete) A statement which is difficult to believe, or which goes against general belief.

* {{quote-book, 1594, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, section=

, passage=Ay, truly; for the power of beauty will sooner / transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the / force of honesty can translate beauty into his / likeness: this was sometime a paradox , but now the / time gives it proof. }}

* 1615 , Ralph Hamor, A True Discourse of the Present State of Virginia , Richmond 1957, p. 3

they contended to make that Maxim'', that there is no faith to be held with Infidels, a meere and absurd ''Paradox [...].

(uncountable) The use of counterintuitive or contradictory statements (paradoxes) in speech or writing.

* {{quote-book, 1906, (Richard Holt Hutton), Brief Literary Criticisms, page=40 citation

, passage=The need for paradox is no doubt rooted deep in the very nature of the use we make of language. }}

(uncountable, philosophy) A state in which one is logically compelled to contradict oneself.

* {{quote-book, 1866, Edward Poste, Aristotle on Fallacies, Or, The Sophistici Elenchi, page=43 citation

, passage=Thus, like modern disputants, they aimed either to confute the respondent or to land him in paradox . }}

(uncountable, psychotherapy) The practice of giving instructions that are opposed to the therapist's actual intent, with the intention that the client will disobey or be unable to obey.(jump)

* {{quote-book, 1988, Martin Lakin, Ethical Issues in the Psychotherapies, page=103 citation

, passage=Defiance-based paradox is employed so that the family will actively oppose and deliberately sabotage the prescription. }}