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Balk vs Dither - What's the difference?

balk | dither |

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between balk and dither

is that balk is (obsolete) to miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk while dither is (obsolete) to tremble, shake, or shiver with cold.

As nouns the difference between balk and dither

is that balk is ridge, an unplowed strip of land while dither is the state of being undecided.

As verbs the difference between balk and dither

is that balk is (archaic) to pass over or by or balk can be to indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring while dither is (obsolete) to tremble, shake, or shiver with cold.

balk

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) balke, (etyl) balca, either from or influenced by (etyl) .

Alternative forms

* baulk

Noun

(en noun)
  • ridge, an unplowed strip of land
  • * Fuller
    • Bad ploughmen made balks of such ground.
  • beam, crossbeam
  • A hindrance or disappointment; a check.
  • * South
    • a balk to the confidence of the bold undertaker
  • A sudden and obstinate stop; a failure.
  • (sports) deceptive motion; feint
  • # (baseball) an illegal motion by the pitcher, intended to deceive a runner
  • # (badminton) motion used to deceive an opponent during a serve

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (archaic) To pass over or by.
  • To omit, miss, or overlook by chance.
  • (obsolete) To miss intentionally; to avoid; to shun; to refuse; to let go by; to shirk.
  • * Evelyn
    • By reason of the contagion then in London, we balked the nns.
  • * Bishop Hall
    • Sick he is, and keeps his bed, and balks his meat.
  • * Drayton
    • Nor doth he any creature balk , / But lays on all he meeteth.
  • To stop, check, block.
  • To stop short and refuse to go on.
    • The horse balked .
  • To refuse suddenly.
  • To disappoint; to frustrate; to foil; to baffle; to thwart.
    • to balk expectation
  • * Byron
    • They shall not balk my entrance.
  • To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition.
  • * Spenser
    • In strifeful terms with him to balk .
  • To leave or make balks in.
    • (Gower)
  • To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights, / Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see.

    Etymology 2

    Probably from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring.
    • (Webster 1913)

    References

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    dither

    English

    Noun

    (-)
  • The state of being undecided.
  • * 2002 , Thomas P. Glynn, A Child's Christmas In Chicago , page 59:
  • *:Everyone was in a dither'''; either in it or about to get in it or just climbing out of it. Naturally, the Madam was not in a '''dither'''. '''Dither was a foreign concept to her.
  • A form of noise which is intentionally applied to randomize errors which occur in the processing of both digital audio and digital video data

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To tremble, shake, or shiver with cold.
  • *1913 ,
  • *:Presently he came running out of the scullery, with the soapy water dripping from him, dithering with cold.
  • To be uncertain or unable to make a decision about doing something.
  • *2012 , The Economist, Sept. 22nd issue, '' Indian Reform: At Last
  • *:The dithering Mr Singh of recent times may worry that his reform proposals are already too bold. The reforming Mr Singh of yore would see them as just the start.
  • To do something nervously.
  • (computer graphics) To render an approximation of (an image, etc.) by using dot patterns in similar colours to those that are unavailable on the system.

    • Derived terms

    * ditherer

    Anagrams

    * *