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more about balance
balance |
7 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: {To turn one's coat}, to change one's uniform or colors; to go over to the opposite party. {To turn one's goods} or {money}, and the like to exchange in the course of trade to keep in lively exchange or circulation; to gain or increase in trade {To turn one's hand to}, to adapt or apply one's self to to engage in {To turn out}. a To drive out to expel; as to turn a family out of doors; to turn a man out of office. I'll turn you out of my kingdom. -- Shak. b to put to pasture, as cattle or horses. c To produce, as the result of labor, or any process of manufacture; to furnish in a completed state. d To reverse, as a pocket, bag, etc., so as to bring the inside to the outside; hence to produce. e To cause to cease, or to put out by turning a stopcock, valve, or the like as to turn out the lights. {To turn over}. a To change or reverse the position of to overset; to overturn; to cause to roll over b To transfer; as to turn over business to another hand. c To read or examine, as a book, while turning the leaves. ``We turned o'er many books together.'' --Shak. d To handle in business; to do business to the amount of as he turns over millions a year. [Colloq.] {To turn over a new leaf}. See under {Leaf}. {To turn tail}, to run away to retreat ignominiously. {To turn the back}, to flee; to retreat. {To turn the back on} or {upon}, to treat with contempt; to reject or refuse unceremoniously. {To turn the corner}, to pass the critical stage; to get by the worst point; hence to begin to improve, or to succeed. {To turn the die} or {dice}, to change fortune. {To turn the edge} or {point of}, to bend over the edge or point of so as to make dull; to blunt. {To turn the head} or {brain of}, to make giddy, wild, insane, or the like to infatuate; to overthrow the reason or judgment of as a little success turned his head. {To turn the scale} or {balance}, to change the preponderance; to decide or determine something doubtful. {To turn the stomach of}, to nauseate; to sicken. {To turn the tables}, to reverse the chances or conditions of success or superiority; to give the advantage to the person or side previously at a disadvantage. {To turn tippet}, to make a change. [Obs.] --B. Jonson {To turn to} {profit, advantage}, etc., to make profitable or advantageous. {To turn up}. a To turn so as to bring the bottom side on top as to turn up the trump. b To bring from beneath to the surface, as in plowing, digging, etc c To give an upward curve to to tilt; as to turn up the nose. {To turn upon}, to retort; to throw back as to turn the arguments of an opponent upon himself. {To turn upside down}, to confuse by putting things awry; to throw into disorder. This house is turned upside down since Robin Ostler died. --Shak. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Balance \Bal"ance\, n. [OE. balaunce, F. balance, fr L. bilan?, bilancis having two scales; bis twice (akin to E. two) + lanx plate, scale.] 1. An apparatus for weighing. Note: In its simplest form a balance consists of a beam or lever supported exactly in the middle, having two scales or basins of equal weight suspended from its extremities. Another form is that of the Roman balance, our steelyard, consisting of a lever or beam, suspended near one of its extremities, on the longer arm of which a counterpoise slides. The name is also given to other forms of apparatus for weighing bodies, as to the combinations of levers making up platform scales; and even to devices for weighing by the elasticity of a spring. 2. Act of weighing mentally; comparison; estimate. A fair balance of the advantages on either side --Atterbury. 3. Equipoise between the weights in opposite scales. 4. The state of being in equipoise; equilibrium; even adjustment; steadiness. And hung a bottle on each side To make his balance true. --Cowper. The order and balance of the country were destroyed. --Buckle. English workmen completely lose their balance. --J. S. Mill. 5. An equality between the sums total of the two sides of an account; as to bring one's accounts to a balance; -- also the excess on either side as the balance of an account. `` A balance at the banker's. '' --Thackeray. I still think the balance of probabilities leans towards the account given in the text. --J. Peile. 6. (Horol.) A balance wheel, as of a watch, or clock. See {Balance wheel} (in the Vocabulary). 7. (Astron.) a The constellation Libra. b The seventh sign in the Zodiac, called Libra, which the sun enters at the equinox in September. 8. A movement in dancing. See {Balance}, v. i., S. {Balance electrometer}, a kind of balance, with a poised beam, which indicates, by weights suspended from one arm, the mutual attraction of oppositely electrified surfaces. --Knight. {Balance fish}. (Zo["o]l) See {Hammerhead}. {Balance knife}, a carving or table knife the handle of which overbalances the blade, and so keeps it from contact with the table. {Balance of power}. (Politics), such an adjustment of power among sovereign states that no one state is in a position to interfere with the independence of the others international equilibrium; also the ability ( of a state or a third party within a state) to control the relations between sovereign states or between dominant parties in a state. {Balance sheet} (Bookkeeping), a paper showing the balances of the open accounts of a business, the debit and credit balances footing up equally, if the system of accounts be complete and the balances correctly taken {Balance thermometer}, a thermometer mounted as a balance so that the movement of the mercurial column changes the indication of the tube. With the aid of electrical or mechanical devices adapted to it it is used for the automatic regulation of the temperature of rooms warmed artificially, and as a fire alarm. {Balance of torsion}. See {Torsion Balance}. {Balance of trade} (Pol. Econ.), an equilibrium between the money values of the exports and imports of a country; or more commonly, the amount required on one side or the other to make such an equilibrium. {Balance valve}, a valve whose surfaces are so arranged that the fluid pressure tending to seat, and that tending to unseat the valve, are nearly in equilibrium; esp., a puppet valve which is made to operate easily by the admission of steam to both sides. See {Puppet valve}. {Hydrostatic balance}. See under {Hydrostatic}. {To lay in balance}, to put up as a pledge or security. [Obs.] --Chaucer. {To strike a balance}, to find out the difference between the debit and credit sides of an account. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Balance \Bal"ance\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Balanced} (?); p. pr & vb n. {Balancing} (?).] [From {Balance}, n.: cf F. balancer. ] 1. To bring to an equipoise, as the scales of a balance by adjusting the weights; to weigh in a balance. 2. To support on a narrow base, so as to keep from falling; as to balance a plate on the end of a cane; to balance one's self on a tight rope. 3. To equal in number, weight, force, or proportion; to counterpoise, counterbalance, counteract, or neutralize. One expression . . . must check and balance another. --Kent. 4. To compare in relative force, importance, value, etc.; to estimate. Balance the good and evil of things --L'Estrange. 5. To settle and adjust as an account; to make two accounts equal by paying the difference between them I am very well satisfied that it is not in my power to balance accounts with my Maker. --Addison. 6. To make the sums of the debits and credits of an account equal; -- said of an item; as this payment, or credit, balances the account. 7. To arrange accounts in such a way that the sum total of the debits is equal to the sum total of the credits; as to balance a set of books. 8. (Dancing) To move toward, and then back from reciprocally; as to balance partners. 9. (Naut.) To contract, as a sail, into a narrower compass; as to balance the boom mainsail. {Balanced valve}. See {Balance valve}, under {Balance}, n. Syn: To poise; weigh; adjust counteract; neutralize; equalize. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Balance \Bal"ance\, v. i. 1. To have equal weight on each side to be in equipoise; as the scales balance. 2. To fluctuate between motives which appear of equal force; to waver; to hesitate. He would not balance or err in the determination of his choice. --Locke. 3. (Dancing) To move toward a person or couple, and then back From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Balance wheel \Bal"ance wheel`\ 1. (Horology) a A wheel which regulates the beats or pulses of a watch or chronometer, answering to the pendulum of a clock; -- often called simply a {balance}. b A ratchet-shaped scape wheel, which in some watches is acted upon by the axis of the balance wheel proper (in those watches called a balance). 2. (Mach.) A wheel which imparts regularity to the movements of any engine or machine; a fly wheel. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: balance n 1: a state of equilibrium [ant: {imbalance}] 2: an amount on the credit side of an account 3: harmonious arrangement or relation of parts or elements within a whole (as in a design): "in all perfectly beautiful objects there is found the opposition of one part to another and a reciprocal balance"- John Ruskin [syn: {proportion}] 4: equality of distribution [syn: {equilibrium}, {equipoise}, {counterbalance}] 5: (mathematics) an attribute of a shape; exact correspondence of form on opposite sides of a dividing line or plane [syn: {symmetry}, {symmetricalness}, {correspondence}] [ant: {asymmetry}] 6: an equivalent counterbalancing weight [syn: {counterweight}, {counterbalance}, {counterpoise}, {equalizer}, {equaliser}] 7: a scale for weighing; depends on pull of gravity v 1: bring into balance or equilibrium [syn: {equilibrate}, {equilibrize}] [ant: {unbalance}] 2: compute credits and debits of an account 3: hold or carry in equilibrium [syn: {poise}] 4: be in equilibrium; "He was balancing on one foot" From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]: Balance occurs in Lev. 19:36 and Isa. 46:6, as the rendering of the Hebrew _kanch'_, which properly means "a reed" or "a cane," then a rod or beam of a balance. This same word is translated "measuring reed" in Ezek. 40:3,5; 42:16-18. There is another Hebrew word _mozena'yim_, i.e., "two poisers", also so rendered (Dan. 5:27). The balances as represented on the most ancient Egyptian monuments resemble those now in use A "pair of balances" is a symbol of justice and fair dealing (Job 31:6; Ps 62:9; Prov. 11:1). The expression denotes great want and scarcity in Rev. 6:5.
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