ballast

Meaning

Noun

1. Heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship (or in the gondola of a balloon), to provide stability.
2. Anything that steadies emotion or the mind.
3. Coarse gravel or similar material laid to form a bed for roads or railroads, or in making concrete; track ballast.
4. A material, such as aggregate or precast concrete pavers, which employs its mass and the force of gravity to hold single-ply roof membranes in place.
5. device used for stabilizing current in an electric circuit (e.g. in a tube lamp supply circuit)
6. That which gives, or helps to maintain, uprightness, steadiness, and security.

Verb

1. To stabilize or load a ship with ballast.
2. To lay ballast on the bed of a railroad track.
3. To weigh down with a ballast.

Synonyms

ballast resistor

gravel

barretter

light ballast

lumber

roadbed

weight

sailing ballast

dead weight

coil

lading

macadamize

maintain

millstone

pebbles

poise

road metal

sale

stabilize

asphalt

subgrade

road-metal

Valium

ballast weight

ballast cargo

base cargo

bottom cargo

bottom stowage

steady resistance

loading resistor

balase

stabilizer

baggage

bed

🛏️

compensate

counterbalance

counterweight

equilibrate

formation

foundation

junk

macadam

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈbæl.əst/

Etymology

From Middle English bar (“bare”) + last (“load”).

Sentences

Some or all of this ballast would then be discarded when cargo was loaded .