Definition of Ballast

Babylon English
ballast
v. stabilize with ballast; steady
n. heavy object used to stabilize boats; gravel; stabilizer

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Ballast definition was found in categories: Business & Finance(4)  Language, Idioms & Slang(4)  Arts & Humanities(2)  Science & Technology(1)  Society & Culture(1)  Sports(2)  Entertainment & Music(1)  Encyclopedia(1)  

Ballast Definition from Business & Finance Dictionaries & Glossaries

BTS Transportation Expressions
Ballast
Material place on a track bed to hold the track in line and elevation and to distribute its load. Suitable material consists of hard particles (e.g., crushed rock, slag, gravel) that are stable, easily tamped, permeable, and resistant to plant growth. (TRB1)

BASSAM Trade, Real Estate, Mortgage, Fund,Invest, Insurance,& Tax,Terms/abbreviations/defin.
BALLAST
Heavy weight, necessary for the stability of a ship not carrying cargo.

2K Group Shipping, Trade, Insurance Dictionary
ballast
Heavy substances loaded by a vessel to improve stability, trimming, sea-keeping and to increase the immersion at the propeller. Sea water ballast is commonly' loaded in most vessels in ballast tanks, positioned in compartments right at the bottom and in some cases on the sides, called wing tanks. On a tanker, ballast is seawater that is taken into the cargo tanks to submerge the vessel to a proper trim.

Glossary of petroleum Industry
ballast
weight added to make a mobile offshore drilling rig more seaworthy, increase its draft, or sink it to the seafloor. Ballast is usually seawater, but sometimes concrete or iron is used additionally to lower the rig's center of gravity permanently.


Ballast Definition from Language, Idioms & Slang Dictionaries & Glossaries

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Ballast
(v. t.)
To steady, as a vessel, by putting heavy substances in the hold.
  
(v. t.)
To keep steady; to steady, morally.
  
(v. t.)
To fill in, as the bed of a railroad, with gravel, stone, etc., in order to make it firm and solid.
  
(a.)
The larger solids, as broken stone or gravel, used in making concrete.
  
(a.)
Gravel, broken stone, etc., laid in the bed of a railroad to make it firm and solid.
  
(a.)
Fig.: That which gives, or helps to maintain, uprightness, steadiness, and security.
  
(a.)
Any heavy substance, as stone, iron, etc., put into the hold to sink a vessel in the water to such a depth as to prevent capsizing.
  
(a.)
Any heavy matter put into the car of a balloon to give it steadiness.
  

WordNet 2.0
ballast

Noun
1. any heavy material used to stabilize a ship or airship
(hypernym) substance, matter
2. coarse gravel laid to form a bed for streets and railroads
(hypernym) gravel, crushed rock
3. an attribute that tends to give stability in character and morals; something that steadies the mind or feelings
(hypernym) attribute
4. a resistor inserted into a circuit to compensate for changes (as those arising from temperature fluctuations)
(synonym) ballast resistor, barretter
(hypernym) resistor, resistance
5. an electrical device for starting and regulating fluorescent and discharge lamps
(synonym) light ballast
(hypernym) electrical device

Verb
1. make steady with a ballast
(hypernym) brace, steady, stabilize, stabilise

hEnglish - advanced version
ballast

ballast
\bal"last\ (&?;), n. [d. ballast; akin to dan. baglast, ballast, osw. barlast, sw. ballast. the first part is perh. the same word as e. bare, adj.; the second is last a burden, and hence the meaning a bare, or mere, load. see bare, a., and last load.]
1. (naut.) any heavy substance, as stone, iron, etc., put into the hold to sink a vessel in the water to such a depth as to prevent capsizing.
2. any heavy matter put into the car of a balloon to give it steadiness.
3. gravel, broken stone, etc., laid in the bed of a railroad to make it firm and solid.
4. the larger solids, as broken stone or gravel, used in making concrete.
5. fig.: that which gives, or helps to maintain, uprightness, steadiness, and security. it [piety] is the right ballast of prosperity.
ballast
engine, a steam engine used in excavating and for digging and raising stones and gravel for ballast.


  similar words(4) 




 to freshen ballast 
 in ballast trim 
 water ballast 
 ballast engine 

JM Welsh <=> English Dictionary
Balasarn
Balasarn = n. a ballast


Ballast Definition from Arts & Humanities Dictionaries & Glossaries

Glossary of Technical Theatre Terms
BALLAST
A unit used in conjunction with discharge lamps containing capacitors, inductors and other start-up circuitry. The inductor is initially used to develop a high potential to strike the discharge and is then used to limit the current flow while the lamp is lit.

Lighting
Ballast
A device used with an electric-discharge lamp to obtain the necessary circuit conditions for starting and operating.


Ballast Definition from Science & Technology Dictionaries & Glossaries

Energy Glossary
BALLAST
A device that provides starting voltage and limits the current during normal operation in electrical discharge lamps (such as fluorescent lamps).


Ballast Definition from Society & Culture Dictionaries & Glossaries

Environmental Engineering (English ver.)
BALLAST
Heavy material, often seawater, placed in the hold of a ship to gain stability. Periodic discharges of this ballast water from oil tankers constitute a significant portion of the oil introduced into the oceans of the world each year.


Ballast Definition from Sports Dictionaries & Glossaries

maritime&shipping&trade
Ballast
weight in the lower portion of a boat, used to add stability

Nautical Nomenclature
Ballast
weight in the lower portion of a boat, used to add stability


Ballast Definition from Entertainment & Music Dictionaries & Glossaries

English to Federation-Standard Golic Vulcan
Ballast (ship)
tihet'es-rasath-tukh


Ballast Definition from Encyclopedia Dictionaries & Glossaries

Wikipedia English - The Free Encyclopedia
Ballast
Ballast may mean:
  • Track ballast, railway track-bed, on which sleepers and track is laid
  • Sailing ballast, ship's ballast, used to weight a ship down
  • Ballast tanks, a device used on submarines and other submersibles to control buoyancy
  • Electrical ballast, used to stabilize the current flow in lamps
  • Water ballast carried aboard an aircraft, for example in gliding to increase speed

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