ballast
/ˈbæləst/
noun
- Heavy material placed in a ship or vehicle to keep it stable.
- The truck carried concrete blocks as ballast to prevent tipping on the mountain road.
- Hot air balloons use sandbags as ballast to control altitude.
- The crew loaded extra ballast into the ship's hold to balance it in the storm.
- Something that provides stability or support, especially in a psychological or emotional sense.
- Routine and discipline can be a ballast for a chaotic life.
- Her steady friendship was the ballast he needed during the difficult divorce.
- The company's strong cash reserves acted as ballast during the economic downturn.
- The gravel or coarse stone used as a base for railroad tracks.
- Workers spread fresh ballast along the railway line to keep the tracks level.
- The train rattled over the stone ballast beneath the rails.
- Proper ballast drainage is essential for track safety.
Synonyms
verb
- To provide with ballast; to make stable by adding weight.
- The construction team ballasted the crane's base with steel plates.
- The captain ordered the crew to ballast the ship with seawater tanks.
- They ballasted the hot air balloon with extra sandbags before the flight.
- To give stability or steadiness to something.
- Her calm presence ballasted the team's nervous energy before the presentation.
- A strong moral compass ballasts his decision-making in times of crisis.
- The new regulations are meant to ballast the volatile financial markets.
Antonyms