ETYM AS. balca beam, ridge; akin to Icel. bâlkr partition, bjâlki beam, OS. balko, German balken; cf. Gael. balc ridge of earth between two furrows. Related to Balcony, Balk, Bulk.
(Baseball) An illegal pitching motion while runners are on base.

ETYM AS. beám beam, post, tree, ray of light; akin to OFries. bâm tree, OS. bôm, Dutch boom, Old High Germ. boum, poum, German baum, Icel. bathmr, Goth. bagms and Greek phyma a growth, phynai to become, to be.
1. A column of light (as from a beacon); SYN. beam of light, light beam, ray, ray of light, shaft, shaft of light.
2. A group of nearly parallel lines of electromagnetic radiation.
3. Breadth amidships.
4. Long thick piece of wood or metal or concrete, etc., used in construction.
A configuration of radiated energy characterized by rays that are sharply directional and parallel.

ETYM Old Eng. blok; cf. French bloc (fr. Old High Germ.), Dutch and Dan. blok, Swed. and German block, Old High Germ. bloch.
(Homonym: bloc).
1. A three-dimensional shape with six square or rectangular sides; SYN. cube.
2. A rectangular area in a city surrounded by streets and usually containing several buildings; SYN. city block.
3. A number or quantity of related things dealt with as a unit.
4. A sector or group of sectors that function as the smallest data unit permitted.
5. Housing in a large building that is divided into separate units.
6. A solid piece of something (usually having flat rectangular sides).
7. An inability to remember or think of something one normally can do; often caused by emotional tension; SYN. mental block.

An idiot; a dolt; a person deficient in understanding.

ETYM Cf. Icel. kumbr a chopping, Eng. chop.
A person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of; SYN. fish, fool, gull, mark, patsy, fall guy, sucker, schlemiel, shlemiel, soft touch, mug.

ETYM Old Eng. clogge clog, Scot. clag, a clot, to to obstruct, cover with mud or anything adhesive; prob. of the same origin as Eng. clay.
1. Any object that acts as a hindrance or obstruction.
2. Footwear usually with wooden soles; SYN. geta, patten, sabot.

Debris; useless possessions; trash.

ETYM as. stocc a stock, trunk, stick; akin to Dutch stok, German stock, Old High Germ. stoc, Icel. stokkr, Swed. stock, Dan. stok, and as. stycce a piece; cf. Skr. tuj to urge, thrust. Related to Stokker, Stucco, and Tuck a rapier.
1. The merchandise that a shop has on hand; SYN. inventory.
2. The capital raised by a corporation through the issue of shares entitling holders to partial ownership.
3. The handle of a handgun or the butt end of a rifle or shotgun or part of the support of a machine gun or artillery gun; SYN. gunstock.
4. The reputation and popularity a person has.
5. Wood used in the construction of something.
6. The handle end of some implements or tools.
7. A plant or stem onto which a graft is made; especially a plant grown specifically to provide the root part of grafted plants.
8. Persistent thickened stem of a herbaceous perennial plant; SYN. caudex.