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A piece of pork cut lower down than the sparerib, and destitute of fat. [Eng.] Southey.

A ridge of land left unplowed between furrows, or at the end of a field; a piece missed by the plow slipping aside. Bad plowmen made balks of such ground. Fuller.

Fig.: That which gives, or helps to maintain, uprightness, steadiness, and security. It [piety] is the right ballast of prosperity. Barrow. Ballast engine, a steam engine used in excavating and for digging and raising stones and gravel for ballast. -- Ship in ballast, a ship carring only ballast.

A perennial herbaceous plant of almost treelike size (Musa sapientum); also, its edible fruit. See Musa.

a troop, company, or confederacy. "Banded against his throne." Milton. Banded architrave, pier, shaft, etc. (Arch.), an architrave, pier, etc., of which the regular profile is interrupted by blocks or projections crossing it at right angles.

In certain games, as dominos, a fund of pieces from which the players are allowed to draw. Bank credit, a credit by which a person who has give -- Bank of deposit, a bank which receives money for safe keeping. -- Bank of issue, a bank which issues its own notes payable to bearer.

A kind of flag attached to a spear or pike by a crosspiece, and used by a chief as his standard in battle. Hang out our banners on the outward walls. Shak.

A piece of wood, metal, or other material, long in proportion to its breadth or thickness, used as a lever and for various other purposes, but especially for a hindrance, obstruction, or fastening; as, the bars of a fence or gate; the bar of a door. Thou shalt make bars of shittim wood. Ex. xxvi. 26.…

A piece of music composed in imitation of such a song.

A piece of defensive (or, sometimes, ornamental) armor for a horse's neck, breast, and flanks; a barb. [Often in the pl.]

essure. At the sea level its ordinary height is about 30 inches (760 millimeters). See Sympiesometer. Nichol. Aneroid barometer. See Aneroid barometer, under Aneroid. -- Marine barometer, a barometer with tube contracted at bottom to prevent rapid oscillations of the mercury, and suspended in gimbals from an arm or su…

The lower part of a wall, pier, or column, when treated as a separate feature, usually in projection, or especially ornamented.

A large piece of ordnance, so called from its supposed resemblance to the serpent of that name, or from its size. [Obs.]

ey, or depression of the surface of the ground, the lowest part of which is generally occupied by a lake, or traversed by a river.

A large stick; a club; specifically, a piece of wood with one end thicker or broader than the other, used in playing baseball, cricket, etc.

Furring done with small pieces nailed directly upon the wall.

Two or more pieces of artillery in the field.

ing of alternate solids and open spaces. At first purely a military feature, afterwards copied on a smaller scale with decorative features, as for churches.

A trifling piece of finery; a gewgaw; that which is gay and showy without real value; a cheap, showy plaything. The ineffective bauble of an Indian pagod. Sheridan.

ow, etc.; one of the main divisions of any structure, as the part of a bridge between two piers.