balk or baulk
📖 Definitions
noun
1. A check or hindrance.
2. A defeat or disappointment.
3. A beam or rafter.
4. A ridge; an unplowed strip of land between furrows.
verb intr.
To stop, hesitate, or refuse to proceed.
verb tr.
To thwart or hinder.
💬 Usage Examples
“Nothing, agreed, is alien to love When pure desire has overflowed its baulks.” Robert Graves; Collected Poems; Cassell; 1965. “She balked at the bedroom door, digging in her heels. ‘It’s just a bedroom, Katie,’ he said. ‘We have to pass through it to get to the bathroom where my first aid supplies are.’” Lori Wilde; A Wedding for Christmas; Avon; 2016.