Ballast

What do we mean by ballast?

Heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship or the gondola of a balloon to enhance stability. noun

Coarse gravel or crushed rock laid to form a bed for roads or railroads. noun

The gravel ingredient of concrete. noun

Something that gives stability, especially in character. noun

To stabilize or provide with ballast. transitive verb

To fill (a railroad bed) with or as if with ballast. transitive verb

To place ballast in or on; furnish with ballast: as, to ballast a ship; to ballast a balloon; to ballast the bed of a railroad. See the noun.

Figuratively: To give steadiness to; keep steady.

To serve as a counterpoise to; keep down by counteraction.

To load; freight.

To load or weigh down.

The rough masonry of the interior of a wall, or that laid upon the vault; masonry used where weight and solidity are needed. Compare filling, 7, and back-filling. noun

Weight carried by a ship or boat for the purpose of insuring the proper stability, both to avoid risk of capsizing and to secure the greatest effectiveness of the propelling power. noun

Bags of sand placed in the car of a balloon to steady it and to enable the aëronaut to lighten the balloon, when necessary to effect a rise, by throwing part of the sand out. noun

Gravel, broken stones, slag, or similar material (usually called road-metal), placed between the sleepers or ties of a railroad, to prevent them from shifting, and generally to give solidity to the road. noun

Figuratively, that which gives stability or steadiness, mental, moral, or political. noun

Ballasted.

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. noun

Any heavy matter put into the car of a balloon to give it steadiness. noun

Heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship (or in the gondola of a balloon), to provide stability.

Anything that steadies emotion or the mind.

Coarse gravel or similar material laid to form a bed for roads or railroads, or in making concrete.

A material, such as aggregate or precast concrete pavers, which employs its mass and the force of gravity to hold single-ply roof membranes in place.

Device used for stabilizing current in an electric circuit (e.g. in a tube lamp supply circuit)

That which gives, or helps to maintain, uprightness, steadiness, and security.

Words that are spelled similarly to ballast:
ballast, ballas, ballist, ballat, ballant.

Words that are triggered by (strongly associated with) the word ballast:
keel, resistor, buoyancy, tanks, lamp, fluorescent, wiring, pumped, rails, starboard, bulb, tractor, tank, invasive, discharge, compartment, aft, quarry, trim, valves, hull, loading, pumps, cargo, loaded, balloon, stability, weight, boat, bags, displacement, tons, voltage, cleaning, gravel, submarine, sail, convoy, propulsion, dive, sailing, fitted, diesel, vessel, fin, ships, blow, flooded, load, empty, water, gravity, ties, sunk, diving, boats, bow, organisms, arc, freight, deck, fuel, vessels, stones, concrete, torpedo, voyage, poles, lighthouse, lift, altitude, tube, nose, rail, renovated, carrying, crew, ship, departed, sailed, sand, gauge, draft, depth, trains, cars, bound, aboard, track, powered, filled, efficiency, boulevard, train, bridges, damaged, waters, bed, ratio, bottom.

Words that rhyme with ballast:
calloused, callused, sallust, chaliced, sal lust, shall list.

Adjectives that are often used to describe ballast:
more, much, little, electronic, good, heavy, clean, additional, sufficient, dirty, main, solid, burnt, lead, useless, extra, only, permanent, enough, necessary, outside, unnecessary, water, moral, shingle, inside, magnetic, fresh, ideological, intellectual, mental, mere, loose, concrete, proper, broken, internal, cultural, fluorescent, sub, liquid, less, emotional, excellent, light, superfluous, standard, better, insufficient, iron, external, variable, useful, oily, historical, top, inductive, live, recycled, cinder, ordinary, crushed, movable, conventional, suitable, dry, coarse, spiritual, dead, segregated, adequate, psychological, ethical, excess, typical, philosophical, worthless, start.

Nouns that are often described by the adjective ballast:
water, tanks, tank, heavers, stones, resistor, factor, system, stone, resistors, hills, exchange, bags, pump, point, lighters, valve, combination, material, pit, spaces, dropping, men, pockets, train, weights, engine, ibs, systems, roller, resistance, lamp, car, section, sections, fig, device, refuse, pumps, combinations, sand, renewals, getters, hole, concrete, waters, noise, tube, clay, bonus, introductions, heaving, hove, substance, wharf, heaps, assessment, flow, materials, masters, particles, manual, release, pits, movements, shore, machines, voyage, capacity, cars, lens, hbts, management, performance, discharge, wagons, heaver, hill, keel, fill, waggons, plates, piping, interface, losses, suctions, heat, board, iron, boats, mats, forks, ropes.

Consonant match to ballast:
bullist, baalist, b-list, b list, buy list.

Words that sound like ballast:
ballast, ballist, bullist, b-list, balanced, ballot, blust, balas, ballasts, ballister, be lost, ballaster, palest, blessed, blest, blissed, ballett, backlist, ballester, ballette, blast, bullet, ballad, biased, billet, bolus, herbalist, ballas, balad, baluster, baldest, bellus, bilis, bulat, balliet, bloused, belet, bowlus, bulldust, bullace, billot, bullous, bulut, -blast, bowless, bull dust, palace, pallet, palette, palate, paralysed, pallas, palet, policed, pallett, palat, palas, palast, palus, palass, pallasite, behest, boldest, bullit, bullett, balet, ballista, bayless, bullis, bellis, bayliss, bullitt, baylis, buist, boulet, bolis, boulette, billett, batist, bolet, ballistae, belit, balister, bilet, bulis, bollixed, be blessed, belette, baddest, bailout, backless, bail out, ablest, bagless, bachus, bakst, bail-out, baggiest, bahut, back east.