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balance
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
balance
I.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a balanced approach (=considering everything in a sensible way)
▪ The President spoke in favour of a calm and balanced approach.
a balanced diet (=including all the types of food that people need)
▪ A balanced diet is important for a child’s development.
a balanced meal (=with some of each type of food, to keep you healthy)
▪ We make healthy, balanced meals for our children.
balance beam
balance of payments
balance of power
▪ The election of so many Republicans to Congress has changed the balance of power in Washington.
balance of trade
balance sheet
▪ a healthy balance sheet
balance the budget (=spend only the money that is available)
▪ the importance of balancing the budget and cutting taxes
balanced on a knife-edge
▪ His future in the job is balanced on a knife-edge.
balanced precariously
▪ a cup of tea balanced precariously on her knee
balanced (=with a mix of academic and practical subjects)
▪ We want to ensure a balanced curriculum for all pupils.
balancing act
▪ Gilmore had to perform the difficult balancing act of attracting moderate voters without losing his Conservative base.
bank balance
evenly balanced
▪ The prospects for the country are fairly evenly balanced between peaceful reform and revolution.
holds the balance of power (=is able to make either side more powerful than the other by supporting them)
▪ A small centre party holds the balance of power in the Assembly.
lose your sight/hearing/voice/balance etc
▪ Mr Eyer may lose the sight in one eye.
▪ The tour was postponed when the lead singer lost his voice.
▪ Julian lost his balance and fell.
on the balance of probabilities (=considering the probability of two or more events)
▪ A decision about removing a child from its parents is made on the balance of probabilities.
recovered...balance
▪ Once she stumbled, but somehow she recovered her balance and carried on running.
redress the balance (=make the situation fair)
▪ Affirmative action was meant to redress the balance for minorities.
regain your balance (=become steady again, so that you do not fall over)
▪ She staggered a little before regaining her balance.
strike the right balance
▪ It isn’t always easy to strike the right balance.
the balance of power
▪ There has been a shift in the balance of power between the two countries.
tilt the balance
▪ Crisis situations tend to tilt the balance of power in favour of the president.
tip the balance in favour of
▪ Three factors helped to tip the balance in favour of the Labour leadership.
trade balance
upset the balance of
▪ The chemicals upset the balance of the environment.
work-life balance
▪ You can’t have a proper work-life balance if you’re in the office for 12 hours a day.
your bank balance (=the actual amount that you have in your bank account)
▪ I'm just going to check my bank balance online.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
delicate
▪ Research has suggested that for blood cells, this lipid asymmetry may help to maintain the delicate balance between haemostasis and thrombosis.
▪ For these folks, temperature control is a delicate balance.
▪ It demands considerable skills to achieve the delicate balance required between the painted finish and the natural grain of the timber.
▪ Good proposal writing is a delicate balance of presenting your intentions in dealing with your research problem.
▪ Bush's choice was of particular importance because of the Court's current delicate political balance.
▪ Adenosine helps regulate the delicate balance between blood flow and urine output.
▪ They upset the delicate balance of interests on which high organizational performance is so often based.
overall
▪ Whatever the overall balance sheet, Althusser's impact has been undeniable.
▪ When the accountants finish their calculations, all countries have an overall balance of payments equal to zero.
▪ Obviously, Mr Lamont accepts this view and the overall balance he has struck would seem to be right.
▪ Rather it is the quality of representation resulting from the overall balance of interests.
▪ It became even more pronounced during the period under consideration as the overall balance between manufacturing and services altered.
▪ Substantial balances have come from new customers while the overall average balances are higher than Gold 90 balances which are themselves significant.
▪ Specially, appointment to the bench should achieve some overall balance as between the nominees of the main political parties in the area.
perfect
▪ In such leaders, competence, vision, and virtue exist in nearly perfect balance.
▪ But a simple squat can exercise most of the muscles in the body and yet keep it in perfect balance.
▪ The perfect balance of arrogance and vulnerability.
▪ Even the stables were in perfect balance.
▪ Patrick went on to build irregular, non-symmetrical shapes with the connector rods that maintained perfect balance.
▪ The lack of perfect balance and coil symmetry also allows some of the fundamental switching frequency to leak through.
▪ Harold was flexing his muscles for the perfect balance, teeth bared, knife poised over his head.
proper
▪ A form is a predetermined pattern of techniques that ties together proper posture, balance, coordination and timing.
▪ The other part of my proposal will probably prove annoying to radicals, thereby ensuring a proper balance.
▪ The Amendment, itself, strikes the proper balance between federal and state authority.
▪ There was also an environmental objective - to maintain a proper balance between human needs and the natural environment.
▪ You scratch your heads in selection, and can't find a proper balance with less than 12.
▪ The future for the advanced industrial countries lies increasingly in a proper balance between manufacturing and the service sector.
▪ In order to maintain a proper balance in your life, you must be prepared to allocate some time to yourself each day.
right
▪ Find the right balance between enough exercise and enough rest.
▪ The right balance of detail should help the reader quickly grasp the nature of the problem and your approach to it.
▪ The problem is to know how to strike the right balance.
▪ As two opposite kinds of people, when they became partners, their very differences provided the right balance for success.
▪ Does the school have the right balance of ages, abilities and genders?
▪ And so you can pick and choose and try to get the right mixture or balance.
▪ It is also important to get the right balance between over concern and lack of care.
▪ You must find the right balance of specificity and practicality between the two extremes.
■ NOUN
account
▪ Therefore it can either be seen as Susan's capital or as a current account balance due to Susan.
▪ The only difficult figure in the balance sheet, apart from the profit and loss account balance, is the minority interest.
▪ Question 5 Should the reporting accountant visit twice a year to check client account balances?
▪ Our gold and dollar reserves are around P£400: a rather ordinary current account balance at NatWest.
bank
▪ Your bank balance might be given a pleasant surprise.
▪ Until Helen discovered what appeared to be a mistake in their bank balance, that is.
▪ The clever ones soon discovered that while banknotes could be seized a bank balance could not.
▪ Certain things, such as electric charge, bank balances, or dates are quantified by numbers of this kind.
▪ It's the psychological equivalent of having a flashy red sports car plus the bank balance and looks to match.
▪ The bank balance assured him of continued calm.
▪ He had a bank balance that a senior merchant banker would not be ashamed of.
▪ Citicorp first installed ATMs to serve customers with low bank balances.
power
▪ There is a particularly important chapter dealing with ethics and values, fairness and power balance.
▪ Through constitutional safeguards and precedents, the hybrid in every country must establish an effective power balance between its two executives.
sheet
▪ Mr Portillo has constantly stressed the grim state of the government's balance sheet.
▪ However, many consolidated balance sheets exclude some fund balance sheets.
▪ The changes have been entirely on the asset side of the balance sheet.
▪ No value is attributed to the playing squad in the group balance sheet.
▪ We now have two fund balance sheets in this authority's accounts.
▪ Pensions. 0704.14 Title warranties Assets other than those in the last audited balance sheet.
▪ This will lead to a strengthening of the balance sheet.
trade
▪ The trade balance in that year showed a deficit of US$805,000,000.
▪ The numbers are preliminary until the government unveils its official trade balance results for December on Feb. 8.
▪ The integration induced effects upon the trade balance can not be confined to the standard Vinerian concepts.
▪ The trade balance figures exclude sales of ships and oil rigs.
■ VERB
achieve
▪ At the wider level each of the units has to be sequenced to achieve a balance through the entire key stage.
▪ It demands considerable skills to achieve the delicate balance required between the painted finish and the natural grain of the timber.
▪ The management have achieved an excellent balance between service and relaxed atmosphere which is felt throughout the hotel.
▪ To achieve a balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide, one human needed 8 square metres of exposed Chlorella.
▪ She had achieved a balance between her vulnerable, nurturing, feeling side and the rational, assertive, analytical side.
▪ You talk about achieving a balance between idealism and realism as if we already have a perfect one.
▪ In drawing up their lists they take great care to achieve a balance that reflects the diversity of the electorate's concerns.
▪ Maybe some other race of intelligent beings elsewhere in the galaxy will achieve a better balance between responsibility and aggression.
alter
▪ This not only altered the strategic military balance in favour of the rebels, it also gave them an important psychological boost.
▪ Did they unwittingly do the worst possible thing in response, thus altering a fragile balance for ever?
▪ Such strange patterns of relatedness may alter the economic balance, but do not themselves cause sterility.
▪ An organization typically needs only to alter the balance of fears and beliefs that lay at the core of its decision-making processes.
▪ Reaction to speech Commentators claimed that Hussein's speech did nothing less than alter the strategic balance in the Middle East.
▪ Circumstances could clearly alter the balance in favour of one group rather than another and emphasise some considerations more than others.
change
▪ The purpose of the referendum was to change the balance of power between the executive and the legislature.
▪ The crisis changed the balance of power among the participants in the transformation process.
▪ As well as growing overall, we are also changing the balance of our activities, getting out of certain businesses and into others.
▪ More flexible schedules will not immediately change the balance of work done by men and women within their households.
▪ The new appointments did not change the party balance within the Cabinet.
▪ The recent legislation has changed considerably the balance of power and responsibility for public education.
▪ They may wish, for instance, to change the balance between teaching and non-teaching staff.
▪ Development has changed the balance of the world.
hang
▪ The future of the refuge still hangs in the balance.
▪ The possibility of a nuclear exchange continued to hang in the balance.
▪ Which Minister is the pits with the miners whose livelihoods now hang in the balance?
▪ Meanwhile, with its future hanging in the balance, Fokker is starting to feel the pinch.
▪ His career, much more than mine, hangs in the balance.
▪ That prohibition still persists, and legislation to open the nation's woodlands up to its people hangs in the balance.
▪ But because public health hangs in the balance, experts are already seeking changes in food policy.
keep
▪ Because they were walking downhill her limp was making her awkward and she linked arms with him to keep her balance.
▪ A pitcher throws to different parts of the plate, trying to keep the hitter off balance.
▪ As the bridge sways, people's feet exert sideways forces on it to keep their balance.
▪ To keep a balance of atmosphere, excess carbon dioxide needed to be removed by chemical filters.
▪ The lights changed and the truck pulled off with Chase trying to keep his balance and looking thoroughly bemused.
▪ I could psych out the captors, and I could put out orders that would frustrate them and keep them off balance.
▪ You sit on the saddle and try and keep your balance and hold on to the handlebars.
lose
▪ She nearly lost her balance, and cried out in terror.
▪ He put his arms around her waist and pulled her so hard she lost her balance.
▪ If all banks sell securities, they will all lose deposits and balances as their own customers buy securities.
▪ As Diana closed the door behind her, the plane plunged again, and she almost lost her balance.
▪ He lost his balance and he and the teapot clattered downstairs.
▪ Finally I tried from the east, lost my balance, and fell in.
▪ Dropping the wing, Mungo swung round, losing his balance.
▪ His mind slipped into some thought of his son, and he lost his balance.
maintain
▪ Research has suggested that for blood cells, this lipid asymmetry may help to maintain the delicate balance between haemostasis and thrombosis.
▪ In the years that followed, achievements by one side or the other alternated, maintaining a precarious balance of power.
▪ Normally it's job is to maintain fluid balance.
▪ Languages seem to maintain a balance in expressiveness and grammatical complexity over time.
▪ There was also an environmental objective - to maintain a proper balance between human needs and the natural environment.
▪ Workers in fishnet organizations must figure out how to maintain this kind of balance.
▪ It is surely a question of maintaining an appropriate balance, and is not something that can be taken for granted.
▪ A Dole presidency would probably maintain the current balance or add to the Congress-limiting majority.
pay
▪ But pay off the balance right away.
▪ Tell the office that a way must be found to pay the balance of slightly less than £10,000.
▪ If you pay the balance in full you come out ahead.
▪ The original mortgage was paid off and the balance invested in the business.
▪ If the guests take the room, they pay only the balance.
▪ They will usually ask you to pay off the balance seven days after the statement date.
▪ You must pay the balance at least 8 weeks before departure.
provide
▪ BankTrak is included to provide daily balance reporting, together with transaction details direct to a compatible computer on the customer's premises.
▪ As two opposite kinds of people, when they became partners, their very differences provided the right balance for success.
▪ This would provide the balance of the figure in cell 6/33.
▪ Each reader contains two pages of activities which provide a balance of structural and communicative activities.
▪ You can buy a proprietary mix that will provide end residues that balance reasonably well - eventually.
▪ Each one provides the balance at the year end for the defined area.
▪ On the other side of the terrace a raised bed provides visual balance and accommodates a specimen juniper and winter flowering heathers.
▪ Maud attributes some 15% of this increase to organic growth, with acquisitions providing the balance.
recover
▪ He stumbled near the exit from the tower, recovered his balance.
▪ It is assisted by conscious intention on our part to recover balance and vibrant health.
▪ With commendable promptitude, he caught Harrison by the collar and held him firmly, while Agnes and Dotty recovered their balance.
▪ Once she stumbled and nearly fell headlong, but somehow she recovered her balance and tore on.
▪ Yussuf tried to recover his balance, tried to jump, but the wall collapsed too fast.
▪ Aldaniti recovered his balance and sped on towards the second.
▪ But he recovered his balance in a stride and made off for the water jump.
▪ But she recovered her balance and carried on.
redress
▪ By establishing formal links with the universities, and international specialists, they hope to redress the balance.
▪ If there is any point at all to democratic government it is, surely, to redress the balance in our favour.
▪ These groupings within the general community of women need special attention to redress the balance of lack of opportunity.
▪ A tax on films helps redress the balance.
▪ In the future, many salty foods will use mixtures of potassium chloride to redress the balance.
▪ However, our recent spate of hot summers and mild winters seems to be redressing the balance somewhat.
▪ He sees the new blood scheme as one way to redress the balance against over-represented subjects like particle physics.
▪ Danger lies only where too much zeal is applied to redressing the cultural balance.
regain
▪ Zulei hopped backwards, trying to regain her balance, her mouth a rictus of hate.
▪ Then investors regained their balance, and the market resumed its upward climb.
▪ Evelyn just managed to regain her balance and prevent herself from falling out.
▪ The emerging organizational territory has neither guidebooks nor guideposts to help employees acquire or regain a sense of balance with their environment.
▪ He rocked for a moment on the edge, his arms circling wildly, desperately trying to regain his balance.
▪ When she regained her balance and looked around he - if indeed it had been he - had vanished.
▪ As he straightened up and regained his balance a spasm of pain shot through his left thigh.
▪ In the second her father took to regain his balance she smashed the glass and grabbed one of them.
restore
▪ Night Cream a rich blend to restore moisture balance while you sleep.
▪ In fact, the capacity of forests to increase in order to restore carbon balances has been called into question.
▪ Retributive punishment restores the balance by cancelling out this advantage with a commensurate disadvantage.
▪ Definite and energetic steps must be taken in other directions to restore the balance of our national economic life ....
▪ When a surgeon destroys overactive cells in the globus pallidum, he restores balance to the system, said Grossman.
▪ It is quite another thing to assess how out of balance the individual is and how to set about restoring the balance.
▪ We are beginning to see significant signs of restoring a balance to this overemphasis on left-brain skills.
shift
▪ Clearly the review might shift this balance making pensions the obvious target.
▪ A series of cases in 1988 shifted the balance.
▪ That decision shifted the balance of power away from Wall Street specialists.
▪ The reason was that none of these reforms shifted the balance of power within the social structure of the village.
▪ Conversely, an electricity tax that makes robots more expensive would shift the balance in the other direction, back toward labor.
▪ This shifts the balance of power towards leasing companies and vehicle hire groups.
▪ Finally, the reforms aimed to shift the balance of power in determining use of resources from hospital doctors to general practitioners.
strike
▪ Melvyn Tan strikes an admirable balance between the classical and romantic in the young composer's make-up.
▪ Barnett, however, has been able to strike a rare balance as a broadcaster.
▪ The courts have to try to strike a balance between the two.
▪ The problem of the Volunteer is to strike a balance.
▪ The problem is to know how to strike the right balance.
▪ The Amendment, itself, strikes the proper balance between federal and state authority.
▪ He decided to strike a balance.
▪ My favorite here was the Redcat Amber, which struck a nice balance between the pale and the swarthy.
throw
▪ And despite what he'd said, less a token of affection than a means of throwing her off balance.
▪ But before Adamowski could get his campaign under way, Daley threw him off balance by going on the offensive.
▪ It offered no resistance and Urquhart was almost thrown off balance when it slipped free.
▪ Waking up to that penetrating ice-blue gaze was enough to throw anyone off balance for the rest of the day.
▪ But the trucks are unwieldy, easily thrown off balance.
▪ She has a problem with some little gland or other, which can throw her right off balance.
▪ The movement threw him off balance.
▪ Each time the driver braked or accelerated violently she was thrown off balance, barking her shins on various pieces of luggage.
tilt
▪ The government clearly wished to tilt the balance in favour of opting out.
▪ The latter will always heavily tilt the balance towards finally meeting one's obligations to the employer.
▪ It is surely time to re-cast the law on employee inventions to tilt the balance away from the employer.
▪ Alongside his Foxley Wood decision he published new planning guidance which tilted the general balance against giving permission for house-building.
▪ Suppose I decide because of this to tilt the balance in all those cases in favour of its solution.
▪ All these chores, if efficiently organized, can tilt the balance in a close-run contest.
▪ Crisis situations invariably tend to tilt the balance of power in favour of the president at the expense of congress.
tip
▪ The nature of his choice or the terms in which it is expressed may then tip the balance.
▪ Perhaps remorse at having joined it had tipped the balance of Fred's mind.
▪ Teachers may try to tip the balance about this Englishness.
▪ What tipped the balance against that was my continuing dreadful performance in the classroom.
▪ The thought or feeling tipped the balance, made the difference.
▪ Vigorous efforts were made to tip the balance more in favour of those with greater needs.
▪ Chernobyl had further tipped the balance.
upset
▪ The proposed law would upset that balance in favor of property owners.
▪ The finish is also more permanent and does not upset the float's balance.
▪ She has upset the natural balance of the world, including the ecology of Earth and Heaven.
▪ In general landowners were expected to work the land and to increase productivity, but not to upset the ecological balance.
▪ Critics say the law upsets the balance of power by delegating legislative authority to the executive branch.
▪ The chemicals upset the balance of the environment and killed not only the whitefly but also other wildlife including the bumble bee.
▪ They upset the delicate balance of interests on which high organizational performance is so often based.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
balanced budget
▪ And this probably explains why the balanced budget amendment to the Constitution seemed to be in trouble last week.
▪ Any balanced budget amendment has to have some exceptions and some implementation provisions.
▪ His proposals disappeared in the fight over a balanced budget.
▪ In his speech, Dole specifically endorsed only one of them, an amendment mandating a balanced budget.
▪ One of the earliest votes of the Congress is expected to be on a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget.
▪ Previous efforts to mandate term limits and balanced budgets and to outlaw flag-burning failed in Congress.
checks and balances
▪ Checks and balances required an alert and informed populace.
▪ A triangle is an efficient system of emotional checks and balances, allowing chil-dren to work out complicated feelings without volatile outbursts.
▪ If the new telecommunications age brings unmediated democracy, what will happen to our carefully contrived constitutional system of checks and balances?
▪ Rugby has evolved as a game of checks and balances.
▪ Swings and roundabouts, checks and balances: who'd be a research engineer?
▪ The exchange's rules are subject to the general statutory checks and balances associated with commercial contracts.
▪ The presidential system offers checks and balances but does not ensure consistency between legislation and execution.
▪ They saw their first glimpse of the earth as a complex system with checks and balances, inputs and outputs.
hang in the balance
▪ World leaders are meeting to discuss the situation, with peace in the region hanging in the balance.
▪ But because public health hangs in the balance, experts are already seeking changes in food policy.
▪ His career, much more than mine, hangs in the balance.
▪ Meanwhile, with its future hanging in the balance, Fokker is starting to feel the pinch.
▪ That prohibition still persists, and legislation to open the nation's woodlands up to its people hangs in the balance.
▪ The future of the refuge still hangs in the balance.
▪ The possibility of a nuclear exchange continued to hang in the balance.
▪ Which Minister is the pits with the miners whose livelihoods now hang in the balance?
strike a balance (between sth)
▪ Eastin is trying to strike a balance between family life and her work.
▪ Accounts receivable management requires striking a balance between the cost of extending credit and the benefit received from extending credit.
▪ Effective organizations will strike a balance that allows them not only to accept uncertainty but to take advantage of it.
▪ He decided to strike a balance.
▪ How they strike a balance between the two is at the heart of corporate strategy.
▪ In the staffroom, they talk of trying to strike a balance between children seeing teachers as friends, and being over-familiar.
▪ No one can insure against all eventualities and so you strike a balance between the re- and pro- active aspects of your work.
▪ The courts have to try to strike a balance between the two.
▪ The problem of the Volunteer is to strike a balance.
tip the balance/scales
▪ Your support tipped the balance in our favor.
▪ I went to see Hoppy for a checkup and I tip the scales at exactly eighty-six pounds.
▪ Mr Bates thinks the disappearance of November's protest vote could tip the scales his way.
▪ Perhaps remorse at having joined it had tipped the balance of Fred's mind.
▪ Second, the Constitution tips the scales in favor of the individual over the state in highly personal matters.
▪ Tall and stately, fairly bursting from her corset, she sometimes tipped the scales at over 200 pounds.
▪ They viewed the Soviet moves as an effort to tip the scales against the West.
▪ Thus can a minuscule particle tip the scales one way or another.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ A walking stick is good for balance on rough trails.
▪ Her practicality acts as a balance to this wild inventiveness.
▪ Migration plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance between population and resources.
▪ Riding a bike helps develop a child's sense of balance.
▪ Take care to achieve a balance between career and home life.
▪ The biological balance is upset by over-intensive farming.
▪ When dealing with his staff, Mr Allen somehow managed to strike the right balance between being sympathetic and businesslike.
▪ You need a great sense of balance to be an acrobat.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Does the school have the right balance of ages, abilities and genders?
▪ Finding the right balance between cooperation and competition has been the goal and bane of Western politics for centuries.
▪ Meanwhile, with its future hanging in the balance, Fokker is starting to feel the pinch.
▪ On balance, however, Gramm should still win.
▪ The sense of balance is put at peril.
▪ The show hinges on this excruciating balance, hanging on Pennington's earnest performance.
II.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
delicately
▪ The issue is so delicately balanced that goal difference could even decide who goes up.
evenly
▪ The live recording shows few signs of an audience present and is evenly balanced between voices and orchestra.
▪ Ipswich scored 2/5, with one game, which is evenly balanced, to be adjudicated.
▪ The scales can be fairly evenly balanced.
finely
▪ Ferndown consolidated as the game progressed and the game was very finely balanced.
▪ Please try not to upset or destroy this finely balanced mechanism or the building blocks will collapse like a row of dominoes.
▪ Arguments over toxicity and cost-benefit are finely balanced.
▪ The issues are finely balanced and there is no simple answer to the question.
▪ But in practice the prognosis is finely balanced.
▪ There is concern about the law in this area and I believe that the arguments on it are finely balanced.
perfectly
▪ Natasha gazed at her with an expression in which caution and disdain were perfectly balanced.
▪ You rarely see that people are perfectly balanced on these.
▪ A rudderless boat must be perfectly balanced if it is to follow a straight course.
▪ It is perfectly balanced to satisfy a growing appetite.
▪ Balancing basic food ingredients Grass is not perfectly balanced for all types of horses all year round either.
precariously
▪ A dead leaf balanced precariously on the knuckles, twitching in the breeze.
▪ Furthermore, he was precariously balanced and might fall.
▪ Ice Cube is precariously balanced between entertainment and polemic.
▪ The guys tapped on their heels, balanced precariously and even attempted a few body flips.
▪ She balanced precariously with one foot on each.
▪ This leaves him precariously balancing his highbrow and lowbrow selves.
▪ The first carries the dual carriageway A4041 with a street light balanced precariously above the centre of the canal.
well
▪ Heredity, in Rose's case, had never been well balanced by environment.
▪ Make sure they are well balanced and will not slip off.
▪ The board should balance well in this position.
▪ Pommery wines are well balanced and of high quality.
▪ Print quality was very good, with crisp, sharp text and well balanced colour graphics.
▪ The yacht tracked accurately and was well balanced on all points.
▪ Each part of the production system is now well balanced and the new computer controlled lines have improved quality.
■ NOUN
account
▪ But during the strike, owners and executives saw little reason to balance accounts.
books
▪ Mr Lamont declared the Tories stuck to their election pledges but he faces immense pressure to balance the books.
▪ Nature always balances her books, and Jupiter had lost exactly as much momentum as Discovery had gained.
▪ Jobs threat: Five teachers at York's Lowfield School could face redundancy unless the opted-out school can balance its books.
▪ All supply people dreamed of a way to balance the books once and for all-without all that trading and shuffling.
▪ Voice over Derby had one more chance to balance the books but Paul Kitson wasted a glorious opportunity by blasting wide.
▪ How has it balanced its books with the rest of the world?
▪ But the council had to balance its books, he said.
▪ As treasurer of the R.A.D.D., he once balanced the books, which had a serious deficit, with a handsome donation.
budget
▪ The Gladstonian principle that public sector budgets should be balanced - increased expenditure met by increased taxes - was the accepted rule.
▪ The budget was never balanced during the depression.
▪ The Labour Cabinet was, it is clear, united in its view that the budget had to be balanced.
▪ Negotiations on a seven-year budget balancing plan broke off temporarily on Tuesday.
▪ If the budget is actually balanced because of Clinton, his comparative stature in the annals of history will grow only modestly.
▪ The bipartisan Concord Coalition, a Washington-based interest group on budget balancing issues, has run newspaper ads against the Dole plan.
▪ If government budgets are balanced, then the G term is zero and X-M must equal S-I.
▪ Taking the long view of things, Clinton insists his budget plan would assure balanced budgets well into the next century.
demand
▪ For such organizations it is a matter of balancing the demands for their services against the limited resources available.
▪ Steering requires people who see the entire universe of issues and possibilities and can balance competing demands for resources.
▪ Planning can balance demand and supply ex ante rather than ex post, so avoiding substantial waste of resources. 4.
▪ For others, it may be more difficult to balance the often competing demands of work and home.
▪ To balance demand against available resources is a continuing function of health service management intra-contractually and extra-contractually.
▪ This was a highly effective marriage of convenience, helping to balance the demand for electricity.
diet
▪ Bob's idea of a balanced diet left something to be desired.
▪ The women featured in the article are reducing their risk of chronic disease by exercising and by eating a balanced diet.
▪ A balanced read-aloud diet gives our children an appreciation for the sounds and shapes and purposes of many different kinds of texts.
▪ In fact, for some people, caffeine may actually make it harder to eat a balanced, healthy diet.
▪ The first slide showed a normal-size mouse eating a balanced diet of lab food pellets.
▪ A balanced diet and daily physical exercise are the keys to a healthy lifestyle.
▪ Fried bologna for Dooley with double mustard, and no sermons about a balanced diet, please.
need
▪ Any decisions must balance the needs and abilities of users with the type and quality of information to held in the database.
▪ Congress tried to write federal law by balancing needs of privacy advocates and the medical industry.
▪ I wanted to confess to her once but balanced that against the need to be loved by her.
▪ Hope is about the unknown and prospects, about balancing our needs for security with the dangers of freedom.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
balanced budget
▪ And this probably explains why the balanced budget amendment to the Constitution seemed to be in trouble last week.
▪ Any balanced budget amendment has to have some exceptions and some implementation provisions.
▪ His proposals disappeared in the fight over a balanced budget.
▪ In his speech, Dole specifically endorsed only one of them, an amendment mandating a balanced budget.
▪ One of the earliest votes of the Congress is expected to be on a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget.
▪ Previous efforts to mandate term limits and balanced budgets and to outlaw flag-burning failed in Congress.
balancing/juggling act
▪ For today's time-stressed parents, each day becomes a juggling act.
▪ But all face an awkward balancing act.
▪ But it's a crucial balancing act where you have to prioritise on a daily basis.
▪ Neither half of that balancing act has yet met with success.
▪ Now that balancing act has become more precarious than ever.
▪ Such a balancing act could keep his government in being only by increasing his own reputation for lack of principle.
▪ The question humankind must ask is whether the balancing act the president suggests is enough to stave off global devastation.
▪ The question now facing voters is which approach is likely to achieve the best balancing act.
▪ Using political power to reduce market inequalities requires a high-wire balancing act.
checks and balances
▪ Checks and balances required an alert and informed populace.
▪ A triangle is an efficient system of emotional checks and balances, allowing chil-dren to work out complicated feelings without volatile outbursts.
▪ If the new telecommunications age brings unmediated democracy, what will happen to our carefully contrived constitutional system of checks and balances?
▪ Rugby has evolved as a game of checks and balances.
▪ Swings and roundabouts, checks and balances: who'd be a research engineer?
▪ The exchange's rules are subject to the general statutory checks and balances associated with commercial contracts.
▪ The presidential system offers checks and balances but does not ensure consistency between legislation and execution.
▪ They saw their first glimpse of the earth as a complex system with checks and balances, inputs and outputs.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Balancing awkwardly on one leg, he lowered himself into his wheelchair.
▪ Balancing my cup of coffee in one hand, I managed to open the door.
▪ An angel was balancing precariously on top of the Christmas tree.
▪ As a parent trying to balance home and career, it's very difficult to find time for a social life.
▪ His favourite party trick is balancing tin cans on his head.
▪ Its cranberry tartness is balanced with just a hint of sweetness.
▪ No government so far has been able to balance the number of jobs available with the number of people out of work.
▪ The beam is very narrow - you may find it difficult to balance.
▪ They asked state officials to balance giving jobs to men and women.
▪ We tried to balance the aerial on top of the TV set, but it kept falling over.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ He has, in addition, hatched his own solution to the challenge of balancing love and work.
▪ Now, at twenty-two, I was well aware that stewardess work balanced on the edge of social respectability.
▪ With flash, burning is still required to balance a print.
Related phrases:
The Collaborative International Dictionary
balance

Balance wheel \Bal"ance wheel`\

  1. (Horology)

    1. A wheel which regulates the beats or pulses of a watch or chronometer, answering to the pendulum of a clock; -- often called simply a balance.

    2. A ratchet-shaped scape wheel, which in some watches is acted upon by the axis of the balance wheel proper (in those watches called a balance).

  2. (Mach.) A wheel which imparts regularity to the movements of any engine or machine; a fly wheel.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
balance

early 13c., "apparatus for weighing," from Old French balance (12c.) "balance, scales for weighing," also in the figurative sense; from Medieval Latin bilancia, from Late Latin bilanx, from Latin (libra) bilanx "(scale) having two pans," possibly from Latin bis "twice" + lanx "dish, plate, scale of a balance." The accounting sense is from 1580s; the meaning "general harmony between parts" is from 1732; sense of "physical equipoise" is from 1660s. Balance of power in the geopolitical sense is from 1701. Many figurative uses (such as hang in the balance, late 14c.), are from Middle English image of the scales in the hands of personified Justice, Fortune, Fate, etc.

balance

1570s, "be equal with," from balance (n.). Meaning "bring or keep in equilibrium" is from 1630s; that of "keep oneself in equilibrium" is from 1833. Of accounts, from 1580s. Related: Balanced; balancing. Balanced meal, diet, etc. is from 1908.

Wiktionary
balance

n. 1 (context uncountable English) a state in which opposing forces harmonise; equilibrium 2 (context uncountable English) mental equilibrium; mental health; calmness, a state of remaining clear-headed and unperturbed 3 something of equal weight used to provide equilibrium (literally or figuratively); counterweight 4 a pair of scales 5 (context uncountable English) awareness of both viewpoints or matters; neutrality; rationality; objectivity 6 (context uncountable English) the overall result of conflicting forces, opinions etc.; the influence which ultimately "weighs" more than others vb. 1 (context transitive English) To bring (items) to an equipoise, as the scales of a balance by adjusting the weights. 2 (context transitive figurative English) To make (concepts) agree. 3 (context transitive English) To hold (an object or objects) precariously; to support on a narrow base, so as to keep from falling. 4 (context transitive English) To compare in relative force, importance, value, etc.; to estimate. 5 (context transitive dancing English) To move toward, and then back from, reciprocally. 6 (context nautical English) To contract, as a sail, into a narrower compass. 7 (context transitive English) To make the credits and debits of (an account) correspond. 8 (context intransitive English) To be in equilibrium. 9 (context intransitive English) To have matching credits and debits.

Related phrases:
WordNet
balance

  1. v. bring into balance or equilibrium; "She has to balance work and her domestic duties"; "balance the two weights" [syn: equilibrate, equilibrize, equilibrise] [ant: unbalance]

  2. compute credits and debits of an account

  3. hold or carry in equilibrium [syn: poise]

  4. be in equilibrium; "He was balancing on one foot"

balance

  1. n. a state of equilibrium [ant: imbalance]

  2. a scale for weighing; depends on pull of gravity

  3. equality between the totals of the credit and debit sides of an account

  4. harmonious arrangement or relation of parts or elements within a whole (as in a design); "in all perfectly beautiful objects there is found the opposition of one part to another and a reciprocal balance"- John Ruskin [syn: proportion]

  5. equality of distribution [syn: equilibrium, equipoise, counterbalance]

  6. something left after other parts have been taken away; "there was no remainder"; "he threw away the rest"; "he took what he wanted and I got the balance" [syn: remainder, residual, residue, residuum, rest]

  7. the difference between the totals of the credit and debit sides of an account

  8. (astrology) a person who is born while the sun in in Libra [syn: Libra]

  9. the seventh sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about September 23 to October 22 [syn: Libra, Libra the Balance, Libra the Scales]

  10. (mathematics) an attribute of a shape or relation; exact correspondence of form on opposite sides of a dividing line or plane [syn: symmetry, symmetricalness, correspondence] [ant: asymmetry]

  11. an equivalent counterbalancing weight [syn: counterweight, counterbalance, counterpoise, equalizer, equaliser]

  12. a wheel that regulates the rate of movement in a machine; especially a wheel oscillating against the hairspring of a timepiece to regulate its beat [syn: balance wheel]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Balance

Balance, balanced or balancing may refer to:

Balance (game design)

In game design, balance is the concept and the practice of tuning a game's rules, usually with the goal of preventing any of its component systems from being ineffective or otherwise undesirable when compared to their peers. An unbalanced system represents wasted development resources at the very least, and at worst can undermine the game's entire ruleset by making important roles or tasks impossible to perform.

Balance (Van Halen album)

Balance is the tenth studio album by hard rock band Van Halen, released on January 24, 1995 through Warner Bros. Records. The album is the last of the band's four studio releases to feature Sammy Hagar as lead vocalist. Balance reached number 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 in February 1995 and reached Triple Platinum status on May 12, 2004 by selling more than three million copies in the U.S.

Balance (1989 film)

Balance is a German surrealist stop-motion animated film, released in 1989. It was directed and produced by twin brothers Wolfgang and Christoph Lauenstein.

Balance (Swollen Members album)

Balance is the debut album by Canadian rap group Swollen Members. It was released on the Battleaxe Records label. It has sold 41,000 copies since its release. Guest stars include Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Saafir, Dilated Peoples, Everlast, and Son Doobie. Track 3, Lady Venom, appeared on the soundtrack of the 2001/2002 EA Sports video game NBA Live 2002.

Balance (metaphysics)

In the metaphysical or conceptual sense, balance is used to mean a point between two opposite forces that is desirable over purely one state or the other, such as a balance between the metaphysical Law and Chaos — law by itself being overly controlling, chaos being overly unmanageable, balance being the point that minimizes the negatives of both.

More recently, the term "balance" has come to refer to a balance of power between multiple opposing forces. Lack of balance (of power) is generally considered to cause aggression by stronger forces towards weaker forces less capable of defending themselves. In the real world, unbalanced stronger forces tend to portray themselves as balanced, and use media controls to downplay this, as well as prevent weaker forces from coming together to achieve a new balance of power. In constructed worlds, such as in video gaming, where nearly all-powerful corporate interests strive to maintain a balance of power among players, players tend to be extremely vocal about what they see as unbalanced mechanics, providing the unbalance negatively affects them. Though the strong and unbalanced (or "overpowered") players commonly are vigorous in denial of any lack of balance, the comparative media equality among all player brings change quickly, to further a sense of balance.

Balance (accounting)

In banking and accountancy, the outstanding balance is the amount of money owed, (or due), that remains in a deposit account.

"Balancing the books" refers to the primary Balance sheet equation of A=L+OE, or Assets=Liabilities plus Owner's Equity. The first "balancing" of books, or of the balance sheet financial statement in accounting is to check iterations (test balances) to be sure the equation above applies, and where Assets and Liabilities are unequal, to equalize them by debiting or crediting Owner's Equity (i.e. if assets exceed liabilities, equity is increased, if liabilities exceed assets, equity is decreased, both in the amount needed to balance the equation).

In addition to the balance sheet, the other primary financial statement (the P&L or Profit and Loss Statement) also is balanced against the balance sheet, generally by use of a "plug" such as imputed interest.

Category:Accounting terminology

Balance (band)

Balance was an early 1980s Rock / Hard Rock band based out of New York City and fronted by Illinois native, Peppy Castro, formerly of Blues Magoos. They are perhaps best known for their minor 1981 hit, "Breaking Away".

Balance (Leo Kottke album)

Balance is an album by American guitarist Leo Kottke, released in 1978.

It was re-issued on CD by BGO Records (263) in 1996.

Balance (Kim-Lian album)

Balance is the debut album of the Dutch singer Kim-Lian. It was released on 25 May 2004 in the Netherlands. Kim-Lian said the album to be "a fun pop/rock album". The album spawned four top 20 singles, being " Teenage Superstar", " Hey Boy", " Garden of Love" and Kim Wilde cover " Kids in America".

Balance (puzzle)

A balance puzzle is a mathematical puzzle which challenges the solver to distribute a subset of numbers so that the several sides of a stylized diagram representing a balance scale are equal. The balance puzzle is a classical number puzzle in the World Puzzle Championship. It consists in a mobile or tree structure, with designated positions where the player must hang specified weights, so that everything balances. See examples below.

There are usually 8 to 12 consecutive numbers (weights) to place, which makes it much smaller than, for example, sudoku.

As in many mathematical puzzles, the solution is unique. Expert puzzlers often prefer puzzles where the rules explicitly states that there is only one solution. This property allows for some reasoning strategies. It also makes generating puzzles a bit more difficult.

Balance (Joe Morris album)

Balance is an album by American jazz guitarist Joe Morris which was recorded in 2013 and released on the Portuguese Clean Feed label. It was the return of the quartet with violinist Mat Maneri, bassist Chris Lightcap and drummer Gerald Cleaver, the same lineup that recorded in the 90s Underthru and At the Old Office.

According to Morris, the album complete a three part series of recordings inspired by the influence of the visual arts. The series began with Colorfield and continued with Camera. This final part addresses the influence of 20th Century sculpture made by artists like Alexander Calder, Anthony Caro, David Smith and Richard Serra.

Balance (ability)

In biomechanics, balance is an ability to maintain the line of gravity (vertical line from centre of mass) of a body within the base of support with minimal postural sway. Sway is the horizontal movement of the centre of gravity even when a person is standing still. A certain amount of sway is essential and inevitable due to small perturbations within the body (e.g., breathing, shifting body weight from one foot to the other or from forefoot to rearfoot) or from external triggers (e.g., visual distortions, floor translations). An increase in sway is not necessarily an indicator of dysfunctional balance so much as it is an indicator of decreased sensorimotor control.

Maintaining balance requires coordination of input from multiple sensory systems including the vestibular, somatosensory, and visual systems.

  • Vestibular system: sense organs that regulate equilibrium ( equilibrioception); directional information as it relates to head position (internal gravitational, linear, and angular acceleration)
  • Somatosensory system: senses of proprioception and kinesthesia of joints; information from skin and joints (pressure and vibratory senses); spatial position and movement relative to the support surface; movement and position of different body parts relative to each other
  • Visual system: Reference to verticality of body and head motion; spatial location relative to objects

The senses must detect changes of spatial orientation with respect to the base of support, regardless of whether the body moves or the base is altered. There are environmental factors that can affect balance such as light conditions, floor surface changes, alcohol, drugs, and ear infection.

There are balance impairments associated with aging. Age-related decline in the ability of the above systems to receive and integrate sensory information contributes to poor balance in older adults. As a result, the elderly are at an increased risk of falls. In fact, one in three adults aged 65 and over will fall each year.

In the case of an individual standing quietly upright, the limit of stability is defined as the amount of postural sway at which balance is lost and corrective action is required.

Body sway can occur in all planes of motion, which make it an increasingly difficult ability to rehabilitate. There is strong evidence in research showing that deficits in postural balance is related to the control of medial-lateral stability and an increased risk of falling. To remain balanced, a person standing must be able to keep the vertical projection of their center of mass within their base of support, resulting in little medial-lateral or anterior-posterior sway. Ankle sprains are one of the most frequently occurring injuries among athletes and physically active people. The most common residual disability post ankle sprain is instability along with body sway. Mechanical instability includes insufficient stabilizing structures and mobility that exceed the physiological limits.Functional instability involves recurrent sprains or a feeling of giving way of the ankle. It is found that nearly 40% of patients with ankle sprains suffer from instability and an increase in body sway. Injury to the ankle causes a proprioceptive deficit and impaired postural control. Individuals with muscular weakness, occult instability, and decreased postural control are more susceptible to ankle injury than those with better postural control.

Balance can be severely affected in individuals with neurological conditions. Patients who suffer a stroke or a spinal cord injury for example, can struggle with this ability. It has also been determined that impaired balance is strongly associated with future function and recovery in some cases, particularly in stroke patients. Additionally, balance problems have been identified as the strongest predictor of falls.

Another population where balance is severely affected is Parkinson's disease patients. A study done by Nardone and Schieppati (2006) showed that individuals with Parkinson's disease problems in balance have been related to a reduced limit of stability and an impaired production of anticipatory motor strategies and abnormal calibration.

Balance can also be negatively affected in a normal population through fatigue in the musculature surrounding the ankles, knees, and hips. Studies have found, however, that muscle fatigue around the hips (gluteals and lumbar extensors) and knees have a greater effect on postural stability (sway). It is thought that muscle fatigue leads to a decreased ability to contract with the correct amount of force or accuracy. As a result, proprioception and kinesthetic feedback from joints are altered so that conscious joint awareness may be negatively effected.

Balance (Akrobatik album)

Balance is the first full-length album by Boston rapper Akrobatik. It was released on May 20, 2003 by Coup D'État. The album features production and guest appearances by Diamond D, Da Beatminerz, DJ Fakts One, Mr. Lif, DJ Revolution, Edan and more. The song "Balance" was used in episode one of season two of The Wire entitled "Ebb Tide." The song "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" also appeared in episode five of season two of The Wire.

Balance (advertisement)

Balance was a 1989 television advertisement for the Lexus LS 400, which also introduced the luxury car make Lexus to American television audiences. It was created by Team One, a unit of Saatchi & Saatchi. The ad was designed to promote the engineering attributes of the flagship Lexus sedan. The advertisement received several awards and was emulated by later versions.

Balance (Ty Tabor album)

Balance is a 2008 solo album by King's X guitarist Ty Tabor. All songs were written, recorded and produced by Tabor, and the album was recorded at Alien Beans Studios in Katy, TX.

This is the first solo project released by Tabor for the Molken Music label.

Balance (1983 film)

Balance (, translit. Ravnovesie) is a 1983 Bulgarian drama film directed by Lyudmil Kirkov. It was entered into the 13th Moscow International Film Festival where it won the Silver Prize.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "balance".

Shaped like an enormous spider and forged from solid adamantine, it balanced on eight curved legs.

Shared energies, transformation, diversity-unity, balance, creativity, adaptability and relationship are patterns of life and also can be called the morality of life.

Whether natural selection has really thus acted in nature, in modifying and adapting the various forms of life to their several conditions and stations, must be judged of by the general tenour and balance of evidence given in the following chapters.

Many additional authorities in favor of this view might be adduced, enough to balance, at least, the names on the other side.

The inquest on Gordon resulted in a verdict of suicide without the merciful adjoinder that the balance of his mind had been affected.

Lord Ado has seen my bank balance, thanks to your dear friend and servant, Len.

After the establishment of these conditions, afferent impulses from the eyes, ears, skin, and other places, under the general direction of the cerebrum, may cause such actions as the balancing of the body, walking, etc.

Not surprisingly, Ake lost his balance and tumbled to the ground, disappearing under hundreds of kilos of insistent scout dogs.

As Timothy moved the craft in for a closer look, he saw the hairless Alastor balanced on his two back legs on the outcropping of stone, his front paws swatting at the bird.

Micum began with the basics, teaching Alec how to grip the weapon so that it balanced to his advantage, what stances presented the smallest target to an opponent, and simple slash and parry maneuvers.

Unable to free his hand from the reins, Alec was jerked off balance and swung out over the cliff edge.

Spreading his toes out for balance, Alec blinked up at her and gave a soft hoot.

Balance of Solomon, the Alkahest, to serve the Spouses, when they are laid on the nuptial bed, there to engender their embryo, producing for the human race immense treasures, that will last as long as the world endures.

The balance will shift, Cranston, from Renz to Alker, or vice versa, whichever is guilty.

Sanders complimented Aragon, as the latter changed fuel tanks to preserve the balance of the craft.