The Collaborative International Dictionary
Shifting ballast
Shifting \Shift"ing\, a.
Changing in place, position, or direction; varying; variable; fickle; as, shifting winds; shifting opinions or principles.
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Adapted or used for shifting anything.
Shifting backstays (Naut.), temporary stays that have to be let go whenever the vessel tacks or jibes.
Shifting ballast, ballast which may be moved from one side of a vessel to another as safety requires.
Shifting center. See Metacenter.
Shifting locomotive. See Switching engine, under Switch.
Usage examples of "shifting ballast".
To his surprise - water being but a shifting ballast at the best - she was astonishingly stiff, and once all her vast mass had gathered its momentum, the Leopard ploughed fast across the sea.