What is "to strike a balance"

Strike \Strike\, v. t. [imp. Struck; p. p. Struck, Stricken( Stroock, Strucken, Obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. Striking. Struck is more commonly used in the p. p. than stricken.] [OE. striken to strike, proceed, flow, AS. str[=i]can to go, proceed, akin to D. strijken to rub, stroke, strike, to move, go, G. streichen, OHG. str[=i]hhan, L. stringere to touch lightly, to graze, to strip off (but perhaps not to L. stringere in sense to draw tight), striga a row, a furrow. Cf. Streak, Stroke.]

1. To touch or hit with some force, either with the hand or with an instrument; to smite; to give a blow to, either with the hand or with any instrument or missile.

   He at Philippi kept His sword e'en like a dancer; while I struck The lean and wrinkled Cassius.
   --Shak.

2. To come in collision with; to strike against; as, a bullet struck him; the wave struck the boat amidships; the ship struck a reef.

3. To give, as a blow; to impel, as with a blow; to give a force to; to dash; to cast.

   They shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two sideposts.
   --Ex. xii. 7.

   Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow.
   --Byron.

4. To stamp or impress with a stroke; to coin; as, to strike coin from metal: to strike dollars at the mint.

5. To thrust in; to cause to enter or penetrate; to set in the earth; as, a tree strikes its roots deep.

6. To punish; to afflict; to smite.

   To punish the just is not good, nor strike princes for equity.
   --Prov. xvii. 26.

7. To cause to sound by one or more beats; to indicate or notify by audible strokes; as, the clock strikes twelve; the drums strike up a march.

8. To lower; to let or take down; to remove; as, to strike sail; to strike a flag or an ensign, as in token of surrender; to strike a yard or a topmast in a gale; to strike a tent; to strike the centering of an arch.

9. To make a sudden impression upon, as by a blow; to affect sensibly with some strong emotion; as, to strike the mind, with surprise; to strike one with wonder, alarm, dread, or horror.

   Nice works of art strike and surprise us most on the first view.
   --Atterbury.

   They please as beauties, here as wonders strike.
   --Pope.

10. To affect in some particular manner by a sudden impression or impulse; as, the plan proposed strikes me favorably; to strike one dead or blind.

    How often has stricken you dumb with his irony!
    --Landor.

11. To cause or produce by a stroke, or suddenly, as by a stroke; as, to strike a light.

    Waving wide her myrtle wand, She strikes a universal peace through sea and land.
    --Milton.

12. To cause to ignite; as, to strike a match.

13. To make and ratify; as, to strike a bargain.

    Note: Probably borrowed from the L. f[oe]dus ferrire, to strike a compact, so called because an animal was struck and killed as a sacrifice on such occasions.

14. To take forcibly or fraudulently; as, to strike money.

15. To level, as a measure of grain, salt, or the like, by scraping off with a straight instrument what is above the level of the top.

16. (Masonry) To cut off, as a mortar joint, even with the face of the wall, or inward at a slight angle.

17. To hit upon, or light upon, suddenly; as, my eye struck a strange word; they soon struck the trail.

18. To borrow money of; to make a demand upon; as, he struck a friend for five dollars. [Slang]

19. To lade into a cooler, as a liquor.
    --B. Edwards.

20. To stroke or pass lightly; to wave.

    Behold, I thought, He will . . . strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.
    --2 Kings v. 11.

21. To advance; to cause to go forward; -- used only in past participle. ``Well struck in years.'' --Shak. To strike an attitude, To strike a balance. See under Attitude, and Balance. To strike a jury (Law), to constitute a special jury ordered by a court, by each party striking out a certain number of names from a prepared list of jurors, so as to reduce it to the number of persons required by law. --Burrill. To strike a lead.

    1. (Mining) To find a vein of ore.

    2. Fig.: To find a way to fortune. [Colloq.] To strike a ledger or To strike an account, to balance it. To strike hands with.

       1. To shake hands with.
          --Halliwell.

       2. To make a compact or agreement with; to agree with. To strike off.

          1. To erase from an account; to deduct; as, to strike off the interest of a debt.

          2. (Print.) To impress; to print; as, to strike off a thousand copies of a book.

    3. To separate by a blow or any sudden action; as, to strike off what is superfluous or corrupt. To strike oil, to find petroleum when boring for it; figuratively, to make a lucky hit financially. [Slang, U.S.] To strike one luck, to shake hands with one and wish good luck. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl. To strike out.

       1. To produce by collision; to force out, as, to strike out sparks with steel.

       2. To blot out; to efface; to erase. ``To methodize is as necessary as to strike out.''
          --Pope.

       3. To form by a quick effort; to devise; to invent; to contrive, as, to strike out a new plan of finance.

    4. (Baseball) To cause a player to strike out; -- said of the pitcher. See To strike out, under Strike, v. i. To strike sail. See under Sail. To strike up.

       1. To cause to sound; to begin to beat. ``Strike up the drums.''
          --Shak.

       2. To begin to sing or play; as, to strike up a tune.

       3. To raise (as sheet metal), in making diahes, pans, etc., by blows or pressure in a die.

          To strike work, to quit work; to go on a strike.

Balance \Bal"ance\ (b[a^]l"ans), n. [OE. balaunce, F. balance, fr. L. bilanx, bilancis, having two scales; bis twice (akin to E. two) + lanx plate, scale.]

1. An apparatus for weighing.

   Note: In its simplest form, a balance consists of a beam or lever supported exactly in the middle, having two scales or basins of equal weight suspended from its extremities. Another form is that of the Roman balance, our steelyard, consisting of a lever or beam, suspended near one of its extremities, on the longer arm of which a counterpoise slides. The name is also given to other forms of apparatus for weighing bodies, as to the combinations of levers making up platform scales; and even to devices for weighing by the elasticity of a spring.

2. Act of weighing mentally; comparison; estimate.

   A fair balance of the advantages on either side.
   --Atterbury.

3. Equipoise between the weights in opposite scales.

4. The state of being in equipoise; equilibrium; even adjustment; steadiness.

   And hung a bottle on each side To make his balance true.
   --Cowper.

   The order and balance of the country were destroyed.
   --Buckle.

   English workmen completely lose their balance.
   --J. S. Mill.

5. An equality between the sums total of the two sides of an account; as, to bring one's accounts to a balance; -- also, the excess on either side; as, the balance of an account. ``A balance at the banker's.''
   --Thackeray.

   I still think the balance of probabilities leans towards the account given in the text.
   --J. Peile.

6. (Horol.) A balance wheel, as of a watch, or clock. See Balance wheel (in the Vocabulary).

7. (Astron.)

   1. The constellation Libra.

   2. The seventh sign in the Zodiac, called Libra, which the sun enters at the equinox in September.

8. A movement in dancing. See Balance, v. t., 8.

   Balance electrometer, a kind of balance, with a poised beam, which indicates, by weights suspended from one arm, the mutual attraction of oppositely electrified surfaces.
   --Knight.

   Balance fish. (Zo["o]l) See Hammerhead.

   Balance knife, a carving or table knife the handle of which overbalances the blade, and so keeps it from contact with the table.

   Balance of power (Politics), such an adjustment of power among sovereign states that no one state is in a position to interfere with the independence of the others; international equilibrium; also, the ability (of a state or a third party within a state) to control the relations between sovereign states or between dominant parties in a state.

   Balance sheet (Bookkeeping), a paper showing the balances of the open accounts of a business, the debit and credit balances footing up equally, if the system of accounts be complete and the balances correctly taken.

   Balance thermometer, a thermometer mounted as a balance so that the movement of the mercurial column changes the inclination of the tube. With the aid of electrical or mechanical devices adapted to it, it is used for the automatic regulation of the temperature of rooms warmed artificially, and as a fire alarm.

   Balance of torsion. See Torsion Balance.

   Balance of trade (Pol. Econ.), an equilibrium between the money values of the exports and imports of a country; or more commonly, the amount required on one side or the other to make such an equilibrium.

   Balance valve, a valve whose surfaces are so arranged that the fluid pressure tending to seat, and that tending to unseat, the valve, are nearly in equilibrium; esp., a puppet valve which is made to operate easily by the admission of steam to both sides. See Puppet valve.

   Hydrostatic balance. See under Hydrostatic.

   To lay in balance, to put up as a pledge or security. [Obs.]
   --Chaucer.

   To strike a balance, to find out the difference between the debit and credit sides of an account.