ballast

Part of speech: verb

To supply with ballast; steady.

Part of speech: noun

Any heavy substance in the hold of a vessel to steady it; solid filling for a railroad bed.

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Usage examples "ballast":

  1. 5. Salt is an important article in all our return cargoes; because, being carried as ballast, its freight costs nothing. - "Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson", Thomas Jefferson.
  2. And, indeed, it does exhibit Schiller's historical style at its best, there being here, in comparison with his earlier work, somewhat less of heavy philosophical ballast. - "The Life and Works of Friedrich Schiller", Calvin Thomas.
  3. We are the ballast of the new order. - "Another Sheaf", John Galsworthy.