ballast

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun any heavy material used to stabilize a ship or airship
noun coarse gravel laid to form a bed for streets and railroads
noun an attribute that tends to give stability in character and morals; something that steadies the mind or feelings

From Middle English bar (“bare”) + last (“load”).

"Down to the ballast tanks!" — The Literary World Seventh Reader, Unknown
“Well, it will do for ballast. — Eight Cousins, Louisa May Alcott
His nature lacked robustness and ballast. — From Chaucer to Tennyson: With Twenty-Nine Portraits and Selections from Thirty Authors, Henry A. (Henry Augustin) Beers

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