(~s, balancing, ~d)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
If you ~ something somewhere, or if it ~s there, it remains steady and does not fall.
I ~d on the ledge...
He ~d a football on his head.
VERB: V prep/adv, V n prep/adv
2.
Balance is the ability to remain steady when you are standing up.
The medicines you are currently taking could be affecting your ~.
N-UNCOUNT
3.
If you ~ one thing with something different, each of the things has the same strength or importance.
Balance spicy dishes with mild ones...
The state has got to find some way to ~ these two needs...
Supply and demand on the currency market will generally ~.
V-RECIP: V n with n, V pl-n, pl-n V, also V with n
~d
This book is a well ~d biography.
ADJ: usu adv ADJ
4.
A ~ is a situation in which all the different parts are equal in strength or importance.
Their marriage is a delicate ~ between traditional and contemporary values...
...the ecological ~ of the forest.
N-SING: with supp, oft N between pl-n
5.
If you say that the ~ tips in your favour, you start winning or succeeding, especially in a conflict or contest.
...a powerful new gun which could tip the ~ of the war in their favour...
N-SING: the N
6.
If you ~ one thing against another, you consider its importance in relation to the other one.
She carefully tried to ~ religious sensitivities against democratic freedom.
VERB: V n against n
7.
If someone ~s their budget or if a government ~s the economy of a country, they make sure that the amount of money that is spent is not greater than the amount that is received.
He ~d his budgets by rigid control over public expenditure.
VERB: V n
8.
If you ~ your books or make them ~, you prove by calculation that the amount of money you have received is equal to the amount that you have spent.
...teaching them to ~ the books...
To make the books ~, spending must fall and taxes must rise.
VERB: V n, V
9.
The ~ in your bank account is the amount of money you have in it.
I’d like to check the ~ in my account please.
N-COUNT: usu with supp
10.
The ~ of an amount of money is what remains to be paid for something or what remains when part of the amount has been spent.
They were due to pay the ~ on delivery.
= remainder
N-SING: the N
11.
see also bank ~
12.
If something hangs in the ~, it is uncertain whether it will happen or continue.
The fate of a project which could revolutionise the use of computers in hospitals hangs in the ~.
PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR
13.
If you keep your ~, for example when standing in a moving vehicle, you remain steady and do not fall over. If you lose your ~, you become unsteady and fall over.
PHRASE: V inflects
14.
If you are off ~, you are in an unsteady position and about to fall.
A gust of wind knocked him off ~ and he fell face down in the mud.
PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR
15.
If you are thrown off ~ by something, you are surprised or confused by it.
She was trying to behave as if his visit hadn’t thrown her off ~.
PHRASE: PHR after v
16.
You can say on ~ to indicate that you are stating an opinion after considering all the relevant facts or arguments.
On ~ he agreed with Christine.
PHRASE: PHR with cl