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   ballast

   /ˈbaləst/

   noun

   • 1. heavy material, such as gravel, sand, or iron, placed in the bilge of a ship to ensure its stability: "the hull had insufficient ballast"
   • ▪ a heavy substance carried in an airship or on a hot-air balloon to stabilize it and jettisoned when greater altitude is required: "a forty kilo sandbag was used as ballast"
   • ▪ something providing stability or substance: "the film is an entertaining comedy with some serious ideas thrown in for ballast"
   • 2. gravel or coarse stone used to form the bed of a railway track or the substratum of a road: "a thick layer of railway ballast"
   • ▪ a mixture of coarse and fine aggregate for making concrete.
   • 3. a passive component used in an electric circuit to moderate changes in current: "ballasts are permanently wired into existing fixtures"

   verb

   • 1. give stability to (a ship) by putting a heavy substance in its bilge: "the vessel has been ballasted to give the necessary floating stability"
   • 2. form (the bed of a railway line or the substratum of a road) with gravel or coarse stone: "the track was laid with rails and ballasted with earth"

   Word Origin mid 16th century: probably of Low German or Scandinavian origin.

   Scrabble Points: 9

   • B

     3

   • A

     1

   • L

     1

   • L

     1

   • A

     1

   • S

     1

   • T

     1

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