ballast (n.)

  1. any heavy material used to stabilize a ship or airship

  2. coarse gravel laid to form a bed for streets and railroads

  3. an attribute that tends to give stability in character and morals; something that steadies the mind or feelings

  4. a resistor inserted into a circuit to compensate for changes (as those arising from temperature fluctuations)

    [ Syn: ballast resistor , barretter ]

  5. an electrical device for starting and regulating fluorescent and discharge lamps

    [ Syn: light ballast ]

    ballast (v.)

  1. make steady with a ballast

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
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