ballast

Definition

Heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship (or in the gondola of a balloon), to provide stability.

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

• "“Oh, for the-- how much did you waste on that little boondoggle?” “Well, it's not that so much as--” “Krieger.” “Well, I needed ballast, and what better to simulate bricks of cocaine than, you know, bricks of cocaine.”"
• "With 73 minutes gone Rafael Márquez came on to add ballast at the back, appearing in his fifth World Cup aged 39 and with alleged links to drug trafficking, which he denies, on hold for now. And so they sat deep with a thin green line of five defenders ranged across their own penalty area as the game became a Mexican stand-off, attack versus defence."
• "It [piety] is the right ballast of prosperity."