Strike \Strike\, v. t. [imp. Struck; p. p. Struck,
   Stricken(Stroock, Strucken, Obs.); p. pr. & vb. n.
   Striking. Struck is more commonly used in the p. p. than
   stricken.] [OE. striken to strike, proceed, flow, AS.
   str[imac]can to go, proceed, akin to D. strijken to rub,
   stroke, strike, to move, go, G. streichen, OHG.
   str[imac]hhan, L. stringere to touch lightly, to graze, to
   strip off (but perhaps not to L. stringere in sense to draw
   tight), striga a row, a furrow. Cf. Streak, Stroke.]
   1. To touch or hit with some force, either with the hand or
      with an instrument; to smite; to give a blow to, either
      with the hand or with any instrument or missile.
      [1913 Webster]

            He at Philippi kept
            His sword e'en like a dancer; while I struck
            The lean and wrinkled Cassius.        --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To come in collision with; to strike against; as, a bullet
      struck him; the wave struck the boat amidships; the ship
      struck a reef.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To give, as a blow; to impel, as with a blow; to give a
      force to; to dash; to cast.
      [1913 Webster]

            They shall take of the blood, and strike it on the
            two sideposts.                        --Ex. xii. 7.
      [1913 Webster]

            Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow.
                                                  --Byron.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To stamp or impress with a stroke; to coin; as, to strike
      coin from metal: to strike dollars at the mint.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. To thrust in; to cause to enter or penetrate; to set in
      the earth; as, a tree strikes its roots deep.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. To punish; to afflict; to smite.
      [1913 Webster]

            To punish the just is not good, nor strike princes
            for equity.                           --Prov. xvii.
                                                  26.
      [1913 Webster]

   7. To cause to sound by one or more beats; to indicate or
      notify by audible strokes; as, the clock strikes twelve;
      the drums strike up a march.
      [1913 Webster]

   8. To lower; to let or take down; to remove; as, to strike
      sail; to strike a flag or an ensign, as in token of
      surrender; to strike a yard or a topmast in a gale; to
      strike a tent; to strike the centering of an arch.
      [1913 Webster]

   9. To make a sudden impression upon, as by a blow; to affect
      sensibly with some strong emotion; as, to strike the mind,
      with surprise; to strike one with wonder, alarm, dread, or
      horror.
      [1913 Webster]

            Nice works of art strike and surprise us most on the
            first view.                           --Atterbury.
      [1913 Webster]

            They please as beauties, here as wonders strike.
                                                  --Pope.
      [1913 Webster]

   10. To affect in some particular manner by a sudden
       impression or impulse; as, the plan proposed strikes me
       favorably; to strike one dead or blind.
       [1913 Webster]

             How often has stricken you dumb with his irony!
                                                  --Landor.
       [1913 Webster]

   11. To cause or produce by a stroke, or suddenly, as by a
       stroke; as, to strike a light.
       [1913 Webster]

             Waving wide her myrtle wand,
             She strikes a universal peace through sea and land.
                                                  --Milton.
       [1913 Webster]

   12. To cause to ignite; as, to strike a match.
       [1913 Webster]

   13. To make and ratify; as, to strike a bargain.
       [1913 Webster]

   Note: Probably borrowed from the L. foedus ferrire, to strike
         a compact, so called because an animal was struck and
         killed as a sacrifice on such occasions.
         [1913 Webster]

   14. To take forcibly or fraudulently; as, to strike money.
       [Old Slang]
       [1913 Webster]

   15. To level, as a measure of grain, salt, or the like, by
       scraping off with a straight instrument what is above the
       level of the top.
       [1913 Webster]

   16. (Masonry) To cut off, as a mortar joint, even with the
       face of the wall, or inward at a slight angle.
       [1913 Webster]

   17. To hit upon, or light upon, suddenly; as, my eye struck a
       strange word; they soon struck the trail.
       [1913 Webster]

   18. To borrow money of; to make a demand upon; as, he struck
       a friend for five dollars. [Slang]
       [1913 Webster]

   19. To lade into a cooler, as a liquor. --B. Edwards.
       [1913 Webster]

   20. To stroke or pass lightly; to wave.
       [1913 Webster]

             Behold, I thought, He will . . . strike his hand
             over the place, and recover the leper. --2 Kings v.
                                                  11.
       [1913 Webster]

   21. To advance; to cause to go forward; -- used only in past
       participle. "Well struck in years." --Shak.
       [1913 Webster]

   To strike an attitude, To strike a balance. See under
      Attitude, and Balance.

   To strike a jury (Law), to constitute a special jury
      ordered by a court, by each party striking out a certain
      number of names from a prepared list of jurors, so as to
      reduce it to the number of persons required by law.
      --Burrill.

   To strike a lead.
       (a) (Mining) To find a vein of ore.
       (b) Fig.: To find a way to fortune. [Colloq.]

   To strike a ledger or To strike an account, to balance
      it.

   To strike hands with.
       (a) To shake hands with. --Halliwell.
       (b) To make a compact or agreement with; to agree with.
           

   To strike off.
       (a) To erase from an account; to deduct; as, to strike
           off the interest of a debt.
       (b) (Print.) To impress; to print; as, to strike off a
           thousand copies of a book.
       (c) To separate by a blow or any sudden action; as, to
           strike off what is superfluous or corrupt.

   To strike oil, to find petroleum when boring for it;
      figuratively, to make a lucky hit financially. [Slang,
      U.S.]

   To strike one luck, to shake hands with one and wish good
      luck. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.

   To strike out.
       (a) To produce by collision; to force out, as, to strike
           out sparks with steel.
       (b) To blot out; to efface; to erase. "To methodize is as
           necessary as to strike out." --Pope.
       (c) To form by a quick effort; to devise; to invent; to
           contrive, as, to strike out a new plan of finance.
       (d) (Baseball) To cause a player to strike out; -- said
           of the pitcher. See To strike out, under Strike,
           v. i.

   To strike sail. See under Sail.

   To strike up.
       (a) To cause to sound; to begin to beat. "Strike up the
           drums." --Shak.
       (b) To begin to sing or play; as, to strike up a tune.
       (c) To raise (as sheet metal), in making diahes, pans,
           etc., by blows or pressure in a die.

   To strike work, to quit work; to go on a strike.
      [1913 Webster]

Balance \Bal"ance\ (b[a^]l"ans), n. [OE. balaunce, F. balance,
   fr. L. bilanx, bilancis, having two scales; bis twice (akin
   to E. two) + lanx plate, scale.]
   1. An apparatus for weighing.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: In its simplest form, a balance consists of a beam or
         lever supported exactly in the middle, having two
         scales or basins of equal weight suspended from its
         extremities. Another form is that of the Roman balance,
         our steelyard, consisting of a lever or beam, suspended
         near one of its extremities, on the longer arm of which
         a counterpoise slides. The name is also given to other
         forms of apparatus for weighing bodies, as to the
         combinations of levers making up platform scales; and
         even to devices for weighing by the elasticity of a
         spring.
         [1913 Webster]

   2. Act of weighing mentally; comparison; estimate.
      [1913 Webster]

            A fair balance of the advantages on either side.
                                                  --Atterbury.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Equipoise between the weights in opposite scales.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. The state of being in equipoise; equilibrium; even
      adjustment; steadiness.
      [1913 Webster]

            And hung a bottle on each side
            To make his balance true.             --Cowper.
      [1913 Webster]

            The order and balance of the country were destroyed.
                                                  --Buckle.
      [1913 Webster]

            English workmen completely lose their balance. --J.
                                                  S. Mill.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. An equality between the sums total of the two sides of an
      account; as, to bring one's accounts to a balance; --
      also, the excess on either side; as, the balance of an
      account. "A balance at the banker's." --Thackeray.
      [1913 Webster]

            I still think the balance of probabilities leans
            towards the account given in the text. --J. Peile.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. (Horol.) A balance wheel, as of a watch, or clock. See
      Balance wheel (in the Vocabulary).
      [1913 Webster]

   7. (Astron.)
      (a) The constellation Libra.
      (b) The seventh sign in the Zodiac, called Libra, which
          the sun enters at the equinox in September.
          [1913 Webster]

   8. A movement in dancing. See Balance, v. t., 8.
      [1913 Webster]

   Balance electrometer, a kind of balance, with a poised
      beam, which indicates, by weights suspended from one arm,
      the mutual attraction of oppositely electrified surfaces.
      --Knight.

   Balance fish. (Zool.) See Hammerhead.

   Balance knife, a carving or table knife the handle of which
      overbalances the blade, and so keeps it from contact with
      the table.

   Balance of power (Politics), such an adjustment of power
      among sovereign states that no one state is in a position
      to interfere with the independence of the others;
      international equilibrium; also, the ability (of a state
      or a third party within a state) to control the relations
      between sovereign states or between dominant parties in a
      state.

   Balance sheet (Bookkeeping), a paper showing the balances
      of the open accounts of a business, the debit and credit
      balances footing up equally, if the system of accounts be
      complete and the balances correctly taken.

   Balance thermometer, a thermometer mounted as a balance so
      that the movement of the mercurial column changes the
      inclination of the tube. With the aid of electrical or
      mechanical devices adapted to it, it is used for the
      automatic regulation of the temperature of rooms warmed
      artificially, and as a fire alarm.

   Balance of torsion. See Torsion Balance.

   Balance of trade (Pol. Econ.), an equilibrium between the
      money values of the exports and imports of a country; or
      more commonly, the amount required on one side or the
      other to make such an equilibrium.

   Balance valve, a valve whose surfaces are so arranged that
      the fluid pressure tending to seat, and that tending to
      unseat, the valve, are nearly in equilibrium; esp., a
      puppet valve which is made to operate easily by the
      admission of steam to both sides. See Puppet valve.

   Hydrostatic balance. See under Hydrostatic.

   To lay in balance, to put up as a pledge or security.
      [Obs.] --Chaucer.

   To strike a balance, to find out the difference between the
      debit and credit sides of an account.
      [1913 Webster]