balk vs timber

balk

noun
  • Beam, crossbeam; squared timber; a tie beam of a house, stretching from wall to wall, especially when laid so as to form a loft, "the balks". 

  • The wall of earth at the edge of an excavation. 

  • The area of the table lying behind the baulk line. 

  • A sudden and obstinate stop. 

  • A hindrance or disappointment; a check. 

  • The rope by which fishing nets are fastened together. 

  • The area of the table lying behind the line from which the cue ball is initially shot, and from which a ball in hand must be played. 

  • An illegal motion by the pitcher, intended to deceive a runner. 

  • A motion used to deceive the opponent during a serve. 

  • An uncultivated ridge formed in the open field system, caused by the action of ploughing. 

verb
  • To refuse suddenly. 

  • To stop short and refuse to go on. 

  • To leave heaped up; to heap up in piles. 

  • To omit, miss, or overlook by chance. 

  • To leave or make balks in. 

  • To make a deceptive motion to deceive another player. 

  • To stop, check, block. 

  • To indicate to fishermen, by shouts or signals from shore, the direction taken by the shoals of herring. 

  • To engage in contradiction; to be in opposition. 

  • To disappoint; to frustrate. 

timber

noun
  • A heavy wooden beam, generally a whole log that has been squared off and used to provide heavy support for something such as a roof. 

  • The wooden stock of a rifle or shotgun. 

  • Material for any structure. 

  • Trees in a forest regarded as a source of wood. 

  • Wood that has been pre-cut and is ready for use in construction. 

verb
  • To light or land on a tree. 

  • To surmount as a timber does. 

  • To fit with timbers. 

intj
  • Used by loggers to warn others that a tree being felled is falling. 

How often have the words balk and timber occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )