ballast
Ship stability material
Ballast is heavy material placed low in a ship or other vessel to improve stability.
The word extends to anything that provides steadiness or grounding: Her sense of humor was ballast against despair.
In railroad construction, ballast is the bed of crushed stone that supports the tracks.
To ballast is to provide with ballast or to steady: The boat was ballasted with sandbags.
Transported goods
- holdMaintain in grasp
- trimRemove unwanted edges
- tankLarge storage vessel
- bilgeShip's water-collecting depths
keel · displacement · seaworthiness · freighter · tanker · maritime · sailing · buoyancy
Underlying support structure
- groundingConnecting to earth
- steadinessState of being constant
- anchorSecures ships to seabed
- counterweightBalancing mass in machinery
equilibrium · balance · stabilizer · reinforcement · base · footing · firmness · centering
Compensate by opposing force
- stabilizingMaking firm or constant
- groundingConnecting to earth
- anchorSecures ships to seabed
- moderationAvoidance of excess
check · equipoise · compensation · steadying · temperance · restraint · sobering · leveling
Path or monitored route
- sleeperOne at rest
- gravelLoose small rock fragments
- crushed stoneMechanically broken rock fragments
- roadbedFoundation beneath railway tracks
tie · gauge · subgrade · tamping · drainage · locomotive · railcar · maintenance
cargo
Transported goods
bilge · keel · displacement · seaworthiness · freighter · tanker · maritime · sailing · buoyancy · waterline
foundation
Underlying support structure
- groundingConnecting to earth
- steadinessState of being constant
- anchorSecures ships to seabed
counterweight · equilibrium · balance · stabilizer · reinforcement · base · footing · firmness · centering · solidity
offset
Compensate by opposing force
- stabilizingMaking firm or constant
- groundingConnecting to earth
- anchorSecures ships to seabed
moderation · check · equipoise · compensation · steadying · temperance · restraint · sobering · leveling
track
Path or monitored route
- sleeperOne at rest
- gravelLoose small rock fragments
- crushed stoneMechanically broken rock fragments
roadbed · tie · gauge · subgrade · tamping · drainage · locomotive · railcar · maintenance · cinder
airship
Steerable lighter-than-atmosphere craft
- blimpNon-rigid flying vessel
- zeppelinRigid lighter-than-air craft
- dirigibleSteerable lighter-than-air craft
altitude · buoyancy · sandbag · gondola · aeronautics · lift · aerostat · ascent · descent · dropping
resistor
Current-limiting circuit element
- lampElectric light fixture
- fluorescentEmitting light when energized
- capacitorCharge-storing circuit element
inductor · circuit · current · transformer · choke · discharge · lighting · tube · wattage · starter
- maritime studiesseamanship, marine navigation, oceanography, hydrography, maritime safety
- railway tracksrails, steel rails, track bed, rail bed, railbed
- ship partshull, keel, deck, mast, bow
- offshore rigsderrick, drill rig, drill bit, drawworks, wellhead
- rail yardsswitchyard, marshalling yards, receiving yard, yard crew, yardmaster
- railroad tracksrails, railroad ties, sleepers, cross ties, spikes
ballastinstability
Tendency toward unpredictable change
unsteadiness · destabilizer · imbalance · lightness · buoyancy
ballastinstability
Tendency toward unpredictable change
volatility · unsteadiness · flightiness · fickleness · groundlessness
- ballast tankCompartment regulating vessel buoyancy
- water ballastLiquid load for stability