• n. 压舱物，[建] 压载物；道渣，碎石
• vt. 给…装压舱物；给…铺道渣

bal, 词源同bare, 仅仅，字母l,r 音变。last, 古词义，重担。

ballast

ballast: [16] Originally, ballast appears to have meant literally ‘bare load’ – that is, a load carried by a ship simply for the sake of its weight, and without any commercial value. English probably acquired it, via Low German, from a Scandinavian language; Old Swedish and Old Danish had not only ballast but also barlast, which appears to betray the word’s component parts: bar, related to English bare, and last ‘burden’ (Old English had hl?st ‘burden’, related to lade, which survived into the 20th century as a measure of weight for various commodities).
=> bare, lade

ballast (n.)

"heavy material used to steady a ship," 1520s, from Middle English bar "bare" (see bare; in this case "mere") + last "a load, burden," or borrowed from identical terms in North Sea Germanic and Scandinavian (compare Old Danish barlast, 14c.). "Mere" because not carried for commercial purposes. Dutch balg-last "ballast," literally "belly-load," is a folk-etymology corruption.

1. We can trust that company; the partners are in ballast all right.

我们可以信任那家公司, 其合伙人都很可靠.

来自《简明英汉词典》

2. He has got no ballast whatever.

他这个人一点也不沉着.

来自《简明英汉词典》

3. Then the sound of rumbling thunder reached the watchers on the shore, as cargo, ballast, ammunition and 400 people went sliding and crashing down to the port side of the steeply listing ship.

后来当船上的货物 、 压舱物 、 弹药以及400个人轰的一声滑到急剧倾斜的船体左舷一侧的时候, 岸上观看的人们听到了雷鸣般的轰隆声.

来自《用法词典》

4. The ballast may be thrown out to make the balloon go higher.

沙袋可以抛掉以使气球飞得更高.

来自辞典例句

5. The rail beds well on the ballast.

铁轨在道碴上搁得很稳.

来自辞典例句