ballasts

Noun

ballast (usually uncountable, plural ballasts)

1. (usually) Heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship (or in the gondola of a balloon), to provide stability.
   • “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.”2014 March 24, Adam Reed, “On the Carpet” (18:15 from the start), in Archer, season 5, episode 9, spoken by Dr. Algernop Krieger (Lucky Yates)
2. (figuratively, usually) Anything that steadies emotion or the mind.
3. (usually) Coarse gravel or similar material laid to form a bed for roads or railroads, or in making concrete; track ballast.
4. (usually) A material, such as aggregate or precast concrete pavers, which employs its mass and the force of gravity to hold single-ply roof membranes in place.
   1. (usually) Loose stone or big gravel used to hold rails and tracks in place.
5. (countable, usually) device used for stabilizing current in an electric circuit (e.g. in a tube lamp supply circuit)

See all 10 meanings of ballast