Definition of "ballast" []

• Heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship or the gondola of a balloon to enhance stability. (noun)
• Coarse gravel or crushed rock laid to form a bed for roads or railroads. (noun)
• The gravel ingredient of concrete. (noun)
• Something that gives stability, especially in character. (noun)
• To stabilize or provide with ballast. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Id recommend having two bottles on hand for four people at a dinner party, then having a decent third wine in reserve, what I call ballast."
• "Truth be told, I could make a better public case for Ayers’s involvement by a discussion of the word ballast than I could by sharing these results."
• "From the Marquesas I sailed with sufficient absinthe in ballast to last me to Tahiti, where I outfitted with Scotch and American whisky, and thereafter there were no dry stretches between ports."