How to Use balky in a Sentence

balky

adjective
  • Hali, a first-round pick of the team in 2006, has battled balky knees the last few years.
    Terez A. Paylor, kansascity, 12 Mar. 2018
  • The balky charger is 19 years old; the one that failed in the spring was almost as old.
    Fox News, 16 Oct. 2019
  • In the past, if his car was balky in practice, there was tension.
    Hank Kurz Jr, The Seattle Times, 28 Apr. 2017
  • The laptops the corps members had been given were old and balky.
    Maryn McKenna, WIRED, 25 Sep. 2011
  • But sometimes the line gets balky when the customer in front can’t quite make up their mind.
    Marc Bona, cleveland.com, 6 July 2019
  • Judge played in just four games against the Rays this season because of the balky right calf that kept him out of 30 games.
    Kristie Ackert, courant.com, 5 Oct. 2020
  • He's been out for more than a week and will get a second opinion on his balky knee.
    USA TODAY, 21 Mar. 2018
  • Heat was sporadic, with a balky boiler that belched black smoke.
    New York Times, 20 Jan. 2022
  • But there was no stampede by others to buy the balky machine.
    James R. Hagerty, WSJ, 13 Apr. 2018
  • At one point, after many months, the shifting did start getting a bit balky.
    Eben Weiss, Outside Online, 23 May 2021
  • Stafford's balky elbow could also be a red flag, not to mention the dearth of blocking in front of him.
    Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 9 Nov. 2022
  • Right guard Kyle Long looks like a shadow of his former self because of a balky hip.
    David Haugh, chicagotribune.com, 8 Oct. 2019
  • Ford played just 226 snaps last year because of his balky knee and a hamstring injury.
    Eric Branch, SFChronicle.com, 6 Sep. 2020
  • Watson isn’t likely to contend this weekend, not with a balky putting stroke and a driver that seems to lose yardage by the week.
    Mike Berardino, Indianapolis Star, 26 June 2019
  • Even as the weight was shed, as the body fat dropped, a balky left ankle got in the way, including during the games when needed most, at the close of the 41-41 season.
    Ira Winderman, Sun-Sentinel.com, 15 July 2017
  • Receiver Phillip Dorsett, who missed the win over the Giants with a balky hamstring, was at the session and was moving free and easy.
    BostonGlobe.com, 17 Oct. 2019
  • Booker is no longer bogged down by either his balky knee or his adjustment from the college game to the pros.
    Ap, USA TODAY, 31 May 2017
  • Picked off three times and buried for minus-49 yards on those seven sacks, this wasn't the way the Rams QB should be nursing a balky elbow – though his arm looked just fine.
    Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 9 Sep. 2022
  • His balky shoulder, if it gets knocked again, could finish his season.
    Eric Bolin, ajc, 11 Oct. 2017
  • He was visited by Roberts and the training staff when a balky knee began barking.
    Mark Whicker, Orange County Register, 22 June 2017
  • The stiff suspension and balky steering make the GT shockingly easy to manage once the speedometer starts to spin.
    Charles Fleming, latimes.com, 16 Mar. 2018
  • Switches that trigger the organ’s pistons are plagued with leaky valves and balky contacts.
    USA TODAY, 12 Feb. 2020
  • Robertson, despite a balky Achilles, still played 28 minutes.
    Jr Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 29 Apr. 2021
  • So much can happen between now and then, and so much of his future with the organization could hinge on the balky knees and hips of Wade, Rose and Thomas.
    Scott Cacciola, New York Times, 27 Sep. 2017
  • The machines were big, balky and relatively few in number.
    Martin Weil, Washington Post, 16 July 2019
  • After two weeks to rest a balky ankle, Dane Dunning returns to the Rangers rotation Tuesday with a lot to prove in the second half.
    Dallas News, 25 July 2022
  • The balky plumbing, the leaky roofs and the unforgiving loan payments are invisible to you.
    Thomas Farragher, BostonGlobe.com, 27 Mar. 2018
  • By the time the final pairing reached Amen Corner, McIlroy had fallen victim to a balky putter.
    Barry Svrluga, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Apr. 2018
  • But Crone said the permitting process is bogged down with a balky online system that’s been taxed during the pandemic.
    Steve Brown, Dallas News, 6 Aug. 2020
  • The veteran has started every game and has been nursing a balky hamstring.
    Kevin Acee, sandiegouniontribune.com, 4 May 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'balky.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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