Meanings
present singular third person balances out · participle present balancing out · participle past balanced out · past balanced out
- idiomaticintransitiveTo attain balance through the contrasting or reciprocating effect of different elements.
If you consider all the negative and all the positive factors, it should balance out to something acceptable.
1 more example
"It's something they look forward to and they get as much out of helping us as we do from receiving help and it all sort of balances out in the end."
2025 September 2, Rebekah Logan, Rebekah Wilson, quoting Eddie Smiles, “Service provides 'second family' to tackle loneliness”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 13 Jan 2026 - idiomatictransitiveTo counteract with a contrasting element so as to achieve balance.
You can add some honey to balance out the sourness of the lemon.
5 more examples
The city says that's mostly due to Calgarians having more than enough babies to balance out deaths.
2017 July 20, Rachel Ward, “Calgary grows by 11,166 people due mainly to more babies, says census”, in CBC News, archived from the original on 29 Aug 2018But if you’d like balance out the meat you eat with some more plant-based meal options, we hope you’ll find these emails helpful, interesting and fun!
c. 2022, “Let's stop meating like this”, in Eastleigh Borough Council, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2025, retrieved 02 Mar 2026And, if your dish becomes too sweet, simply balance it out with a pinch of salt.
2024 October 17, “How to Make Soup Less Spicy”, in campbellsoup.co.uk, archived from the original on 09 Dec 2025If you have a bad thought, balance it out with a good thought.
2025, “Depression and Low Mood - Easy read information for people in prison”, in Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, archived from the original on 02 Mar 2026, retrieved 02 Mar 2026, Thinking about feelings and thoughtsA sequel of this magnitude has the ability to reach higher, though, with more creative worldbuilding balancing out the dime-a-dozen pop culture references and cheap gags.
2025 November 25, Caroline Siede, “Zootopia 2 is a stagnant sequel with one stellar subplot”, in AV Club
Translations
Polish równoważyć się, zrównoważyć się
- równoważyć sięto attain balance through the contrasting or reciprocating effect of different elements
- zrównoważyć sięto attain balance through the contrasting or reciprocating effect of different elements
- wyrównywać sięto attain balance through the contrasting or reciprocating effect of different elements
- wyrównać sięto attain balance through the contrasting or reciprocating effect of different elements
- równoważyćto counteract with a contrasting element so as to achieve balance
- zrównoważyćto counteract with a contrasting element so as to achieve balance
- wyrównywaćto counteract with a contrasting element so as to achieve balance
- wyrównaćto counteract with a contrasting element so as to achieve balance
- kompensowaćto counteract with a contrasting element so as to achieve balance
- skompensowaćto counteract with a contrasting element so as to achieve balance
- niwelowaćto counteract with a contrasting element so as to achieve balance
- zniwelowaćto counteract with a contrasting element so as to achieve balance
Cite this entry
balance out. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/balance%20out
“balance out.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/balance%20out. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “balance out,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/balance%20out.
Source: balance out on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.