The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Balance \Bal"ance\ (b[a^]l"ans), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Balanced
   (b[a^]l"anst); p. pr. & vb. n. Balancing
   (b[a^]l"an*s[i^]ng).] [From Balance, n.: cf. F. balancer.]
   1. To bring to an equipoise, as the scales of a balance by
      adjusting the weights; to weigh in a balance.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To support on a narrow base, so as to keep from falling;
      as, to balance a plate on the end of a cane; to balance
      one's self on a tight rope.
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   3. To equal in number, weight, force, or proportion; to
      counterpoise, counterbalance, counteract, or neutralize.
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            One expression . . . must check and balance another.
                                                  --Kent.
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   4. To compare in relative force, importance, value, etc.; to
      estimate.
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            Balance the good and evil of things.  --L'Estrange.
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   5. To settle and adjust, as an account; to make two accounts
      equal by paying the difference between them.
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            I am very well satisfied that it is not in my power
            to balance accounts with my Maker.    --Addison.
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   6. To make the sums of the debits and credits of an account
      equal; -- said of an item; as, this payment, or credit,
      balances the account.
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   7. To arrange accounts in such a way that the sum total of
      the debits is equal to the sum total of the credits; as,
      to balance a set of books.
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   8. (Dancing) To move toward, and then back from,
      reciprocally; as, to balance partners.
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   9. (Naut.) To contract, as a sail, into a narrower compass;
      as, to balance the boom mainsail.
      [1913 Webster]

   Balanced valve. See Balance valve, under Balance, n.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: To poise; weigh; adjust; counteract; neutralize;
        equalize.
        [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Balance wheel \Bal"ance wheel`\
   1. (Horology)
      (a) A wheel which regulates the beats or pulses of a watch
          or chronometer, answering to the pendulum of a clock;
          -- often called simply a balance.
      (b) A ratchet-shaped scape wheel, which in some watches is
          acted upon by the axis of the balance wheel proper (in
          those watches called a balance).
          [1913 Webster]

   2. (Mach.) A wheel which imparts regularity to the movements
      of any engine or machine; a fly wheel.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Balance \Bal"ance\, v. i.
   1. To have equal weight on each side; to be in equipoise; as,
      the scales balance.
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   2. To fluctuate between motives which appear of equal force;
      to waver; to hesitate.
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            He would not balance or err in the determination of
            his choice.                           --Locke.
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   3. (Dancing) To move toward a person or couple, and then
      back.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Balance \Bal"ance\ (b[a^]l"ans), n. [OE. balaunce, F. balance,
   fr. L. bilanx, bilancis, having two scales; bis twice (akin
   to E. two) + lanx plate, scale.]
   1. An apparatus for weighing.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: In its simplest form, a balance consists of a beam or
         lever supported exactly in the middle, having two
         scales or basins of equal weight suspended from its
         extremities. Another form is that of the Roman balance,
         our steelyard, consisting of a lever or beam, suspended
         near one of its extremities, on the longer arm of which
         a counterpoise slides. The name is also given to other
         forms of apparatus for weighing bodies, as to the
         combinations of levers making up platform scales; and
         even to devices for weighing by the elasticity of a
         spring.
         [1913 Webster]

   2. Act of weighing mentally; comparison; estimate.
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            A fair balance of the advantages on either side.
                                                  --Atterbury.
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   3. Equipoise between the weights in opposite scales.
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   4. The state of being in equipoise; equilibrium; even
      adjustment; steadiness.
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            And hung a bottle on each side
            To make his balance true.             --Cowper.
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            The order and balance of the country were destroyed.
                                                  --Buckle.
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            English workmen completely lose their balance. --J.
                                                  S. Mill.
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   5. An equality between the sums total of the two sides of an
      account; as, to bring one's accounts to a balance; --
      also, the excess on either side; as, the balance of an
      account. "A balance at the banker's." --Thackeray.
      [1913 Webster]

            I still think the balance of probabilities leans
            towards the account given in the text. --J. Peile.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. (Horol.) A balance wheel, as of a watch, or clock. See
      Balance wheel (in the Vocabulary).
      [1913 Webster]

   7. (Astron.)
      (a) The constellation Libra.
      (b) The seventh sign in the Zodiac, called Libra, which
          the sun enters at the equinox in September.
          [1913 Webster]

   8. A movement in dancing. See Balance, v. t., 8.
      [1913 Webster]

   Balance electrometer, a kind of balance, with a poised
      beam, which indicates, by weights suspended from one arm,
      the mutual attraction of oppositely electrified surfaces.
      --Knight.

   Balance fish. (Zool.) See Hammerhead.

   Balance knife, a carving or table knife the handle of which
      overbalances the blade, and so keeps it from contact with
      the table.

   Balance of power (Politics), such an adjustment of power
      among sovereign states that no one state is in a position
      to interfere with the independence of the others;
      international equilibrium; also, the ability (of a state
      or a third party within a state) to control the relations
      between sovereign states or between dominant parties in a
      state.

   Balance sheet (Bookkeeping), a paper showing the balances
      of the open accounts of a business, the debit and credit
      balances footing up equally, if the system of accounts be
      complete and the balances correctly taken.

   Balance thermometer, a thermometer mounted as a balance so
      that the movement of the mercurial column changes the
      inclination of the tube. With the aid of electrical or
      mechanical devices adapted to it, it is used for the
      automatic regulation of the temperature of rooms warmed
      artificially, and as a fire alarm.

   Balance of torsion. See Torsion Balance.

   Balance of trade (Pol. Econ.), an equilibrium between the
      money values of the exports and imports of a country; or
      more commonly, the amount required on one side or the
      other to make such an equilibrium.

   Balance valve, a valve whose surfaces are so arranged that
      the fluid pressure tending to seat, and that tending to
      unseat, the valve, are nearly in equilibrium; esp., a
      puppet valve which is made to operate easily by the
      admission of steam to both sides. See Puppet valve.

   Hydrostatic balance. See under Hydrostatic.

   To lay in balance, to put up as a pledge or security.
      [Obs.] --Chaucer.

   To strike a balance, to find out the difference between the
      debit and credit sides of an account.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

balance
    n 1: a state of equilibrium [ant: imbalance, instability,
         unbalance]
    2: equality between the totals of the credit and debit sides of
       an account
    3: harmonious arrangement or relation of parts or elements
       within a whole (as in a design); "in all perfectly beautiful
       objects there is found the opposition of one part to another
       and a reciprocal balance"- John Ruskin [syn: proportion,
       proportionality, balance]
    4: equality of distribution [syn: balance, equilibrium,
       equipoise, counterbalance]
    5: something left after other parts have been taken away; "there
       was no remainder"; "he threw away the rest"; "he took what he
       wanted and I got the balance" [syn: remainder, balance,
       residual, residue, residuum, rest]
    6: the difference between the totals of the credit and debit
       sides of an account
    7: (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Libra
       [syn: Libra, Balance]
    8: the seventh sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from
       about September 23 to October 22 [syn: Libra, Libra the
       Balance, Balance, Libra the Scales]
    9: (mathematics) an attribute of a shape or relation; exact
       reflection of form on opposite sides of a dividing line or
       plane [syn: symmetry, symmetricalness, correspondence,
       balance] [ant: asymmetry, dissymmetry, imbalance]
    10: a weight that balances another weight [syn: counterweight,
        counterbalance, counterpoise, balance, equalizer,
        equaliser]
    11: a wheel that regulates the rate of movement in a machine;
        especially a wheel oscillating against the hairspring of a
        timepiece to regulate its beat [syn: balance wheel,
        balance]
    12: a scale for weighing; depends on pull of gravity
    v 1: bring into balance or equilibrium; "She has to balance work
         and her domestic duties"; "balance the two weights" [syn:
         balance, equilibrate, equilibrize, equilibrise]
         [ant: unbalance]
    2: compute credits and debits of an account
    3: hold or carry in equilibrium [syn: poise, balance]
    4: be in equilibrium; "He was balancing on one foot"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

538 Moby Thesaurus words for "balance":
   Swiss bank account, accommodate, accord, account, account current,
   account rendered, account stated, adjust, afterglow, afterimage,
   agree, amount to, analogize, analogousness, aplomb, arrangement,
   assess, assets, assimilate, assimilate to, assurance, atmosphere,
   atone for, attune, audit, authority, available means, average,
   back down, balance the books, balanced personality, ballast,
   bank account, be heavy, beauty, bilateral symmetry, bonus, book,
   bottom dollar, break even, bring into analogy,
   bring into comparison, brushwork, budget, butt, butt end, cancel,
   candle ends, capital, capital goods, capitalization, capitalize,
   carry, carry over, carry weight, cash account, cash reserves,
   cast up accounts, center, chaff, charge off, check, check out,
   checking account, close out, close the books, coequality,
   coextension, collectedness, color, come to, come up to, command,
   command of money, commensurability, common sense, communion,
   community, comparability, comparableness, comparativeness, compare,
   compare and contrast, compare with, compensate, compensate for,
   composition, composure, concinnity, confidence, conformity,
   confront, congruity, consider, consideration, consistency,
   constancy, contact with reality, contrast, control,
   control account, cool, cool head, coolheadedness, coolness, coolth,
   coordinate, corelation, correlation, correlativism, correlativity,
   correspond, correspondence, counteract, counterbalance,
   counterpoise, counterpose, countervail, counterweigh,
   counterweight, credit, damp, debate, debit, debris, deficit,
   deliberate, demonstrate, demur, design, detritus, difference,
   discrepancy, ditto, dividend, docket, double-check, draftsmanship,
   draw, draw a comparison, draw a parallel, due sense of,
   dynamic symmetry, end, enter, epact, equability, equal, equality,
   equalize, equanimity, equate, equation, equilibrium, equilibrize,
   equipoise, equipollence, equiponderance, equiponderate, equity,
   equivalence, equivalency, equivalent, estimate, euphony,
   eurythmics, eurythmy, evaluate, even, even off, even out, even up,
   evenness, excess, exchequer, extra, fag end, falter, fastness,
   fear, filings, finances, finish, firm, firm up, firmness, fit,
   flatten, footing, fossil, freeze, fund, funds, generality,
   give-and-take, golden mean, good sense, gratuity, grist, grouping,
   hang back, happy medium, harmonize, harmony, have weight,
   healthy mind, heel, heft, hem and haw, hesitate, hold,
   hold the scales, holdings, holdover, homeostasis, homogenize,
   horse sense, hover, hum and haw, husks, identity, immobilize,
   imperturbability, income account, integrate, invariability,
   inventory, inverse proportion, inverse ratio, inverse relationship,
   jib, journalize, juste-milieu, justice, keep, keep books,
   keep pace with, keeping, kitty, knot, lagniappe, leavings,
   leftover, leftovers, level, level head, levelheadedness, levelness,
   lie heavy, life savings, liken, liken to, likeness, line,
   liquid assets, log, lucid interval, lucidity, make an entry,
   make uniform, make up, make up for, makeweight, margin, match,
   match up with, mean, means, measure, measure against,
   measure up to, measuredness, median, mediocrity, medium,
   mental balance, mental equilibrium, mental health, mental hygiene,
   mental poise, metaphorize, middle, middle course, middle ground,
   middle point, middle position, middle state, middle-of-the-road,
   midpoint, minute, moneys, multilateral symmetry, mutuality,
   nail down, nerve, nest egg, net, norm, normal, normalcy, normality,
   normalize, normalness, note, odds and ends, offscourings, offset,
   oppose, order, orderedness, orts, outweigh, overage, overhaul,
   overmeasure, overplus, overrun, overset, overstock, oversupply,
   painterliness, par, parallel, parallelism, parings, parity, pause,
   pecuniary resources, perspective, pin down, place against,
   plain sense, plus, pocket, poise, polarity, ponder, pool,
   possession, post, post up, pourboire, practical mind,
   practical wisdom, practicality, preponderance, presence of mind,
   property, proportion, proportionability, proportionality,
   proportionate, prove, provision account, pull back, purse,
   quid pro quo, rags, ratio, rationality, reach, reason,
   reasonableness, reciprocality, reciprocation, reciprocity,
   reckoning, redeem, refuse, regularity, regularize, regulate,
   relate, relativity, reliability, relics, remainder, remains,
   remnant, repose, reserves, residual, residue, residuum, resource,
   resources, rest, restraint, retain, retreat, revenue account,
   rhythm, right mind, rival, roach, rootedness, rubbish, ruins, rule,
   rump, run, run a comparison, run abreast, run to, running account,
   sales account, sameness, sanemindedness, saneness, sang-froid,
   sangfroid, sanity, savings, savings account, sawdust, scales,
   score, scourings, scraps, scruple, secureness, security,
   self-assurance, self-command, self-confidence, self-control,
   self-possession, self-restraint, selling account, sense, senses,
   sensibleness, set in contrast, set in opposition, set off,
   set off against, set over against, setoff, shading, shadow,
   shapeliness, shavings, shilly-shally, shy, similarity, similize,
   smooth, sober senses, sober-mindedness, soberness, sobriety,
   solidity, something extra, something of value, sound mind,
   soundness, soundness of mind, spare, square, square up,
   stabilitate, stability, stabilize, stable state, stack up with,
   stagnancy, stagnation, standardize, stasis, steadfastness,
   steadiness, steady, steady nerves, steady state, stereotype, stick,
   stick at, stickle, stock account, stop to consider,
   straddle the fence, strain at, straw, strike a balance, stubble,
   stump, substance, substantiality, supply, surplus, surplusage,
   survival, suspense account, sweepings, sweetness, symmetricalness,
   symmetrize, symmetry, take stock, tally, technique,
   think twice about, tie, tip, tip the scales, tit for tat, tone,
   touch, trace, transfix, treasure, treatment, trilateral symmetry,
   tune, undeflectability, uniformity, uniformize,
   unregistered bank account, unshakable nerves, unshakableness,
   valuation account, values, verify, vestige, via media,
   view together, waste, weigh, weigh against, weigh heavy, weigh in,
   weigh out, weight, well-regulated mind, wherewithal, wholesomeness,
   withdraw, yield



Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:

Balance
   occurs in Lev. 19:36 and Isa. 46:6, as the rendering of the
   Hebrew _kanch'_, which properly means "a reed" or "a cane," then
   a rod or beam of a balance. This same word is translated
   "measuring reed" in Ezek. 40:3,5; 42:16-18. There is another
   Hebrew word, _mozena'yim_, i.e., "two poisers", also so rendered
   (Dan. 5:27). The balances as represented on the most ancient
   Egyptian monuments resemble those now in use. A "pair of
   balances" is a symbol of justice and fair dealing (Job 31:6; Ps.
   62:9; Prov. 11:1). The expression denotes great want and
   scarcity in Rev. 6:5.


Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

BALANCE, com. law. The amount which remains due by one of two persons, who
have been dealing together, to the other, after the settlement of their
accounts.
     2. In the case of mutual debts, the balance only can be recovered by
the assignee of an insolvent, or the executor of a deceased person. But this
mutuality must have existed at the time of the assignment by the insolvent,
or at the death of the testator.
     3. The term general balance is sometimes used to signify the difference
which is due to a party claiming a lien on goods in his hands, for work or
labor done, or money expended in relation to those and other goods of the
debtor. 3 B. & P. 485; 3 Esp. R. 268.