balance

/ˈbæləns/ verb

Definition

› [T] ACCOUNTING to arrange a system of accounts so that the amount of money spent is no more than the amount received: The Conservatives initially balanced the books by selling assets and cutting health and education spending.

› [I] ACCOUNTING, BANKING if an account balances, the amounts of money on the credit and debit sides are equal: He had made some kind of computation error and the account didn't balance.

› [T] to spend only as much money as you have received, or planned to spend: The President is unlikely to balance the budget in this term of office, but he does hope to lower the deficit.

› [I or T] (also balance (sth) out) to be equal in amount or value, or to make things equal in amount or value: They hoped that this month's good sales would balance out the poor sales in the previous month.

› [T] to give two or more things equal amounts of importance, time, or money so that a situation is successful: I struggle to balance work and family commitments.

a balancing act › a situation in which a person tries to give equal amounts of importance to two or more things so that a situation is successful: Outsourcing decisions are essentially a balancing act between the benefits of markets, lower production costs, and higher transaction costs.

(Definition of balance verb from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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