The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
BALK
Definition of BALK
noun
An uncultivated ridge formed in the open field system, caused by the action of ploughing.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English balke, from Old English balca, either from or influenced by Old Norse bálkr (“partition, ridge of land”), from Proto-Germanic *balkô. Cognate with Dutch balk (“balk”), German Balken (“balk”), Italian balcone (“balcony”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
6th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
4.7%
of traced words share this origin (3,847)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, BALK · 17 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Dutch, Italian.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
BALK in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 31 boards so far. 101 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 7, 28 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 163, 30 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 7, 28 May 2026.
Built from these letters
BALK starts with B and ends with K. Sorted, its letters read ABKL - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start BALK
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 7
Could you have found BALK?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 7 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER