Real Dictionary

balance
uncountable noun: Balance is the ability to remain steady when you are standing up.
verb: If you balance one thing with something different, each of the things has the same strength or importance.
verb: If you balance something somewhere, or if it balances there, it remains steady and does not fall.

balance in Accounting 1
noun: The balance of an account is the net amount at a particular time, including all credits and debits.

balance in Accounting 2
verb: If a business account or balance sheet balances, the debit and credit totals are equal.

balance in American English
an instrument for weighing, esp. one that opposes equal weights, as in two matched shallow pans hanging from either end of a lever supported exactly in the middle; scales
noun: a state of equilibrium or equipoise; equal distribution of weight, amount, etc.
noun: a swaying step performed in place in which the weight is lightly shifted from one foot to the other, the dancer sinking down on the heel of the foot to which the body is shifting, with flexed knees

balance in British English
noun
noun: a weighing device, generally consisting of a horizontal beam pivoted at its centre, from the ends of which two pans are suspended. The substance to be weighed is placed in one pan and known weights are placed in the other until the beam returns to the hor