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# unbalance

«unbalance» in Mova's school dictionary: **to make it lose its balance, so it tips or wobbles** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (unbalance, unbalances, unbalanced, unbalancing); noun (unbalance — uncountable, rare)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To unbalance something is to make it lose its balance, so it tips or wobbles. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unbalance/#m1)

2) To unbalance a situation is to make it unfair or uneven, such as giving one team many more good players. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unbalance/#m2)

3) (older use) To unbalance a person is to upset them so much that they cannot think clearly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unbalance/#m3)

4) (noun, rare) Unbalance is a lack of balance; «imbalance» is the usual word. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unbalance/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In science and PE: weight on one side can unbalance a seesaw or a gymnast. In maths, an equation is like a balance – adding to one side only unbalances it. In fairness talk: big differences can unbalance a game or a diet. Adjective «unbalanced» is common: «an unbalanced diet».

### examples

- A big wave unbalanced the boat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unbalance/#x1)
- Don't lean too far or you'll unbalance the ladder. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unbalance/#x2)
- Putting all the tall children on one team would unbalance the game. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unbalance/#x3)
- If you add 3 to only one side, you unbalance the equation. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unbalance/#x4)
- The heavy bag unbalanced my bike. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unbalance/#x5)
- Eating only sweets gives you an unbalanced diet. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unbalance/#x6)

### note

Regular verb. The noun usually used is «imbalance», not «unbalance». In maths, keep an equation balanced by doing the same thing to both sides. Calling a person «unbalanced» (mentally) is unkind and old-fashioned.

### In the corpora

- [When one force is bigger, the forces are unbalanced and the object speeds up, slows down or changes direction.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/85-pushes-pulls-friction-wheels/2/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «unbalance» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/unbalance/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.