strike a balance

English

Verb

strike a balance (third-person singular simple present strikes a balance, present participle striking a balance, simple past struck a balance, past participle struck a balance or (rare) stricken a balance)

1. To find a compromise between two conflicting things; to choose a moderate option between two extremes.

   Synonym: strike a medium

   You should try to strike a balance between your social life and work life.

   I like to think I strike a balance between being too strict and too lenient with my children.

   • 1906, John Galsworthy, The Man of Property, chapter 1:

     Close to the window, where he could get more than his fair share of fresh air, the other twin, James—the fat and the lean of it, old Jolyon called these brothers—like the bulky Swithin, over six feet in height, but very lean, as though destined from his birth to strike a balance and maintain an average, brooded over the scene with his permanent stoop; […]

   • 2004, Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films, opinion of the court

     The copyright laws attempt to strike a balance between protecting original works and stifling further creativity.

2. (finance) To bring out the relative state of a debtor and creditor account.
   • c. 1921 (date written), Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama […], Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1923, →OCLC, Act 3:

     I'd like to wind up the accounts before—before—well, this time I shan't wait till the new year to strike a balance.