Balance beam


a narrow wooden rail about 16 feet (5 meters) long and 4 inches (10 cm) wide, set horizontally on upright posts about 4 feet (1.2 meters) from the floor, used for performing feats of balancing and demonstrating gymnastic ability.
a competitive gymnastic event for women in which such an apparatus is used.
Historical Examples

The scales consisted of two tin pans of equal size and weight hung from a balance beam.
In Indian Mexico (1908) Frederick Starr

Balances are so called because they consist of two plates or pans suspended from the balance beam.
Orthography Elmer W. Cavins

It was evidently a very slim canoe with a balance beam and sails.
The Story of a Child Pierre Loti

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