balancing act

noun

plural balancing acts

: an attempt to handle or deal with two or more things (such as obligations) at one time so as to satisfy often competing requirements

"It's a difficult balancing act between celebrating the past and making room for the future."

—Jeffrey Brown

Vegas might be the starkest example of what the hospitality industry faces across the country: a delicate balancing act between bringing back jobs and revenue and keeping workers and customers safe from a virus that's killed more than 100,000 Americans.

—Dave Jamieson

It's a balancing act between appreciation, education and safety. Earlier this year, London city council voted to tighten up a parks bylaw that restricts the amount of food residents can feed to wild animals.

—Megan Stacey

Examples of balancing act in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The optimization of accuracy, performance and cost is a balancing act. —Jeffrey Hammond, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024

Forde’s role in communications involved a delicate balancing act. —Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 7 Dec. 2024

The Bills also have to perform that delicate balancing act of keeping players healthy while not losing momentum. —Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024

Maintaining the show’s prestige while promoting accessibility was a balancing act that guided the cards’ creation. —Erika Tulfo, CNN, 30 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1907, in the meaning defined above