BALU is valid in Collins, not in North America — 6 points
It depends on the list you play by. BALU is in Collins, used in the UK and most of the world, but it is not in the North American lists — so in a US or Canadian game an opponent can challenge it off the board. Worth 6 points. Words with Friends does not accept it either.
Which word lists accept BALU?
| Official Scrabble Players DictionaryUSA, Canada, Thailand | Not listed |
|---|---|
| Official Tournament and Club Word ListUSA, Canada, Thailand | Not listed |
| Collins Scrabble WordsEnglish in most countries | Valid |
| Words with FriendsZynga word list | Not listed |
Word power: 31 / 100
Our own measure of how useful BALU is to know. It scores 6 from 4 tiles, takes 2 hooks, and its letters make up 4.8% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for BALU
Checked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How BALU scores
Face value of the 4 tiles in BALU, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| b | 1 | 2 |
| a | 1 | 9 |
| l | 1 | 4 |
| u | 1 | 4 |
Drawing exactly these 4 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 13,615.
What does BALU mean in Scrabble?
noun
Indian Englishrare
A bear, a word taken from Hindi that also appears in English in the spelling baloo.
The word balu comes from a Hindi word for bear and passed into English mainly through stories and translations set on the Indian subcontinent. It is the same root that gave English the more familiar spelling baloo, best known from the bear character in tales of the Indian jungle, though balu itself is simply the ordinary noun for the animal rather than a name.
How BALU is used
Rare outside writing that draws on Hindi vocabulary or Indian folklore.
- The story told of a balu that lived deep in the forest.
- Villagers left out fruit to keep the balu from raiding their fields.
- An old balu was said to guard the mountain path.
- The hunters tracked the balu by its heavy footprints.
- Children were warned not to wander near the balu's den.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of BALU and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Words starting with BALU
9 longer words begin with BALU.
Words with BALU inside
1 words contain BALU in the middle. Words that start with BALU are listed separately above, so nothing is repeated.
Shorter words from the letters in BALU
Common questions about BALU
- Is BALU valid in Words with Friends?
- No. Words with Friends keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries, and BALU is not in it.
- How many points is BALU worth?
- BALU is worth 6 points in Scrabble and 9 points in Words with Friends.
- What does BALU mean?
- A bear, a word taken from Hindi that also appears in English in the spelling baloo.
- What letters can be added to BALU?
- BALU takes 2 hooks: 0 in front and 2 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 4 letters of BALU:
Open BALU in the Word Finder