bloat

[ bloht ]

verb (used with object)

1. to expand or distend, as with air, water, etc.; cause to swell:

   Overeating bloated their bellies.

   Synonyms: balloon, enlarge, inflate, swell

2. to puff up; make vain or conceited:

   The promotion has bloated his ego to an alarming degree.

3. to cure (fishes) as bloaters.

verb (used without object)

1. to become swollen; be puffed out or dilated:

   The carcass started to bloat.

noun

1. Also called hoven. Veterinary Pathology. (in cattle, sheep, and horses) a distention of the rumen or paunch or of the large colon by gases of fermentation, caused by eating ravenously of green forage, especially legumes.
2. a person or thing that is bloated.
3. bloater ( defs 1, 2 ).

bloat

/ bləʊt /

verb

1. to swell or cause to swell, as with a liquid, air, or wind
2. to become or cause to be puffed up, as with conceit
3. tr to cure (fish, esp herring) by half-drying in smoke

noun

1. vet science an abnormal distention of the abdomen in cattle, sheep, etc, caused by accumulation of gas in the stomach

Word History and Origins

Origin of bloat¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; earlier bloat (adjective) “soft, puffy,” Middle English blout, from Old Norse blautr “wet, soft”

Word History and Origins

Origin of bloat¹

C17: probably related to Old Norse blautr soaked, Old English blāt pale

Example Sentences

Part of the decomposition process causes bodies to bloat and blood to sometimes seep from the mouth.

From The Daily Beast

In the new, leaner strategy, any bloat has to go, even if it means reversing on a major earlier decision.

From The Daily Beast

It's classic big-government logic: create a redundant position and the needless bloat that goes with it.

From The Daily Beast

Another reasons EMRs lie, is that they are subject to “template bloat.”

From The Daily Beast

He has no use for the mind-numbing bloat of Ringling Brothers nor does he like the light-show and acrobatics of Cirque du Soleil.

From The Daily Beast

Some one of the above purgatives should be given after the bloat has subsided, and careful feeding for some days must be observed.

From Project Gutenberg

Should you be still anxious to arrive at Bloat, you cannot do better than——'

From Project Gutenberg

His physical weakness, they soon discovered, was exactly what was to be expected of a whisky bloat.

From Project Gutenberg

I was well until I weaned my baby and then I began to bloat and had bearing down pains.

From Project Gutenberg

Excessive fermentations of this kind are responsible for the distressing phenomenon known as "bloat."

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• inflate
• swell