balloon

[buh-loon]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR balloon ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a bag made of thin rubber or other light material, usually brightly colored, inflated with air or with some lighter-than-air gas and used as a children's plaything or as a decoration.

a bag made of a light material, as silk or plastic, filled with heated air or a gas lighter than air, designed to rise and float in the atmosphere and often having a car or gondola attached below for carrying passengers or scientific instruments.

(in drawings, cartoons, etc.) a balloon-shaped outline enclosing words represented as issuing from the mouth of the speaker.

an ornamental ball at the top of a pillar, pier, or the like.

a large, globular wineglass.

Chemistry Now Rare. a round-bottomed flask.

verb (used without object)

to go up or ride in a balloon.

to swell or puff out like a balloon.

to multiply or increase at a rapid rate: Membership has ballooned beyond all expectations.

verb (used with object)

to fill with air; inflate or distend (something) like a balloon.

adjective

puffed out like a balloon: balloon sleeves.

Finance. (of a loan, mortgage, or the like) having a payment at the end of the term that is much bigger than previous ones.

Origin of balloon

1570–80; < Upper Italian ballone, equivalent to ball(a) (< Langobardic; see ball¹) + -one augmentative suffix; or < Middle French ballon < Upper Italian

Related formsbal·loon·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for balloon

blimp, swell, inflate, enlarge, expand, dirigible, bladder, airship, zeppelin, distend, bulge, belly, dilate

Examples from the Web for balloon

Contemporary Examples of balloon

Manned, unmanned, a balloon, a kite—you still have to get the information into the hands of the firefighters.
Fighting Wildfire With Satellites, Lasers, and Drones
Elizabeth Lopatto
July 9, 2014
A balloon popped and the sound was enough like a gunshot to make everybody jump.
What if the Founding Fathers Saw Newtown?
Michael Daly
December 13, 2013
But soon before he could get to work, he lost control of the balloon he had designed and built himself.
This Week’s Hot Reads: Dec. 2, 2013
Mythili Rao and Thomas Flynn, Mythili Rao, Thomas Flynn
December 2, 2013
Taking your cues from Koons is like singing inside a balloon.
From Lady Gaga To Jay-Z, “Serious” Art Is Ruining Pop Music
James Poulos
November 24, 2013
Eyebrows Cressida: Imagine eyebrows drawn on a balloon with a blackened cork.
Cressida Bonas vs. Cara Delevingne: A Differentiation Guide to Two Celebrity English Roses
Tom Sykes
June 26, 2013

Historical Examples of balloon

We are always, metaphorically, going up or coming down in a balloon.
The Roof of France
Matilda Betham-Edwards
The first balloon ascent was made from this little town in 1783.
The Roof of France
Matilda Betham-Edwards
Our journey must now be compared to the descent from cloud-land in a balloon.
The Roof of France
Matilda Betham-Edwards
We was used to the balloon now and not afraid any more, and didn't want to be anywheres else.
Tom Sawyer Abroad
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
Well, up in a balloon there ain't any of that, and it's the darlingest place there is.
Tom Sawyer Abroad
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

British Dictionary definitions for balloon

balloon

noun

an inflatable rubber bag of various sizes, shapes, and colours: usually used as a plaything or party decoration

a large impermeable bag inflated with a lighter-than-air gas, designed to rise and float in the atmosphere. It may have a basket or gondola for carrying passengers, etcSee also barrage balloon, hot-air balloon

a circular or elliptical figure containing the words or thoughts of a character in a cartoon

British

a kick or stroke that propels a ball high into the air
(as modifier)a balloon shot

chem a round-bottomed flask

a large rounded brandy glass

commerce

a large sum paid as an irregular instalment of a loan repayment
(as modifier)a balloon loan

surgery

an inflatable plastic tube used for dilating obstructed blood vessels or parts of the alimentary canal
(as modifier)balloon angioplasty

go down like a lead balloon informal to be completely unsuccessful or unpopular

when the balloon goes up informal when the trouble or action begins

verb

(intr) to go up or fly in a balloon

(intr) to increase or expand significantly and rapidlylosses ballooned to £278 million

to inflate or be inflated; distend; swellthe wind ballooned the sails

(tr) British to propel (a ball) high into the air

Derived Formsballooning, nounballoonist, nounballoon-like, adjective

Word Origin for balloon

C16 (in the sense: ball, ball game): from Italian dialect ballone, from balla, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German balla ball 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for balloon

1570s, "a game played with a large inflated leather ball," from Italian pallone "large ball," from palla "ball," from a Germanic source akin to Langobardic palla (from Proto-Germanic *ball-, from PIE *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell;" see bole) + -one, suffix indicating great size.

Perhaps also borrowed in part from French ballon (16c.), altered (after balle) from Italian pallone. It also meant the ball itself (1590s), which was batted back and forth by means of large wooden paddles strapped to the forearms. In 17c., it also meant "a type of fireworks housed in a pasteboard ball" (1630s) and "round ball used as an architectural ornament" (1650s). Acquired modern meaning after Montgolfier brothers' flights, 1783. As a child's toy, it is attested from 1848; as "outline containing words in a comic engraving" it dates from 1844. Also cf. -oon.

"to go up in a balloon," 1792; "to swell, puff up," 1841, from balloon (n.). Related: Ballooned; ballooning.

balloon in Medicine