balloon

[buh-loon]

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 ballooning

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

Examples from the Web for ballooning

Contemporary Examples of ballooning

“I think one interesting facet is how these stars are ballooning without any real traditional [media] support,” Fishman says.
Back Off, B*tches. There’s Only One Butt Selfie Queen
Cheryl Wischhover
May 9, 2014
Next came an economic downturn, in 1990, coupled with ballooning deficits.
What Barack Obama and George H.W. Bush Have in Common
Andrew Romano
October 27, 2012
Instead, she launched into the now-very familiar GOP talking points about ballooning food stamps rolls and weak jobs reports.
Bill Clinton, Reince Priebus, Ann Coulter, and More Sunday Talk
The Daily Beast Video
September 23, 2012
Since then she has dodged demands from the hotel to settle her ballooning bill, French daily Le Parisien reported.
Saudi Princess Dodges $8m bill
Tom Sykes
June 4, 2012
That is, until the other party abandons the idea of any tax increase whatsoever to bring down the ballooning national debt.
Why Eric Cantor Bailed
Patricia Murphy
June 24, 2011

Historical Examples of ballooning

Piles may co-exist in some cases of ballooning, but are usually not annoying.
Intestinal Ills
Alcinous Burton Jamison
That dear woman is ballooning, and without a boy of her own for ballast.
The Face of the Fields
Dallas Lore Sharp
Robertson was a contemporary of Pinetti, and, like him, a pioneer in ballooning.
The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin
Harry Houdini
In fact his fame is based on his ballooning, and he is said to have been the inventor of the parachute.
The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin
Harry Houdini
Two curiosities of ballooning are connected with these gardens.
Cremorne and the Later London Gardens
Warwick Wroth

British Dictionary definitions for ballooning

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
1. a kick or stroke that propels a ball high into the air
2. (as modifier)a balloon shot
chem a round-bottomed flask
a large rounded brandy glass
commerce
1. a large sum paid as an irregular instalment of a loan repayment
2. (as modifier)a balloon loan
surgery
1. an inflatable plastic tube used for dilating obstructed blood vessels or parts of the alimentary canal
2. (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 ballooning

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.