bloat

American  

[bloht] / bloʊt /

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, inflate, swell, 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.

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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.

bloat British  

/ 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

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noun

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

Etymology

Origin of bloat

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

Example Sentences

The ultimate goal of Hall’s five-year quest is to gather enough data to craft some kind of intervention for those suffering from gas and bloating.

From The Wall Street Journal

He felt it had some bloated bureaucracy that the new administration could fix.

From The Wall Street Journal

Companies like Amazon.com are slashing their corporate workforces back to levels not seen since the Covid pandemic, although it’s not clear if this is due to genuine AI improvements or using ‘AI-washing’ to cut bloated teams.

From Barron's

Critics say it shifts financial control away from politicians and into the hands of unaccountable arbitrators, which could lead to bloated labor costs.

From Los Angeles Times

A man emerged at the doorway in nothing but shorts, a bloated belly overhanging the open top where a button used to be.

From Literature

Related Words

• inflate
• swell