inflate
verb (used with object)
to distend; swell or puff out; dilate.
was inflating
-
past progressiveof inflate.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Chadwick and fellow scientist Scott Nooner predicted the volcano’s 2015 eruption seven months before it happened after they realized the seafloor was inflating quite quickly and linearly.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2025
His breath had quickened so much that his mask was inflating and deflating like a balloon.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 28, 2022
It also addressed long-held industry questions of whether Ozy was inflating its audience size.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 1, 2021
For Shelton, it was a seeming reversal from her earlier views that “quantitative easing” amounted to an inappropriate Fed intervention in markets that was inflating stock prices but doing little for the economy.
From Reuters ● Feb. 13, 2020
As I sat there one of them was inflating my faked memberships into meanings of national significance.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
