bal·loonI. \bəˈlün\
noun(
-s)
Etymology: Italian dialect
ballone (Italian
pallone), aug. of Italian dialect
balla, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German
balla ball — more at
ball
1. a. (1) : a large inflated leather ball used in a now obsolete sport that involved striking and kicking the ball back and forth
(2) : the game formerly played with such a ball
b. (1) : a bag of silk or other tough light material shaped usually like a sphere, made nonporous, and filled with heated air or a gas lighter than air
: an aerostat without a propelling system — see
free balloon
,
kite balloon
,
pilot balloon
,
sounding balloon
(2) : a small-necked inflatable bag of thin usually gaily colored rubber used as a toy
< held a bright red balloon >2. : something resembling a balloon in contour, buoyancy, inflation, or insubstantiality: as
a. obsolete : a fireworks shell
b. : ball
I 1j
c. : a spherical glass vessel usually with a short neck (as a receiver) or with a stopcock for use in weighing gases
d. : an area (as of a cartoon) in which presumed spoken words are printed or thoughts represented typically having a rounded outline and being connected with the speaker's or thinker's mouth by a single line
e. : balloon tire
f. (1) : the ball-shaped mass of yarn strands produced in the mechanical spinning, twisting, or winding of thread as the strands pass between a guide and the revolving spool on which they are wound
(2) : a revolving cylindrical reel used in woolen warp drying
g. or balloon glass : snifter
3. a. : outward appearance
: show
,
display
< punctured their balloon of confidence — Speed Lamkin > b. : a poorly substantiated or shallow attitude, belief, or assumption
< dogmatists who take delight in shooting balloons and asking a man for proofs — Van Wyck Brooks >II. verb(
-ed/-ing/-s)
transitive verb1. : to cause to assume a smooth rounded form by or as if by inflation
: distend
< a sudden breeze ballooning the spinnaker > < he ballooned his cheeks in imitation of a fat lady >2. : to increase or augment usually beyond what is average, normal, or expected
< a lusty increase in European consumption helped balloon prices — Wall Street Journal >intransitive verb1. a. : to ascend or travel in a balloon
< in 1935 he had ballooned to a world's altitude record — Time > b. : to rise abruptly and become fully airborne in an airplane after the initial landing impact
c. of a young spider : to travel through the air supported by a strand of silk that catches the wind
2. a. : to swell out into a smoothly rounded surface
: belly out
< the curtains ballooning in the morning breeze > b. : to issue or burst forth in or as if in rounded distended form
< the fat mushroom of smoke that ballooned out of the mouth of the English chase guns — Frank Yerby > < magniloquent phrases balloon from his lips — Neville Cardus >3. : to increase rapidly
< clerical costs ballooned … in every department of business — Newsweek >: grow suddenly and beyond average proportion or normal expectation
< the church's enrollment has ballooned 130% — Time >— sometimes used with
out or
up < houses in fashionable architectural styles ballooned up and expired in endless succession — T.H.Robsjohn-Gibbings > < the young republic ballooned out to its present proportions in a few decades >III. adjective1. : of, relating to, resembling, or suggesting a balloon especially in contour or silhouette
< a balloon sleeve > < a balloon figure > < a balloon sail >2. of cargo : consisting of light bulky goods
3. : having a final installment that is much larger than preceding ones in a term or installment loan
< a balloon note > < a balloon payment mortgage >