balloon

Saybuh-LOON/bəˈlun/UK/bəˈluːn/

20 meanings of balloon

1
nouncountable
A thin rubber bag that you fill with air to play with or use at parties.
The kids chased a red balloon across the yard.
Mom tied balloons to the mailbox for the birthday party.
2
nouncountable
A huge bag filled with hot air or gas that carries people up into the sky.
We watched a balloon float over the fields at sunrise.
Ten people rode in the basket under the giant balloon.
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3
nouncountable
A bag filled with air or gas so that it can float or rise.
A bright orange balloon floated on the water to mark the spot.
Workers used big balloons to lift the heavy pipes from the sea floor.
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4
verbintransitive
To grow or increase very quickly in size or amount.
Prices ballooned after the storm destroyed the crops.
Costs can balloon if you don't plan carefully.
Similarsoar, swell, mushroom, skyrocket, escalate
Oppositeshrink, dwindle, plummet, contract
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5
nouncountable
The round shape in a comic that holds the words a character says.
The artist drew a balloon above the dog's head with the word 'Woof!' inside.
Each balloon in the comic shows what one character is saying.
Similarbubble
6
nouncountable
The shape drawn around words in a picture to show that a person is saying them.
She drew a balloon next to each person in the picture and wrote their words inside.
The balloon points to the queen, so we know she is speaking.
Similarbubble
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7
verbtransitive
To fill something with air so that it swells up.
The wind ballooned the sails as the boat left the bay.
Take a deep breath and balloon your cheeks like this.
Similarinflate, puff, billow, swell
Oppositedeflate
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8
verbintransitive
To ride or travel through the air in a balloon.
They ballooned over the valley at sunrise.
You can balloon across the lake if the wind is right.
Similarfloat
9
nouncountable
A small bag that doctors put inside the body and inflate to treat a problem.
Like blowing up a tiny ball inside a squeezed straw to open it up.
The doctor used a tiny balloon to open the blocked blood vessel.
Some patients get a balloon placed in the stomach to help them lose weight.
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10
verbtransitive
To kick or hit a ball so that it goes very high into the air.
He ballooned the ball over the goal and into the crowd.
If you lean back, you will balloon the ball over the net.
Similarsky, loft
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11
nouncountable
A large final payment that ends a loan, much bigger than the normal payments before it.
Like making small payments all year and then getting one giant bill at the end.
They paid a little each month, but a big balloon was due at the end of the loan.
Read your loan papers carefully so a balloon does not surprise you later.
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12
nouncountable
A round glass cup with a wide bowl, sometimes used for drinking brandy.
She poured the brandy into a balloon and handed it to her guest.
The waiter brought two balloons of warm brandy to our table.
Similarsnifter
13
verbtransitive
To take someone or something up into the air in a balloon.
Pilots balloon tourists over the valley every summer morning.
The festival crew ballooned a camera high above the main stage.
Similarlift, carry, loft
14
nounslangcountable
A small packet of illegal drugs wrapped in a condom or the finger of a rubber glove.
The police found a balloon of drugs hidden inside the man's jacket.
Doctors removed several balloons of drugs from the smuggler's stomach.
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15
nouncountable
A bomb or shell, like the kind shot into the sky in a fireworks show.
The fireworks team loaded each balloon into a metal tube before the show.
When the balloon exploded high above the lake, the crowd cheered.
Similarshell
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16
nounslangcountable
A rude slang word for a woman's breast.
The rude cartoon showed a woman with giant balloons spilling out of her shirt.
After the baby came, she joked that one balloon was always fuller than the other.
Similarboobs, breasts, bust, bosom, cans
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17
nouncountable
A ball or round shape on top of a pillar, church, or other building.
A shiny gold balloon sits on top of the church tower.
Each gate post in the garden has a stone balloon on top.
Similarglobe, ball, orb
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18
nouncountable
A round glass container with a short neck, used in a lab to catch liquid made by boiling and cooling.
The liquid dripped slowly from the tube into the glass balloon below.
She heated the balloon gently so the liquid inside would not boil over.
Similarreceiver, flask
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19
verbintransitive
When a plane balloons, it keeps jumping up and down in the air instead of flying level.
The little plane ballooned in the strong wind, and some passengers felt sick.
Planes sometimes balloon when they fly into rising air near mountains.
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20
nounobsolete
An old game that people played with a big ball filled with air.
Long ago, village boys met on the green to play balloon every spring.
The king's men spent the whole afternoon at a game of balloon.
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Practice

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Origin

From 1570, meaning a game played with a large inflated leather ball. It comes from Italian pallone, meaning large ball, from palla, meaning ball.