bal·loon (b -l n )n. 1. a. A flexible bag designed to be inflated with hot air or with a gas, such as helium, that is lighter than the surrounding air, causing it to rise and float in the atmosphere. b. Such a bag with sufficient capacity to lift and transport a suspended gondola or other load. c. Such a bag shaped like a figure or object when inflated; an inflatable. 2. A usually round or oblong inflatable rubber bag used as a toy. 3. Medicine A sac that is inserted into a body cavity or tube and distended with air or gas for therapeutic purposes, such as angioplasty. 4. A rounded or irregularly shaped outline containing the words that a character in a cartoon is represented to be saying. v. bal·looned, bal·loon·ing, bal·loons v.intr. 1. To ascend or ride in a balloon. 2. To expand or swell out like a balloon. See Synonyms at bulge. 3. To increase or rise quickly. v.tr. To cause to expand by or as if by inflating. adj. Suggestive of a balloon, as in shape: balloon curtains. [French ballon, from Italian dialectal ballone, augmentative of balla, ball, of Germanic origin; see bhel-2 in Indo-European roots.] bal·loon ist n. |
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