inflate
to distend; swell or puff out; dilate: The king cobra inflates its hood.
to cause to expand or distend with air or gas: to inflate a balloon.
to puff up with pride, satisfaction, etc.
to elate.
Economics. to expand (money, prices, an economy, etc.) unduly in amount, value, or size; affect with inflation.
to become inflated.
to increase, especially suddenly and substantially: The $10 subscription has inflated to $25.
Origin of inflate
1synonym study For inflate
Opposites for inflate
Other words from inflate
- in·flat·er, in·fla·tor, noun
- o·ver·in·flate, verb (used with object), o·ver·in·flat·ed, o·ver·in·flat·ing.
- re·in·flate, verb, re·in·flat·ed, re·in·flat·ing.
Words Nearby inflate
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use inflate in a sentence
We can place limits on stock buybacks and bailouts so companies are forced to be responsible with their money instead of using it to inflate their share prices or line the pockets of executives—many of whom are already overpaid.
How we can save small business from coronavirus-induced extinction | matthewheimer | September 10, 2020 | FortunePopular trades become crowded trades, inflating asset bubbles.
Global stocks climb—and futures jump—after Tuesday’s sell-off | Bernhard Warner | September 9, 2020 | FortuneIt’s also the product of a strategy of endorsing candidates who are already in a good position to win — perhaps with the explicit goal of inflating his top-line win rate, and therefore his reputation.
Almost Everyone Trump Endorses Wins Their Primary … But Is He Padding His Record? | Nathaniel Rakich (nathaniel.rakich@fivethirtyeight.com) | August 26, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightThe issue this month is that many teachers were laid off earlier than usual this summer, which may have artificially inflated July’s jobs numbers.
Yes, Unemployment Fell. But The Recovery Seems To Be Slowing Down. | Neil Paine (neil.paine@fivethirtyeight.com) | August 7, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightThen the blob can inflate into a finished house in 45 minutes.
Larvaceans’ underwater ‘snot palaces’ boast elaborate plumbing | Susan Milius | June 15, 2020 | Science News
Does it matter whether Taylor Swift wants me to inflate my Internet notoriety by doing a dumb thing where I lip sync to her music?
Death of the Author by Viral Infection: In Defense of Taylor Swift, Digital Doomsayer | Arthur Chu | December 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOtherwise, there's a tendency for people with small businesses to inflate the expenses of the business to match the income.
Apropos inflation, the government could try to inflate its way out of this crisis, covering the deficit by printing money.
But could this invoking of the words of the Godfather of Soul be a belated effort to inflate these flat polling numbers?
Why Mitt Romney’s Use of James Brown Annoys Black Voters | Mansfield Frazier | August 31, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTYou have to add a lot of minor traffic violators and visa overstayers to inflate that figure to 94 percent.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Is Latest to Reject ‘Secure Communities’ Immigration Law | Robert M. Morgenthau | July 13, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTOnly their bubbs were intact, but there was nothing with which to inflate them.
The Planet Strappers | Raymond Zinke GallunAway with these words which inflate vanity and wound charity.
The Lives of the Saints, Volume III (of 16): March | Sabine Baring-GouldHis care was not so much to inflate the rent-roll as to get in all the ready-money he could.
The Weird Sisters, Volume I (of 3) | Richard DowlingThey could flatten and drift about in the water, or they could inflate and rise in the air.
The Scapegoat | Richard MaplesBy steady practice at his little pipe, he in about a year got so that he could inflate five whole inches.
Harper's Young People, December 16, 1879 | Various
British Dictionary definitions for inflate
/ (ɪnˈfleɪt) /
to expand or cause to expand by filling with gas or air: she needed to inflate the tyres
(tr) to cause to increase excessively; puff up; swell: to inflate one's opinion of oneself
(tr) to cause inflation of (prices, money, etc)
(tr) to raise in spirits; elate
(intr) to undergo economic inflation
Origin of inflate
1Derived forms of inflate
- inflatedly, adverb
- inflatedness, noun
- inflater or inflator, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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