deflate
to release the air or gas from (something inflated, as a balloon): They deflated the tires slightly to allow the truck to drive under the overpass.
to depress or reduce (a person or a person's ego, hopes, spirits, etc.); puncture; dash: Her rebuff thoroughly deflated me.
to reduce (currency, prices, etc.) from an inflated condition; to affect with deflation.
to become deflated.
Origin of deflate
1Other words from deflate
- de·fla·tor, noun
- self-de·flat·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use deflate in a sentence
Like many other Bitcoin boosters, Okung has claimed the cryptocurrency is superior to traditional currencies because governments can’t deflate its value.
Groveling, meanwhile, only serves to deflate you while inflating the foot in your mouth.
Carolyn Hax: She says it’s complicated, but his choice is pretty simple | Carolyn Hax | December 27, 2020 | Washington PostTo rupture the internal logic of these toys, and to deflate the operational mandate of industrialization, requires more than just offering interoperability.
Toys Are the Future of Philosophy - Issue 93: Forerunners | Jonathon Keats | December 9, 2020 | NautilusWhat you want is a handbrake, where you can slowly bring down the momentum in the market so that it can deflate without exploding.
Does Advertising Actually Work? (Part 2: Digital) (Ep. 441) | Stephen J. Dubner | November 26, 2020 | FreakonomicsMost balloons these days are made with separate chambers—the arms, the head, the body—so that the whole balloon will not deflate should a hole appear in one part of the balloon.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has one star that always rises to the top | Erik Olsen | November 25, 2020 | Popular-Science
Papers sent reporters along the old Route 66 in search of the deflated American dream.
For the moment, the heady visions of victory after the state remap are clearly deflated.
Democratic Dreams of Big Wins in Illinois Fading | James Warren | October 13, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTGore stood up to challenge Bush in this 2000 debate, but got flummoxed and deflated by a simple nod.
Presidential Debate Wins and Fails: Reagan, Gore, Bush & More (VIDEO) | The Daily Beast | October 2, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTBut if Strauss-Kahn's case is dismissed, or deflated to a misdemeanor, the question will be how thick that line is, in fact.
And numbed out, having escaped death on 9/11, notes the World Trade Center “towers collapsing like a deflated carnival castle.”
Pride's only for use when wit breaks down—it's the train the cyclist takes when his tire's deflated.
The Awkward Age | Henry JamesToryl, somewhat deflated, but by no means defeated, hastened to elucidate.
Jubilation, U.S.A. | G. L. VandenburgWhen they reach Tekrit they leave the poles there, and start up-stream on foot, carrying their deflated goatskins.
War in the Garden of Eden | Kermit RooseveltHe sprang into the pen, and before Nicodemus could arrive, was back on the fence with the deflated ball.
Red Dynamite | Roy J. SnellShe was sorry for him; it was worse for him to have this deflated love than for herself, who could never be properly mated.
Sons and Lovers | David Herbert Lawrence
British Dictionary definitions for deflate
/ (dɪˈfleɪt) /
to collapse or cause to collapse through the release of gas
(tr) to take away the self-esteem or conceit from
economics to cause deflation of (an economy, the money supply, etc)
Origin of deflate
1Derived forms of deflate
- deflator, 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
Browse