inflate
[verb]
Synonyms: expand, bloat, blow up, dilate, distend, enlarge, increase, puff up or out, pump up, swell

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Antonyms: deflate

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

in‧flate /ɪnˈfleɪt/ verb
[Word Family: adjective: inflatable, inflated, inflationary, deflationary, reflationary; noun: inflation, inflatable, deflation, reflation; verb: inflate, deflate, reflate]
[Date: 1400-1500; Language: Latin; Origin: past participle of inflare, from flare 'to blow']

1. [intransitive and transitive] to fill something with air or gas so it becomes larger, or to become filled with air or gas:
It took us half an hour to inflate the dinghy.
Her life jacket failed to inflate.

2. [transitive] to make something seem more important or impressive than it really is:
The success further inflated his self-confidence.
be grossly/vastly/hugely inflated
The numbers of people involved have been grossly inflated by the media.

3. [intransitive and transitive] technical to increase in price, or to make something increase in price:
Hotels often inflate prices at particular times of the year.
Costs were inflating.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

inflate
verb
ADV. fully | partially
PREP. with The balloon was kept fully inflated with hydrogen.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲