noun

balloon

buh-LOON

noun

A flexible bag that inflates with air or gas, used as a toy, decoration, or for flight.

"She let the balloon go and watched it drift into the clouds."

"They filled the room with red and gold balloons for the party."

The rounded outline enclosing a character's speech in a comic strip.

"The artist squeezed the joke into a tiny speech balloon."

verb

To swell or increase rapidly in size or amount.

"Her debts ballooned after she lost her job."

"The crowd ballooned from a few hundred to several thousand."

How to Use Balloon

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishAn inflatable object that floats or flies, or (as a verb) to grow suddenly and dramatically bigger.

Common pairings

balloon payment costs ballooned hot air balloon

ballooned past tense, balloons plural, balloons singular

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She let the _____ go and watched it drift into the clouds.

From Italian pallone, "large ball," ultimately from the same Germanic root as English "ball."

noon moon soon hoon toon foon goon loon boon woon doon Yoon