noun
blimp
BLIHMP
noun
1
An airship kept in shape by the pressure of the gas inside it, rather than a rigid frame.
"The blimp floated slowly over the stadium during the game."
2
Informal, sometimes unkind, term for an overweight person.
"He joked that he'd turned into a blimp after the holidays."
How to Use Blimp
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA soft-bodied airship, or informally, a very overweight person.
Common mistake
The "person" sense can be considered rude — use with care.
Common pairings
goodyear blimp
float like a blimp
Word Forms
blimped past tense, blimps plural, Blimps plural, blimps singular
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The _____ floated slowly over the stadium during the game.
Etymology
Most historians think it's onomatopoeic, imitating the sound of thumping the airship's fabric, first recorded in England around 1916.