| 释义 |
bal·loon
I. \bəˈlün\ noun
(-s)
Etymology: Italian dialect ballone (Italian pallone), aug. of Italian dialect balla, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German balla ball — more at ball
1.
a.
(1) : a large inflated leather ball used in a now obsolete sport that involved striking and kicking the ball back and forth
(2) : the game formerly played with such a ball
b.
(1) : a bag of silk or other tough light material shaped usually like a sphere, made nonporous, and filled with heated air or a gas lighter than air : an aerostat without a propelling system — see free balloon, kite balloon, pilot balloon, sounding balloon
(2) : a small-necked inflatable bag of thin usually gaily colored rubber used as a toy
< held a bright red balloon >
2. : something resembling a balloon in contour, buoyancy, inflation, or insubstantiality: as
a. obsolete : a fireworks shell
b. : ball I 1j
c. : a spherical glass vessel usually with a short neck (as a receiver) or with a stopcock for use in weighing gases
d. : an area (as of a cartoon) in which presumed spoken words are printed or thoughts represented typically having a rounded outline and being connected with the speaker's or thinker's mouth by a single line
e. : balloon tire
f.
(1) : the ball-shaped mass of yarn strands produced in the mechanical spinning, twisting, or winding of thread as the strands pass between a guide and the revolving spool on which they are wound
(2) : a revolving cylindrical reel used in woolen warp drying
g. or balloon glass : snifter
3.
a. : outward appearance : show, display
< punctured their balloon of confidence — Speed Lamkin >
b. : a poorly substantiated or shallow attitude, belief, or assumption
< dogmatists who take delight in shooting balloons and asking a man for proofs — Van Wyck Brooks >
II. verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
transitive verb
1. : to cause to assume a smooth rounded form by or as if by inflation : distend
< a sudden breeze ballooning the spinnaker >
< he ballooned his cheeks in imitation of a fat lady >
2. : to increase or augment usually beyond what is average, normal, or expected
< a lusty increase in European consumption helped balloon prices — Wall Street Journal >
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to ascend or travel in a balloon
< in 1935 he had ballooned to a world's altitude record — Time >
b. : to rise abruptly and become fully airborne in an airplane after the initial landing impact
c. of a young spider : to travel through the air supported by a strand of silk that catches the wind
2.
a. : to swell out into a smoothly rounded surface : belly out
< the curtains ballooning in the morning breeze >
b. : to issue or burst forth in or as if in rounded distended form
< the fat mushroom of smoke that ballooned out of the mouth of the English chase guns — Frank Yerby >
< magniloquent phrases balloon from his lips — Neville Cardus >
3. : to increase rapidly
< clerical costs ballooned … in every department of business — Newsweek >
: grow suddenly and beyond average proportion or normal expectation
< the church's enrollment has ballooned 130% — Time >
— sometimes used with out or up
< houses in fashionable architectural styles ballooned up and expired in endless succession — T.H.Robsjohn-Gibbings >
< the young republic ballooned out to its present proportions in a few decades >
III. adjective
1. : of, relating to, resembling, or suggesting a balloon especially in contour or silhouette
< a balloon sleeve >
< a balloon figure >
< a balloon sail >
2. of cargo : consisting of light bulky goods
3. : having a final installment that is much larger than preceding ones in a term or installment loan
< a balloon note >
< a balloon payment mortgage > |