Colorful toy balloons.
Etymology
1570, "a game played with a large, inflated leather ball" (possibly via Middle French ballon ) from Italian pallone ( “ large ball ” ) from palla ( “ ball ” ) , from Lombardic * palla . The Northern Italian form, balla ( “ ball-shaped bundle ” ) , today a doublet, likely derived from Old French balle , from Frankish * balla ( “ ball ” ) , and may have influenced the spelling of this word. Both Germanic words are from Proto-Germanic * ballô ( “ ball ” ) , * balluz , from Proto-Indo-European * bʰoln- ( “ bubble ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European * bʰel- ( “ to blow, swell, inflate ” ) . Akin to Old High German ballo , bal ( “ ball ” ) , (German Ballen ( “ bale ” ) ; Ball "ball"). Doublet of ballon . More at ball .
Noun
balloon (plural balloons )
An inflatable buoyant object, often (but not necessarily) round and flexible .
Such an object as a child’s toy or party decoration .
Such an object designed to transport people or equipment through the air .
1786 , John Jeffries, Jean-Pierre Blanchard , A narrative of the two aerial Voyages of Dr. J. with Mons. Blanchard: with meteorological observations and remarks. , page 45 :We immediately threw out all the little things we had with us, ſuch as biſcuits, apples, & c. and after that one of our oars or wings; but ſtill deſcending, we caſt away the other wing, and then the governail ; having likewiſe had the precaution, for fear of accidents, while the Balloon was filling, partly to looſen and make it go eaſy, I now ſucceeded in attempting to reach without the Car, and unſcrewing the moulinet, with all its apparatus; I likewiſe caſt that into the ſea.
( medicine ) A sac inserted into part of the body for therapeutic reasons; such as angioplasty .
A speech bubble .
A type of glass cup , sometimes used for brandy .
( architecture ) A ball or globe on the top of a pillar, church, etc.
the balloon of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London
( chemistry ) A round vessel , usually with a short neck , to hold or receive whatever is distilled ; a glass vessel of a spherical form.
( pyrotechnics ) A bomb or shell .
( obsolete ) A game played with a large inflated ball.
( engraving ) The outline enclosing words represented as coming from the mouth of a pictured figure .
( slang ) A woman 's breast .
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:breasts
( slang ) A small container for illicit drugs made from a condom or the finger of a latex glove, etc.
2016 , David Cornwell, Like it Matters :And all I had to do in return was take a drive up to Ricardo's place on the way home and then a pretty edgy one back to Rondebosch with a balloon of coke sandwiched between two pairs of underpants.
( finance ) Synonym of balloon payment .
1986 , James M. Johnson, Fundamentals of finance for equipment lessors :The purpose of the balloon is to reduce the periodic payment required during the life of the financing period.
Synonyms
( inflatable object ) :
( child’s toy ) : toy balloon
( in medicine ) :
( speech bubble ) : speech bubble , fumetto
Translations
inflatable and buoyant object
Albanian: balonë (sq) f
Arabic: نُفَّاخَة (ar) ( nuffāḵa ) , بَالُون (ar) m ( bālōn )
Egyptian Arabic: بالونة f ( ballōna )
Hijazi Arabic: بَلّونة f ( ballōna )
Moroccan Arabic: نفاخة f ( nuffāḵa, naffāḵa )
Assamese: বেলুন ( belun )
Basque: globo , baloi
Belarusian: паве́траны шар m ( pavjétrany šar )
Bengali: বেলুন (bn) ( belun )
Bulgarian: бало́н (bg) m ( balón )
Burmese: ပူဖောင်း (my) ( puhpaung: )
Catalan: globus (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 氣球 / 气球 ( hei3 kau4 )
Mandarin: 氣球 / 气球 (zh) ( qìqiú )
Cornish: pel ayr f
Czech: balón (cs) m
Danish: ballon (da)
Dutch: ballon (nl) m
Esperanto: balono (eo)
Estonian: õhupall (et)
Finnish: ilmapallo (fi)
French: ballon (fr) m
Galician: globo (gl) m
Georgian: აეროსტატი ( aerosṭaṭi )
German: Ballon (de) m , Luftballon (de) m
Alemannic German: Balung m
Greek: μπαλόνι (el) n ( balóni )
Greenlandic: ballonngi
Haitian Creole: blad
Hausa: balân
Hindi: ग़ुब्बारा m ( ġubbārā ) , बेलून m ( belūn ) , बैलून (hi) m ( bailūn )
Hungarian: léggömb (hu) , ballon (hu)
Hunsrik: Balong m
Icelandic: blaðra f
Ido: balono (io)
Indonesian: balon (id)
Irish: balún m , éadromán m ( literary )
Italian: palloncino (it) m
Japanese: バルーン (ja) ( barūn ) , 気球 (ja) ( ききゅう, kikyū ) , 風船 (ja) ( ふうせん, fūsen )
Kazakh: әуе шары ( äue şary )
Khmer: ប៉ោង (km) ( paong ) , បាឡុង ( baalong )
Korean: 기구(氣球) (ko) ( gigu ) , 풍선(風船) ( pungseon )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: بالۆن ( balon )
Northern Kurdish: balon (ku)
Lao: ລູກໂປ່ງ ( lūk pōng )
Latvian: balons m
Lithuanian: balionas m
Luxembourgish: Ballon m
Macedonian: балон m ( balon )
Malay: belon , gelembungan , gelembung (ms)
Maori: poihau , parūnu
Marathi: फुगा m ( phugā )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ballong (no) m
Occitan: glòb (oc) m , balon (oc) m
Pennsylvania German: Luft
Persian: بالون (fa) ( bâlon )
Plautdietsch: Loftblos f
Polish: balon (pl) m
Portuguese: balão (pt) m , bexiga (pt) f ( Brazil )
Punjabi: ਭੁਕਾਨਾ ( bhukānā ) , ਭੂਪੜਾ ( bhūpṛā ) ( dialectal )
Romanian: balon (ro) n
Russian: возду́шный шар (ru) m ( vozdúšnyj šar )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ба̀ло̄н m
Roman: bàlōn (sh) m
Slovak: balón m
Slovene: balon (sl) m
Spanish: globo (es) m , vejiga (es) ( El Salvador )
Swahili: mabofu
Swedish: ballong (sv) c
Tagalog: balun
Tamil: ஊதுபை (ta) ( ūtupai )
Telugu: గాలిబుడగ ( gālibuḍaga )
Thai: ลูกโป่ง (th) ( lûuk-bpòong )
Tigrinya: ባላንቺና ( balančina )
Turkish: balon (tr)
Turkmen: howa shary
Ukrainian: пові́тряна ку́ля f ( povítrjana kúlja )
Urdu: غُبّارَہ m ( ġubbārā )
Vietnamese: khí cầu (vi)
Volapük: bälun (vo)
Welsh: balŵn
Zulu: ibhaloni
child’s toy
Afrikaans: ballong
Albanian: balonë (sq)
Arabic: نُفَّاخَة (ar) ( nuffāḵa ) , بَالُون (ar) m ( bālōn )
Egyptian Arabic: بالونة f ( ballōna )
Moroccan Arabic: نفاخة f ( nuffāḵa, naffāḵa )
Armenian: փուչիկ (hy) ( pʻučʻik )
Azerbaijani: şar (az) , balon
Basque: puxika
Belarusian: паве́траны шар m ( pavjétrany šar )
Bengali: বেলুন (bn) ( belun )
Bulgarian: бало́н (bg) m ( balón )
Burmese: စည်ဖောင်း (my) ( canyhpaung: ) , ပူဖောင်း (my) ( puhpaung: )
Catalan: globus (ca) m , baló (ca) m
Cherokee: ᎠᎵᏌᎳᏗᏍᎩ ( alisaladisgi )
Chinese:
Cantonese: 氣球 / 气球 ( hei3 kau4 )
Mandarin: 氣球 / 气球 (zh) ( qìqiú )
Czech: balón (cs) m
Danish: ballon (da)
Dutch: ballon (nl) m
Esperanto: balono (eo) , ludbaloneto
Estonian: õhupall (et)
Finnish: ilmapallo (fi)
French: ballon (fr) m , ballon de baudruche (fr) m , ballon en baudruche m , ballon gonflable m
Georgian: ჰაერბურთი ( haerburti )
German: Ballon (de) m , Luftballon (de) m
Greek: μπαλόνι (el) n ( balóni )
Haitian Creole: boul
Hausa: balân
Hebrew: בָּלוֹן (he) m ( balon )
Hindi: ग़ुब्बारा m ( ġubbārā ) , बेलून m ( belūn ) , बैलून (hi) m ( bailūn )
Hungarian: léggömb (hu) , lufi (hu)
Icelandic: blaðra f
Indonesian: balon (id)
Italian: palloncino (it) m
Japanese: 風船 (ja) ( ふうせん, fūsen ) , バルーン (ja) ( barūn )
Kannada: ಗಾಳಿಚೆಂಡು (kn) ( gāḷiceṇḍu )
Khmer: ប៉ោង (km) ( paong )
Korean: 기구(氣球) (ko) ( gigu ) , 풍선(風船) ( pungseon )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: بالۆن ( balon )
Northern Kurdish: pifdank (ku) f , balon (ku) f , nepox (ku)
Lao: ລູກໂປ່ງ ( lūk pōng )
Latin: balonus m
Latvian: balons m
Lithuanian: balionas m
Malay: belon
Maori: poihau
Marathi: फुगा ( phugā )
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: шаар (mn) ( šaar ) , агаарын бөмбөлөг ( agaaryn bömbölög )
Nepali: बेलुन ( beluna )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ballong (no) m
Papiamentu: balon
Persian: بادکُنک (fa) ( bâdkonak ) , پوقانه ( puqâne ) ( Afghanistan )
Plautdietsch: Loftblos f
Polish: balon (pl) m
Portuguese: balão (pt) m
Romanian: balon (ro)
Russian: возду́шный шар (ru) m ( vozdúšnyj šar ) , ша́рик (ru) m ( šárik )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ба̀ло̄н m
Roman: bàlōn (sh) m
Slovak: balón m
Slovene: balon (sl) m
Spanish: globo (es) m , bomba (es) f ( Colombia, Venezuela ) , chimbomba f ( Nicaragua )
Swahili: puto (sw)
Swedish: ballong (sv) c
Tagalog: lobo (tl)
Tajik: пуфак ( pufak )
Tamil: ஊதுபை (ta) ( ūtupai )
Telugu: గాలిబుడగ ( gālibuḍaga )
Thai: ลูกโป่ง (th) ( lûuk-bpòong )
Tibetan: ལྒང་ཕུག ( lgang phug )
Tigrinya: ባላንቺና ( balančina )
Turkish: balon (tr)
Turkmen: howa shary
Ukrainian: пові́тряна ку́ля f ( povítrjana kúlja )
Urdu: غُبّارَہ m ( ġubbārā )
Vietnamese: bóng (vi) , bóng bay , bong bóng (vi)
Volapük: bälun (vo) , lutabälun
Wolof: naaw (wo)
Yiddish: באַלאָן m ( balon )
Zulu: ipaloni
inflatable object to transport people through the air
Albanian: balonë (sq) f , aerostat (sq) m
Arabic: مُنْطَاد (ar) m ( munṭād )
Egyptian Arabic: بالون m ( ballōn ) , منطاد m ( menṭād )
Armenian: օդապարիկ (hy) ( ōdaparik )
Azerbaijani: hava şarı
Belarusian: паве́траны шар m ( pavjétrany šar )
Bengali: বেলুন (bn) ( belun )
Bulgarian: бало́н (bg) m ( balón ) , аероста́т m ( aerostát )
Burmese: မီးပုံးပျံ (my) ( mi: pum: pyam )
Catalan: globus (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 氣球 / 气球 ( hei3 kau4 )
Mandarin: 氣球 / 气球 (zh) ( qìqiú ) , 風船 / 风船 (zh) ( fēngchuán )
Czech: balón (cs) m
Danish: luftballon
Dutch: luchtballon (nl) m
Esperanto: balono (eo)
Estonian: kuumaõhupall , õhupall (et)
Finnish: kuumailmapallo (fi) , ilmapallo (fi)
French: montgolfière (fr) f , ballon (fr) m
Georgian: აეროსტატი ( aerosṭaṭi ) , ჰაერბურთი ( haerburti )
German: Heißluftballon (de) m
Greek: αερόστατο (el) n ( aeróstato )
Hebrew: כדור פורח (he) m ( kadur pore'akh )
Hindi: ग़ुब्बारा m ( ġubbārā )
Hungarian: hőlégballon (hu)
Icelandic: loftbelgur (is) m
Ido: balono (io)
Indonesian: balon udara
Irish: balún m
Italian: mongolfiera (it) f
Japanese: 風船 (ja) ( ふうせん, fūsen ) , 気球 (ja) ( ききゅう, kikyū ) , バルーン (ja) ( barūn )
Kazakh: әуе шары ( äue şary )
Khmer: ពោងហោះ ( poong hɑh )
Korean: 기구(氣球) (ko) ( gigu ) , 풍선(風船) ( pungseon )
Latvian: gaisa balons m
Lithuanian: oro balionas m
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: агаарын бөмбөлөг ( agaaryn bömbölög )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: luftballong m , luftskip n
Persian: بالون (fa) ( bâlon )
Polish: balon (pl) m
Portuguese: balão (pt) m
Romanian: balon (ro) n
Russian: аэроста́т (ru) m ( aerostát ) , возду́шный шар (ru) m ( vozdúšnyj šar )
Swedish: luftballong (sv) c , ballong (sv) c
Thai: บัลลูน (th) ( ban-luun )
Ukrainian: пові́тряна ку́ля f ( povítrjana kúlja ) , аероста́т (uk) m ( aerostát )
Urdu: غُبّارَہ m ( ġubbārā )
Vietnamese: khí cầu (vi) , khinh khí cầu (vi)
Volapük: bälun (vo)
medicine: sac inserted into part of the body
architecture: ball or globe on the top of a pillar etc.
pyrotechnics: bomb or shell
game played with a large inflated ball
engraving: outline enclosing words
slang: woman’s breast
— see boob
Verb
balloon (third-person singular simple present balloons , present participle ballooning , simple past and past participle ballooned )
( intransitive ) To increase or expand rapidly .
His stomach ballooned from eating such a large meal.
Prices will balloon if we don't act quickly.
2016 May 23, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, “Apocalypse pits the strengths of the X-Men series against the weaknesses”, in The Onion AV Club :For the franchise’s ballooning , unmanageable cast of mutants, picking sides now seems to have less to do with choosing between cooperation (which the recent movies implicitly distrust) and resistance, and more with whichever flashback-prone white dude’s overbearing savior complex works for you.
2022 April 6, Conrad Landin, “ScotRail in the public eye...”, in RAIL , number 954 , page 39 :ScotRail has long been run at a significant subsidy, with only the Edinburgh-Glasgow express line making a profit from fares, but government support has ballooned since the start of the pandemic.
( intransitive ) To go up or voyage in a balloon.
( transitive ) To take up in, or as if in, a balloon.
( transitive ) To inflate like a balloon.
1944 , Emily Carr , “Peach Scanties”, in The House of All Sorts :A puff of wind from the open door caught and ballooned the scanties; off they sailed, out the window billowing into freedom.
( transitive , sports ) To strike (a ball) so that it flies high in the air.
2015 , Steve Wilson, A View From The Terraces (part 2, page 138)
After four minutes, leading goalscorer Haworth slid in but ballooned the ball over from six yards, and Hume then outran the defence to get to the by-line, but he could only hit his cross straight out.
( aviation ) Of an aircraft: to plunge alternately up and down.
Synonym: porpoise
1961 , Flying Magazine , volume 69 , number 3, page 86 :The plane ballooned into the air about 20 feet, banging down again for another good-sized hop.
Translations
To increase or expand rapidly