Definition

1. Verb (transitive):

   • To fill something with air or gas until it expands: To cause something to become larger by forcing air or another gas into it.
   • To increase something artificially or excessively: To cause something, especially prices, costs, or statistics, to become larger than is normal, reasonable, or justified.
   • To cause economic inflation: To increase the amount of money in circulation, leading to a general rise in prices and a fall in the purchasing value of money.

2. Verb (intransitive):

   • To become filled with air or gas and expand: To increase in size or volume as a result of being filled with air or gas.
   • To undergo economic inflation: For prices or an economy to rise due to an increase in the money supply or credit.

Examples of Usage

• Verb (transitive):

  • You need to inflate the tires before our trip.
  • The company was accused of using misleading ads to inflate its sales figures.
  • Printing too much money can inflate the currency and cause hyperinflation.

• Verb (intransitive):

  • The life raft will inflate automatically when it hits the water.
  • Prices began to inflate rapidly during the economic crisis.

Advanced Usage

• "to inflate one's ego/importance": To make someone feel more important or talented than they really are.

  • Constant praise from his fans began to inflate his ego.

• "to inflate a bubble": To cause an unsustainable increase in the price or value of an asset (like housing or stocks).

  • Speculative investments inflated the real estate bubble.

Variants and Related Words

• Inflatable (adj): Designed to be filled with air.

  • We brought an inflatable mattress for the guests.

• Inflation (n): The general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money; the action of inflating something.

  • The government is trying to control inflation.

• Inflated (adj): Exaggerated; filled with air.

  • He has an inflated sense of his own abilities.
  • The inflated balloon floated away.

Synonyms

• Expand: To increase in size, volume, or quantity.
• Swell: To become larger or rounder in size, typically as a result of an accumulation of fluid or air.
• Exaggerate: To represent something as being larger, better, or worse than it really is.
• Pump up: To inflate with air using a pump; to increase or exaggerate.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Inflate with: To fill something using a specific substance (often air, gas, or pride).
  • She inflated the balloon with helium.

Related Idioms

• Inflate like a balloon: To swell or expand very quickly and noticeably.
  • His cheeks inflated like a balloon as he blew into the trumpet.

Verb

1. become inflated
   • The sails ballooned
2. increase the amount or availability of, creating a rise in value
   • inflate the currency
3. cause prices to rise by increasing the available currency or credit
   • The war inflated the economy
4. fill with gas or air
   • inflate a balloons
5. exaggerate or make bigger
   • The charges were inflated