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balloon

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Such an object as a child's toy or party decoration.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

buhloon

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

bəˈlun

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Such an object as a child's toy or party decoration.

  2. An inflatable buoyant object, often (but not necessarily) round and flexible.

  3. Such an object designed to transport people or equipment through the air.

  4. A wide rounded glass with a stem and foot, used for wine, brandy, etc.

  5. A speech bubble.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To increase or expand rapidly.

  2. Ride in a hot-air balloon

    “He tried to balloon around the earth but storms forced him to land in China.”

  3. intransitive

    To go up or voyage in a balloon.

  4. transitive

    To take up in, or as if in, a balloon.

  5. transitive

    To inflate like a balloon.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
General and technical use

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Such an object as a child's toy or party decoration.

Used this way, balloon is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in family or home contexts.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where it naturally appears

  • Family/home

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use balloon

  • “He tried to balloon around the earth but storms forced him to land in China.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

balloon catheterballoon paymenttrial balloonair balloonballoon angioplastyaortic balloonballoon pumpballoon inflation

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • balloon sailnounCompound term

    Any light loose sail.

  • balloon seatnounCompound term

    A seat that has a bell shape (on some 18th century chairs).

  • balloon vinenounCompound term

    Woody perennial climbing plant with large ornamental seed pods that resemble balloons.

  • balloon flowernounCompound term

    Fragrant puffed-up white to reddish-pink flowers in long narrow clusters on erect stems.

  • balloon bombnounCompound term

    A bomb carried by a balloon.

  • barrage balloonnounCompound term

    An elongated tethered balloon or blimp with cables or net suspended from it to deter enemy planes that are flying low.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.