I. bal ‧ loon 1 /bəˈluːn/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: French ; Origin: ballon 'large football, balloon' , from Italian ballone 'large football' , from balla 'ball' ]
1 . an object made of brightly coloured thin rubber, that is filled with air and used as a toy or decoration for parties:
Can you help me blow up these balloons?
He burst the balloon in my face.
2 . ( also hot air balloon ) a large bag of strong light cloth filled with gas or heated air so that it can float in the air. It has a basket hanging below it for people to stand in:
a balloon flight over the Yorkshire Moors
3 . the circle drawn around the words spoken by the characters in a ↑ cartoon SYN bubble
4 . a balloon payment American English money borrowed that must be paid back in one large sum after several smaller payments have been made:
a $10,000 balloon payment due in two years
5 . the balloon goes up British English informal used to refer to the moment when a situation starts to become really bad:
We’ll have to get out of there before the balloon goes up.
⇨ go down like a lead balloon at ↑ lead 3 (3)
II. balloon 2 BrE AmE ( also balloon out ) verb [intransitive]
1 . to suddenly become larger in amount SYN explode :
The company’s debt has ballooned in the past year.
2 . if someone balloons, they suddenly become fat:
Paul ballooned after he got married.
3 . to get bigger and rounder:
The sheet flapped and ballooned in the wind.