balloon

balloon

I

bal‧loon¹ /bəˈluːn/ noun [countable]
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 lead³(3)

II

balloon² (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.