See Also: Balloon(finance)
Balloon(medicine)
hot-air balloon(dictionary)
balloon(dictionary)
balloon(encyclopedia)
Balloon payment(finance)
Balloon option(finance)
Balloon maturity(finance)
Balloon interest(finance)
Balloon maturity(money)

balloon (iou)



balloon noun & verb. L16.
[French ballon or Italian ballone augm. of balla BALL noun1: see -OON.]
A. noun.
(A game played with) a large inflated leather ball, struck to and fro with the arm protected by a bracer of wood. L16-E19.
A pasteboard ball filled with combustible matter, projected into the air as a firework. M17-M19.
A spherical glass with a narrow neck or mouth; spec.:
a. Chemistry. A receiving-vessel of this shape. L17-M19.
b. A brandy goblet of this shape. M20.
M. Gee Cradling brandy..in his elegant glass balloon.
A usu. round or pear-shaped airtight envelope designed to rise into the air when inflated with hot air or another gas that is lighter than air; esp. one carrying a basket or car for passengers. L18.
barrage balloon: see BARRAGE noun. captive balloon: see CAPTIVE adjective 1. when the balloon goes up when the action, excitement, or trouble starts.
fig.: Carlyle The hollow balloon of popular applause.
b. A small rubber pouch with a neck, which is inflated with air for use esp. as a child's toy. M19.
A round or pear-shaped outline containing words, esp. those in a cartoon or comic strip representing a person's words or thoughts and shown as issuing from the mouth or head. M19.
Dickens Diabolical sentiments..were represented as issuing from his mouth in fat balloons. D. L. Sayers I'm afraid it's rather full of marginal balloons and interlineations.
fig. A high hit or kick given to a ball. colloq. E20.
Comb.: balloon angioplasty Medicine a technique in which a tiny balloon is passed along a blood-vessel and inflated to remove a clot or other blockage; balloon barrage a connected system of balloons and cables used as a defence against hostile aircraft; balloon catheter Medicine an inflatable catheter used in the operation of balloon angioplasty; balloon-fish a puffer-fish; balloon-flower = PLATYCODON; balloon frame Architecture: of light timbers nailed together; balloon glass, balloon goblet = sense 3b above; balloon sleeve a large sleeve puffed out over the upper arm; balloon tyre a low-pressure pneumatic tyre with a large cross-section; balloon vine a tropical American vine, Cardiospermum halicacabum, which bears inflated pods.
b. verb.
verb trans. Lift up in or as in a balloon. rare. L18.
verb intrans. Travel in a balloon. Chiefly as ballooning verbal noun. L18.
verb intrans. & trans. Swell, puff out; distend. M19.
I. Murdoch His shirt ballooned out over his trousers. S. Brett His face.., ballooned out with indignation. T. Keneally The doctor was forced to work with a ballooning face, now half again its normal size. fig.: Poetry Nation Review What started with a perfectly defensible basis has ballooned out of all proportion.
verb trans. Hit or kick (a ball) high in the air. colloq. E20.
verb intrans. Of an aircraft: rise up in the air, esp. as a result of a hard landing. E20.
ballooner,
balloonist nouns a person who travels in a balloon L18.