▪ I. inflate, ppl. a. Now rare or Obs.
(ɪnˈfleɪt)
[ad. L. inflāt-us blown into, filled by blowing, puffed up, pa. pple. of inflāre: see next.]
= inflated. (Usually construed as pa. pple.)
| c 1480 Henryson Test. Cres. 463 Nocht is your famous laud and hy honour Bot wind inflat in uther mennis eiris. 1502 Atkinson tr. De Imitatione iii. xxxv. 224 That thou be nat inflate by pryde & lyft up aboue thy selfe. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 88 b, That our scyence or connynge..make vs not inflate with pryde. 1620 T. Scott God & King (1633) 4 With eyes staring, countenance red and inflate. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. i. xv. (1765) 39 The Pericarpium..varies..in being Turbinate..Inflate, puffed, as in Cardiospermum and Staphylæa. 1833 I. Taylor Fanat. vi. 201 The perpetrator is inflate with the persuasion of himself being a demigod in goodness. |
▪ II. inflate, v.
(ɪnˈfleɪt)
Also 7 en-.
[f. L. inflāt-, ppl. stem of inflāre, f. in- (in-2) + flāre to blow. For the pa. pple., inflate was in early use: see prec.]
1. trans. To blow out or distend with wind or air; to fill (a cavity of the body, a balloon, etc.) with air or gas; also absol. of food, to cause flatulence.
| 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe ii. vii. (1541) 22 b, They do inflate the stomacke, and cause head ache. 1589 Cogan Haven Health ix. (1636) 33 If they [pease] be eaten in the Husks, they be hurtfull, and doe inflate. a 1612 Harington Salerne's Regim. (1634) 34 Yet the dry figges enflate not so much. 1620 Venner Via Recta vii. 120 They..fill the stomacke with winde, and inflate the melt. 1789 W. Buchan Dom. Med. (1790) 455 The bowels are inflated with wind. 1834 J. Forbes Laennec's Dis. Chest (ed. 4) 159 We must inflate the lung, pass a ligature above the affected part, and then dry it in the open air. 1868 Darwin Anim. & Pl. I. v. 138 The habit of slightly inflating the crop is common to all domestic pigeons. 1871 Roscoe Chem. 31 We can calculate the weight of zinc and sulphuric acid needed to inflate a balloon of the capacity of 150 cubic metres with hydrogen. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid v. 32 A following gale, Risen from the west, inflates with a favouring breath their sail. |
| fig. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. vi. 566 The supposed dignity of a King's Court..inflated the pretensions of the Judges. 1870 R. W. Dale Week-day Serm. iv. 81 Honest approbation seldom inflates vanity. |
2. To puff up (a person) with (also † by) high spirits, pride, etc.; to elate. Also absol.
| [1502: see inflate ppl. a.] 1530 Palsgr. 591/1 Connynge inflateth excepte a man have grace withall. a 1618 J. Davies Wit's Pilgr. P ij (T.), Envy..Will not admit, that art herself should show By others' fingers; but the mind inflates. a 1797 H. Walpole in Walpoliana (ed. 2) I. cxxxv. (Innocent XI) 111 Castlemain, the ambassador, was inflated with his master's infatuation. 1803 J. Porter Thaddeus Pref., Character that prosperity could not inflate, nor adversity depress. 1873 L. Ferguson Disc. 254 Talk about learning may inflate with pride. |
3. To dilate, distend, or swell; to enlarge unduly.
| a 1705 Ray (J.), That the muscles are inflated in time of rest. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 547 We work upon certain unknown nerves, they inflate the muscles. 1782 J. Scott Ess. Paint. Poems 303 When Passion's tumults in the bosom rise, Inflate the features, and enrage the eyes. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) II. 630 The whole body was emaciated, the eyebrows inflated. |
4. To swell or expand artificially or unduly; to expand beyond proper or natural limits; to raise above the amount or value which sound commercial principles would fix. Also intr., to resort to, exhibit, or produce (monetary) inflation.
| 1843 Sir R. Peel in Croker Papers Apr. (1884), Commerce, inflated by extravagant speculation..demands some remedy. 1844 Emerson Yng. American Wks. (Bohn) II. 298 We inflate our paper currency. 1887 B. F. Cowen in Vincent You & I, Business Integr. 641 (Funk), The want of integrity in business has inflated the stocks of our large corporations. 1940 Economist 27 Jan. 136/1 The most direct..method of inflating, if it cannot be avoided, would..be the deliberate creation of additional credit. 1965 New Statesman 31 Dec. 1021/1 Even if all countries inflated at the same rate, some problems would remain. 1971 Sunday Times 24 Oct. 44/6 More recently..all types of Southern property have been inflating faster than anywhere in the country. 1973 Time 25 June 23/2 In the supermarket..prices have been inflating at an annual rate of 25% or more. |
Hence inˈflating vbl. n. and ppl. a.; whence inˈflatingly adv., in an inflating manner (Webster, 1856); also inˈflater, -or, one who or that which inflates or puffs up (lit. and fig.); spec. an air-pump for inflating pneumatic cushions, tyres, etc.
| 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1541) 10 b, Meates inflatynge or wyndye: Beanes, Lupines [etc.]. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. ii. Poems 1834 II. 183 In vain, they come, she feels th'inflating grief. 1884 American VIII. 84 The clamor of contending inflaters and wreckers at the stock exchange. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 19 May 2/1 As soon as it is ready, and the gas made, the balloon will be inflated. The inflating, it is calculated, will take three days. 1899 Mod. Newspaper, Immediately the tyre becomes slack when riding..the inflator responds, without any aid from the rider. |
Add: [4.] b. transf. To increase in size or number, esp. substantially or rapidly and for a temporary period. Also intr. for pass., to rise significantly.
| 1984 Weekend Australian 10/11 Nov. 38/4 The shopping centre services a permanent population of 25,000 which inflates to 100,000 during holiday periods. 1986 Bird Watching May 40/1 The number of visitors was inflated last year because of two feathered VIPs: a greater sandplover..and a little whimbrel. 1990 Field & Stream Mar. 17/1 A series of such similarly serendipitous superfluities..served to inflate the club's membership rolls. |
c. To exaggerate or embellish.
| 1982 I. Hamilton Robert Lowell vi. 80 People who knew Jean Stafford advise caution when dealing with her versions of events: she tended, they say, to get the spirit of the thing right but to inflate or wittily distort the facts. 1984 C. Hope Kruger's Alp iv. 54 The enemies of our country like nothing better than to inflate the figures of those killed. 1986 Press & Jrnl. (Aberdeen) 28 July 6/4 He accepts that there is ‘a sense of conflict’ in the argument over future use of the countryside, but he feels that the element of conflict is inflated. 1989 Independent 16 Dec. 30/3 Wilson establishes that—contrary to the view that his military skills were inflated—Lawrence was always a superb guerilla leader. |