From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
balloon
n 1: large tough nonrigid bag filled with gas or heated air
2: small thin inflatable rubber bag with narrow neck
v 1: ride in a hot-air balloon; "He tried to balloon around the
earth but storms forced him to land in China"
2: become inflated; "The sails ballooned" [syn: balloon,
inflate, billow]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Balloon \Bal*loon"\, v. t.
To take up in, or as if in, a balloon.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Balloon \Bal*loon"\, v. i.
1. To go up or voyage in a balloon.
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2. To expand, or puff out, like a balloon.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Balloon \Bal*loon"\, n. [F. ballon, aug. of balle ball: cf. It.
ballone. See 1st Ball, n., and cf. Pallone.]
1. A bag made of silk or other light material, and filled
with hydrogen gas or heated air, so as to rise and float
in the atmosphere; especially, one with a car attached for
a["e]rial navigation.
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2. (Arch.) A ball or globe on the top of a pillar, church,
etc., as at St. Paul's, in London. [R.]
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3. (Chem.) A round vessel, usually with a short neck, to hold
or receive whatever is distilled; a glass vessel of a
spherical form.
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4. (Pyrotechnics) A bomb or shell. [Obs.]
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5. A game played with a large inflated ball. [Obs.]
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6. (Engraving) The outline inclosing words represented as
coming from the mouth of a pictured figure.
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Air balloon, a balloon for a["e]rial navigation.
Balloon frame (Carp.), a house frame constructed altogether
of small timber.
Balloon net, a variety of woven lace in which the weft
threads are twisted in a peculiar manner around the warp.
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