inflate

verb

/ɪnˈfleɪt/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they inflate	/ɪnˈfleɪt/ /ɪnˈfleɪt/
he / she / it inflates	/ɪnˈfleɪts/ /ɪnˈfleɪts/
past simple inflated	/ɪnˈfleɪtɪd/ /ɪnˈfleɪtɪd/
past participle inflated	/ɪnˈfleɪtɪd/ /ɪnˈfleɪtɪd/
-ing form inflating	/ɪnˈfleɪtɪŋ/ /ɪnˈfleɪtɪŋ/

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[transitive, intransitive] inflate (something) to fill something or become filled with gas or air使充气；膨胀
- Inflate your life jacket by pulling sharply on the cord.猛拽绳扣使你的救生衣充气。
- The balloons had been inflated with helium.气球已经充了氦气。
- When attacked, the fish inflates itself to twice its size.受到攻击时，这种鱼会膨胀到两倍大。
- The life jacket failed to inflate.救生衣未能充气。
- The dinghy was in the water, fully inflated.橡皮艇已充好气放入水中。
[transitive] inflate something to make something appear to be more important or impressive than it really is鼓吹；吹捧
- The media have grossly inflated the significance of this meeting.媒体对这次会议的重要性大肆吹捧。
[transitive, intransitive] inflate (something) to increase the price of something; to increase in price（使）涨价
- The principal effect of the demand for new houses was to inflate prices.对新住宅需求的主要结果是促使价格上涨。
- The profit margin had been artificially inflated.利润率被人为提高了。
- Food prices are no longer inflating at the same rate as last year.食物价格的上涨率已不再像去年那样高了。
compare deflate, reflate

Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin inflat- ‘blown into’, from the verb inflare, from in- ‘into’ + flare ‘to blow’.