1
as in to increase
to become greater in extent, volume, amount, or number
the number of students who stay home sick balloons every winter
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to protrude
to extend outward beyond a usual point
the paper bag ballooned and blew away as the wind lifted it skyward
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of balloon
The college football coaching carousel has ballooned before November.
—
Jordan Sigler, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Oct. 2025
The company had ballooned its workforce, including in corporate jobs, during the pandemic.
—Alina Selyukh, NPR, 28 Oct. 2025
Cosmetic procedures for animals — especially canines — have quietly ballooned into a booming industry, with some vets reporting a spike in requests for everything from eye lifts to tummy tucks.
—Jane Stern, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2025
Eli Lilly has ballooned over the past few years due in part to its popular GLP-1 weight loss and diabetes drug, and Cramer noted that the stock got close to trillionaire status last summer peaking at more than $900 billion.
—Julie Coleman, CNBC, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for balloon
Jordan Sigler, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Oct. 2025
The company had ballooned its workforce, including in corporate jobs, during the pandemic.
—Alina Selyukh, NPR, 28 Oct. 2025
Cosmetic procedures for animals — especially canines — have quietly ballooned into a booming industry, with some vets reporting a spike in requests for everything from eye lifts to tummy tucks.
—Jane Stern, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2025
Eli Lilly has ballooned over the past few years due in part to its popular GLP-1 weight loss and diabetes drug, and Cramer noted that the stock got close to trillionaire status last summer peaking at more than $900 billion.
—Julie Coleman, CNBC, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for balloon
Recent Examples of Synonyms for balloon
Verb
-
Wild news in the Financial Times this morning, which reports that China has substantially increased energy subsidies for some of its largest data centers in a bid to bolster its position in the global AI race.—
Andrew Nusca,
Fortune,
4 Nov. 2025
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Rising prices for cars, parts and repairs needed, and medical bills have increased, driving up the price of insurance.—
NPR,
NPR,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Spider-y lash extensions protruded from her lash line, reaching to the bottom of her brows; a thin wing of black liner was drawn from the outer corners of her eyes.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
22 Oct. 2025
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The protruding bracket behind the air guide appears to be a cable guide, and the box behind the cable guide is a three-drive cage.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The number of foreign residents has risen sharply in recent years, reaching a record 3 percent of the population in 2024, as Tokyo cautiously loosened visa rules for workers in key industries such as manufacturing, agriculture, and caregiving.—
Micah McCartney,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
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In that appearance, Thilly moonwalked across the floor and performed a backspin before using his allotted five minutes to complain about rising taxes, according to CBS News New York.—
Michael Dorgan,
FOXNews.com,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Tom Aspinall’s heavyweight title defense at UFC 321 ended in chaos after Ciryl Gane accidentally poked him in both eyes late in the first round.—
Antonio Losada,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Oct. 2025
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Or use your finger, poking it about 2 inches into the soil.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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She was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition and underwent emergency surgery, during which doctors removed part of her skull to relieve swelling.—
Michael Dorgan,
FOXNews.com,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Venezuela’s armed forces comprise roughly 109,000 active personnel, but the total number swells when paramilitary and reserve units are included.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Suddenly 10 more heads surfaced, every bulging eye on us.—
AFAR Media,
AFAR Media,
30 Oct. 2025
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According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a brain aneurysm is a weakened area in an artery that bulges outward and fills with blood.—
Lucy Notarantonio,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The open-source project has been used by millions of scientists in more than 190 countries, accelerating research into diseases previously considered intractable.—
Dave Smith,
Fortune,
26 Oct. 2025
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Southern China’s tropical to subtropical climate – with heavy rainfall, heat, and humidity – accelerates chemical weathering, while the region’s long history of tectonic and magmatic activity adds further erosion.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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At the crux of those tensions are a gaping trade imbalance and efforts from the US to ensure its national security against an increasingly assertive China, including by expanding restrictions on China’s access to American high tech, like the advanced semiconductors needed to power AI.—
Betsy Klein,
CNN Money,
30 Oct. 2025
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Seeing as how the first tribe swap failed to shake anything up and gave us two more obvious telegraphed votes, the producers decided to blow it all up again and expand back to three tribes.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Balloon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/balloon. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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