deflate
pronunciation
How to pronounce deflate in British English:
UK [dɪˈfleɪt]
How to pronounce deflate in American English:
US [dɪˈflet]
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- Verb:
- collapse by releasing contained air or gas
- release contained air or gas from
- reduce or lessen the size or importance of
- produce deflation in
- reduce or cut back the amount or availability of, creating a decline in value or prices
- become deflated or flaccid, as by losing air
Word Origin
- deflate (v.)
- 1891, in reference to balloons, coinage based on inflate. Latin deflare meant "to blow away," but in the modern word the prefix is taken in the sense of "down." Related: Deflated; deflating.
Antonym
Example
- 1. We breathe out simply by relaxing the diaphragm ; the lungs deflate like balloons .
- 2. But investors now think china might , somehow , be able to make a bubble deflate slowly .
- 3. Europe cannot deflate its way out of trouble .
- 4. The second , much greater fear is that china has created a bubble and is now trying to get that bubble to deflate gently .
- 5. The uk is perhaps more vulnerable , because of the relatively large size of the financial sector in the economy , an over-reliance on a property market that is about to deflate , and chronically low productivity growth in non-financial sectors .