| Library / English Dictionary |
PUFF UP
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
To swell or cause to enlarge
Example:
puffed out chests
Synonyms:
blow up; puff; puff out; puff up
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "puff up" is one way to...):
intumesce; swell; swell up; tumefy; tumesce (expand abnormally)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sentence example:
Did his feet puff up?
Sense 2
Meaning:
Make larger or distend
Example:
The estimates were puffed up
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "puff up" is one way to...):
amplify; blow up; expand; inflate (exaggerate or make bigger)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 3
Meaning:
Praise extravagantly
Example:
The critics puffed up this Broadway production
Synonyms:
puff; puff up
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Hypernyms (to "puff up" is one way to...):
praise (express approval of)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Sense 4
Meaning:
Become filled with pride, arrogance, or anger
Example:
The mother was swelling with importance when she spoke of her son
Synonyms:
puff up; swell
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Hypernyms (to "puff up" is one way to...):
act; behave; do (behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
