核心畫面

You can picture inflate as air going in until something swells up: a balloon, a tyre, a rubber boat. What is inside is only air, so the thing gets big fast but nothing solid has been added — and that is the feeling the word carries wherever it goes.

可以想成 inflate 的畫面比較像「打氣進去,東西就鼓起來」:氣球、輪胎、充氣船,一下子就變大。可是裡面裝的只是更多收起可以想成 inflate 的畫面比較像「打氣進去,東西就鼓起來」:氣球、輪胎、充氣船,一下子就變大。可是裡面裝的只是空氣,體積漲了,實質的東西並沒有多——這個「大歸大、裡面是空的」的感覺,會跟著這個字跑到它其他的用法裡。

Two branches

打氣讓它鼓起來

字面的那一邊:真的有氣被灌進去。

fill with air · verb · B1

To fill something with air or gas so it gets bigger, or to get bigger this way.

充氣;膨脹

把數字或說法吹大

把氣球的畫面搬到看不見的東西上:說法、數字、價格被吹得比原本大,但撐起來的只是空氣,實質沒變。

exaggerate · verb · B2

To make something sound bigger, better, or more important than it really is.

誇大;使膨脹

原始詞典資料5 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法,原文照列,我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的;有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

inflateverb/ɪnˈfleɪt/

  • 1

    To enlarge an object by pushing air (or a gas) into it; to raise or expand abnormally

    • You inflate a balloon by blowing air into it.
    • When passion's tumults in the bosom rise, / Inflate the features, and enrage the eyes.
  • 2

    To enlarge by filling with air (or a gas).

    • The balloon will inflate if you blow into it.
  • 3

    To swell; to puff up.

    • to inflate somebody with pride or vanity
    • [I]f they find / Some stain or blemish in a name of note, / Not grieving that their greatest are so small, / Inflate themselves with some insane delight, / And judge all nature from her feet of clay, […]
  • 4

    computingengineeringmathematicsTo decompress (data) that was previously deflated.

  • 5

    To represent something as being more important, better, or worse than it actually is; to exaggerate.

    • Israel routinely claims that the Gaza Ministry of Health, which is run by Hamas, has a tendency to inflate the number of Palestinian casualties in the Gaza Strip.

資料來源:英文維基詞典 English WiktionaryCC BY-SA 4.0)。 原文照列,未經改寫。