bloat

present singular third person bloats · participle present bloating · participle past bloated · past bloated

1. To cause to become distended.
2. intransitivebiologyTo get an overdistended rumen, talking of a ruminant.
3. To fill soft substance with gas, water, etc.; to cause to swell.
4. intransitiveTo become distended; to swell up.

   if a Person of a firm Conſtitution begins to bloat, and from being warm grows cold, his Fibres grow weak, Anxiety and Palpitations of the Heart are a ſign of weak Fibres

   1731, John Arbuthnot, An Essay Concerning the Nature of Aliments, and the Choice of Them, According to the Different Constitutions of Human Bodies. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson […], →OCLC

5. To fill with vanity or conceit.

   1675, John Dryden, Prologue to Circe by Dr. Davenant Encourage him, and bloat him up with Praise

6. datedTo preserve by slightly salting and lightly smoking.

   bloated herring

7. To increase to an excessive amount.

   1 more example

   In the UK, the fraction of electricity generated by nuclear plants has slid steadily downwards, from 25% in the 1990s to 16% in 2020. Of the five nuclear stations still producing power, only one will run beyond 2028. Hinkley Point C, the first new nuclear plant in a generation, is being built in Somerset, but its cost has bloated to more than £25bn.

   December 15 2022, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian

plural bloats

1. countableuncountableDistention of the abdomen from death.
2. countableuncountablebiologyPathological overdistention of rumen with gas in a ruminant.

   Synonyms: ruminal tympany

3. countablefigurativelyuncountableWasteful use of space or other resources.

   Adding an e-mail feature to this simple text editor would be pointless bloat.

4. countabledatedderogatoryslanguncountableA worthless, dissipated fellow.
5. collectivecountableuncountableA group of hippopotamuses.

   A group of hippos is called a bloat.

   2019 June 6, “A gaggle, a confusion and a conspiracy - bizarre animal collective group names”, in BBC

   3 more examples

   It was a massive bloat of hippopotamus making a beeline right for them. Bakvissie didn't have to be told twice, he scrambled over Shimbaka's head and straight up into the tree so fast that Shimbaka wasn't even sure it was Bakvissie. The bloat descended rapidly and Shimbaka only had seconds to swing up into the tree with Bakvissie. With portly monsters now surrounding them, Togo recalled Kiku's advice, "it is best to avoid these beasts while in water, as they can be rather fiery." Nevertheless, these hippos were on land — what is setting them off? It would have been much more helpful if Kiku told them, "Hey, don't sit with your back to a bloat of Hippos - you could get trampled." However, here they were, up a tree.

   2016, David Chandler, Shaman of New York, page 200

   One evening I crawled into the pup tent I was sharing with John Yost on a beach pockmarked with hoofprints across from a bloat of hippos blowing their tubas.

   2023, Richard Bangs, The Art of Living Dangerously: True Stories from a Life on the Edge, Globe Pequot, page 109

   They thought about pulling ashore to camp, however bloats of hippos, teams of crocks, and swarms of mozzies changed their minds.

   2026, Santiago Dizon, Joanne and the Headhunters

comparative more bloat · superlative most bloat

1. obsoletebloated.

   Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed

   1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, act 3, scene 4: The Queen's Closet