You searched for: “deflating
deflate (verb), deflates; deflated; deflating
1. To let out air or gas from an inflatable object with the result that it shrinks or loses air or gas: After two days, Tommy's birthday balloons deflated and collapsed!
2. To destroy somebody's confidence or to make someone less self-assured or conceited: Mary's ego was deflated when her friends said that they didn't want her to go with them to the beach.
3. To show that an argument is in error: Doug's reason for going on a strict diet was dashed or deflated when he was offered some delicious ice cream!
4. To bring about deflation in the economy or the money supply: The country's economic situation was not good and the amount of available currency was reduced or deflated causing a decline in value or lower prices.
5. Etymology: a referenced to balloons, coinage based on infly'ste; from Latin deflare, meaning "to blow away", but in the modern word the prefix is presented in the sense of "down."
This entry is located in the following units: de- (page 17) flat-, flatu- (page 1)