inflate
v.v. to fill something with air or gas so it becomes larger. It can also mean to make a price or a piece of news seem bigger than it really is.
v. to distend or expand by filling with air or gas; figuratively, to increase the value or importance of something artificially. Transitive when an object is being filled, but also used intransitively to describe the process of expansion.
You need to inflate the tires before the trip.
The central bank worried that low interest rates would inflate property prices beyond what most families could afford.
The press tended to inflate the significance of the minor diplomatic incident, turning a simple misunderstanding into a front-page international crisis.
From Latin īnflātus, perfect passive participle of īnflō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of inblow.
The verb is transitive when used with an object ('inflate the balloon') and intransitive when describing the act of expanding ('the life vest inflates automatically').
The prices were inflated from the war.The prices were inflated by the war.When describing the cause of an artificial increase, use the preposition 'by' to indicate the agent or cause.