inflate

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
inflate/ɪnˈfleɪt/

▶verb

• 1 expand or cause to expand by filling with air or gas.

• 2 increase by a large or excessive amount.

  ■ (usu. as adj. inflated) exaggerate.

• 3 bring about inflation of (a currency) or in (an economy).

– derivatives
inflatedly adverb,
inflater (also inflator) noun.

– origin ME: from L. inflat-, inflare ‘blow into’, from in- ‘into’ + flare ‘to blow’.