%flation%

n. [ L. conflatio. ] 1. A blowing together, as of many instruments in a concert, or of many fires in a foundry. [ R. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. a fusing together; merger of two or more things or ideas into one. [ PJC ]

n. 1. the act or process of deflating. [ PJC ]

2. a fall in the average prices of goods and services; -- usually associated with contraction of economic activity. Opposite of inflation. Compare disinflation. [ PJC ]

3. the reduction of available credit or a contraction of economic activity resulting from or associated with a decline of prices. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

4. the act of letting the air out of something. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

5. (Geol.) the erosion of land structures such as sand or soil due to the action of wind. RHUD [ PJC ]

adj. 1. of or pertaining to deflation; as, deflationary signs. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. (Economics) associated with or tending to cause decreases in consumer prices or increases in the purchasing power of money; as, deflationary measures. Opposite of inflationary. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ LL. difflatio, fr. L. difflare, difflatum, to disperse by blowing. ] A blowing apart or away. [ Obs. ] Bailey.

n. 1. a reduction in the rate of price increases; a lessening of inflationary pressure. [ PJC ]

2. a reduction of the value of a currency in international exchange markets caused by a government; -- usually done as a means to improve the country's international balance of payments. [ PJC ]

n. The act of filling with wind; a breathing or puffing out; a puff, as of wind. [ 1913 Webster ]

A soft efflation of celestial fire. Parnell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. LL. exsufflatio. ] 1. A blast from beneath. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Eccles.) A kind of exorcism by blowing with the breath. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Physiol.) A strongly forced expiration of air from the lungs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. an unusually rapid rate of monetary inflation, as when prices rise more than 100 per cent per year. A famous example occurred in Germany after the first World War, reaching its peak in the period 1923. When the hyperinflation ended by 1924, the value of the mark had decreased by more than one trillion times compared to its value in 1914. Periods of lesser hyperinflation have occurred in many other countries, as in Russia in 1994. [ PJC ]

n. [ L. inflatio: cf. F. inflation. ] 1. The act or process of inflating, or the state of being inflated, as with air or gas; distention; expansion; enlargement. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state of being puffed up, as with pride; conceit; vanity. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Persistent expansion or increase in the general level of prices, usually caused by overissue of currency, and resulting in a reduced value of the currency. It is contrasted with deflation, and is when it occurs to a very high degree is called hyperinflation. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. One who favors an increased or very large issue of paper money. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. insuffatio: cf. F. insuffation. See In- in, and Sufflation. ] The act of breathing on or into anything; especially: (a) (R. C. Ch.) The breathing upon a person in the sacrament of baptism to symbolize the inspiration of a new spiritual life. (b) (Med.) The act of blowing (a gas, powder, or vapor) into any cavity of the body. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. perflatio. ] The act of perflating. [ Obs. ] Woodward. [ 1913 Webster ]