| Library / English Dictionary |
DEFLATION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of letting the air out of something
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("deflation" is a kind of...):
decrease; diminution; reduction; step-down (the act of decreasing or reducing something)
Antonym:
inflation (the act of filling something with air)
Derivation:
deflate (become deflated or flaccid, as by losing air)
deflate (release contained air or gas from)
deflate (collapse by releasing contained air or gas)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A contraction of economic activity resulting in a decline of prices
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Hypernyms ("deflation" is a kind of...):
economic process (any process affecting the production and development and management of material wealth, or, according to Carmine Gorga, Ph.D., author of the book 'The Economic Process', the process of production of real wealth, distribution of ownership rights over real and monetary wealth, and consumption or expenditure of monetary wealth to purchase real wealth)
Antonym:
disinflation (a reduction of prices intended to improve the balance of payments)
inflation (a general and progressive increase in prices)
Derivation:
deflate (reduce or cut back the amount or availability of, creating a decline in value or prices)
deflate (produce deflation in)
deflationary (associated with or tending to cause decreases in consumer prices or increases in the purchasing power of money)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(geology) the erosion of soil as a consequence of sand and dust and loose rocks being removed by the wind
Example:
a constant deflation of the desert landscape
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Hypernyms ("deflation" is a kind of...):
eating away; eroding; erosion; wearing; wearing away ((geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down (as by particles washing over it))
Domain category:
geology (a science that deals with the history of the earth as recorded in rocks)
