puff up

hérisser ses poils, gonfler ses plumes

Pour un animal, dresser ses poils ou gonfler ses plumes pour paraître plus gros ou rester au chaud.

En anglais simple : To raise fur or feathers so that an animal looks bigger or stays warm.

• The bird puffed up its feathers.
• Our cat puffed up when it saw the dog.
• Sparrows puff themselves up to stay warm.

Comment l'utiliser : puff up something (The cat puffed up its fur.); puff oneself up (The little bird puffed itself up against the cold.)

Synonymes : fluff up, bristle

Expressions courantes : puff up feathers, puff up fur, puff itself up

gonfler

Rendre quelque chose plus gros ou plus plein en y mettant de l’air.

En anglais simple : To make something larger or fuller by putting air into it.

• He puffed up his cheeks.
• We puffed up the balloons for the party.
• Can you puff your cheeks up like this?

Comment l'utiliser : puff something up (She puffed her cheeks up and held her breath.)

Synonymes : inflate, blow up

Contraires : deflate

Expressions courantes : puff up balloons, puff up cheeks, puff something up

gonfler, enfler

Devenir plus gros et enflé à cause d’une blessure ou d’une maladie.

En anglais simple : To become larger and swollen because of an injury or illness.

• My ankle puffed up after the fall.
• Her eyes had puffed up because of an allergy.
• Did your hand puff up after the bee sting?

Synonymes : swell, swell up

Expressions courantes : puff up suddenly, puff up badly

s’enorgueillir, se gonfler d’orgueil

Devenir très fier de soi, souvent de façon excessive.

En anglais simple : To become very proud of yourself, often more than is reasonable.

• The praise puffed him up.
• She was puffed up with pride after her promotion.
• Success can puff people up and make them forget their friends.

Comment l'utiliser : be puffed up with something (He was puffed up with pride after winning the award.); puff someone up (All that praise puffed him up.)

Synonymes : swell with pride, get conceited

Expressions courantes : puff someone up, puff yourself up

fabriquer, inventer de toutes pièces

Inventer de fausses accusations ou affirmations, ou les présenter comme plus graves qu’elles ne le sont.

En anglais simple : To invent false claims or make them seem more serious than they really are.

• They puffed up false charges against him.
• The report puffed up minor complaints into serious accusations.
• His enemies puffed up a case using invented evidence.

Comment l'utiliser : puff up something against someone (They puffed up charges against an innocent man.)

Synonymes : trump up, fabricate

Expressions courantes : puff up charges, puff up accusations, puff something up