gasbag

English

WOTD – 23 August 2016

A hot-air balloon in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, USA, with a colourful gasbag (sense 1)

Etymology

From gas +‎ bag.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɡæs.bæɡ/

• Audio (Received Pronunciation):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

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• Hyphenation: gas‧bag

Noun

gasbag (plural gasbags)

1. A bag or bladder to hold a reservoir of gas, as in a hot-air balloon.
   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     In half an hour a good-sized gas-bag had been formed, and the jerking and straining upon the thongs showed that it was capable of considerable lift.

   • 1914, Eric [Henry] Stuart Bruce, Aircraft in War (Daily Telegraph War Books), London: Hodder & Stoughton, →OCLC, page 24:

     By this method of construction a considerable amount of support can be imparted to the gasbag, though it does not dispense with the services of the ballonet, as does the entirely rigid type.

   • 2009, Shiming Ji et al., “Magnetorheological Flexible Gasbag Polishing Technique”, in Bo Zhao et al., editors, Advances in Grinding and Abrasive Technology XV: Selected, Peer Reviewed Papers from the 15th Conference of Abrasive Technology in China, 15th–17th August, 2009, Zhengzhou, China (Key Engineering Materials; 416), Zurich: Trans Tech Publications, →ISBN, page 584:

     A novel robotic gasbag polishing technique based on flexible polishing principle has been presented by S.M. Ji et al., which can make polishing process more stable and effective because the rubber gasbag provides cushioning action and almost all abrasive particles in the contact area are involved in the process of material removal on mould surface, etc […]

2. (by extension) A lighter-than-air aircraft; a balloon or dirigible.
3. (figuratively) A person who is overly garrulous or prone to making empty, unsupportable statements; a windbag.
   • 1911, Edward Everett Hale, Jr., Dramatists of To-day: Rostand, Hauptmann, Sudermann, Pinero, Shaw, Phillips, Maeterlinck; being an Informal Discussion of their Significant Work, 6th rev. and enl. edition, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →OCLC, page 124:

     Not that the Reverend James is absolutely a pretentious gasbag any more than Marchbanks is an inspired prophet. He has a definite, a positive part in the world's work.

   • 2012, J. Butler Cox, Providence of Mercy, Port Richey, Fla.: Mitchell-Morris Publishing, →ISBN:

     You would think the fate of civilization itself rested on the outcome of my trial, based on some of those gasbags who were only too happy to speculate, postulate and pontificate about my situation.

   • 2012 October 13, “Out of sight, out of mind: People who work from home are less likely to be promoted”, in The Economist‎^[1], archived from the original on 20 March 2016:

     Most, however, do real work, undistracted by meetings and gasbag colleagues.

Synonyms

• (person): blowhard
• (both senses): windbag

Derived terms

• gasbaggery

Translations

bag or bladder to hold a reservoir of gas

• Bulgarian: газов балон m (gazov balon)
• Finnish: kaasupallo
• Georgian: გაზის ბალონი (gazis baloni)
• German: Gassack m

gasbag — see windbag

Verb

gasbag (third-person singular simple present gasbags, present participle gasbagging, simple past and past participle gasbagged)

1. (intransitive) To speak foolishly, pompously, or at length; to blather.
   • 1910, Pearson's Magazine, volume XXX, number II, London: C. Arthur Pearson, →OCLC, page 71:

     "You're a swell at it. I'll allow that. And I'll provide the gas-bagging." / "The gas-bagging?" I inquired. "What exactly do you mean?" / "What do I mean, you dear old sober-sides?" said Lyne. “I mean that I will do all the bow-wowing […]"

   • 1984, Robert H. Adleman, Sweetwater Fever, New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, →ISBN, page 221:

     You all see her flirtin and makin up to people and then they gasbag about it to make themselves important. But that's just her way. Underneath she's one of the most shy people you'd ever meet.

   • 2002, Auden Bailey, Drifting at the Bottom of the World, Ferndale, Mo.: Bella Books, →ISBN:

     Morning, noon, and night they gasbagged about every aspect of the operation.

   • 2008, Amanda Hampson, Two For The Road, Camberwell, Vic.: Penguin Books, →ISBN:

     […] Kingi spotted them and strode over. 'What are you two gasbagging about? Come on, join the party.' / 'We're not gasbagging, we're strategising,' Josie pointed out.