Word.ws English Dictionary

gasbag

Syllables: gas·bag/ˈɡæs.bæɡ/

gasbag noun: a bag or bladder to hold a reservoir of gas, as in a hot-air balloon.

gasbag: a bag or bladder to hold a reservoir of gas, as in a hot-air balloon
Image: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

gasbag (plural gasbags)

  1. A bag or bladder to hold a reservoir of gas, as in a hot-air balloon.
    • 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.1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC
    • 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.1914, Eric [Henry] Stuart Bruce, Aircraft in War (Daily Telegraph War Books), London: Hodder & Stoughton, →OCLC, page 24
  2. (broadly) A lighter-than-air aircraft; a balloon or dirigible.
  3. (derogatory, figuratively) A person who is overly garrulous or prone to making empty, unsupportable statements; a windbag.
    • 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.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....
    • 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, J. Butler Cox, Providence of Mercy, Port Richey, Fla.: Mitchell-Morris Publishing, →ISBN

Verb

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

  1. (informal, intransitive) To speak foolishly, pompously, or at length; to blather.
    • "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[…]"1910, Pearson's Magazine, volume XXX, number II, London: C. Arthur Pearson, →OCLC, page 71
    • 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.1984, Robert H. Adleman, Sweetwater Fever, New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, →ISBN, page 221

Examples of gasbag in a sentence

  • A novel robotic gasbag polishing technique based on flexible polishing principle has been presented by S.M.2009, Shiming Ji et al., “Magnetorheological Flexible Gasbag Polishing Technique”, in Bo Zhao et al., editors, Advances in Grinding and...
  • Most, however, do real work, undistracted by meetings and gasbag colleagues.2012 October 13, “Out of sight, out of mind: People who work from home are less likely to be promoted”, in The Economist, archived from the...
  • I'm pushing the trolley down an aisle in which there are a dozen ladies gasbagging.1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 146:
  • Morning, noon, and night they gasbagged about every aspect of the operation.2002, Auden Bailey, Drifting at the Bottom of the World, Ferndale, Mo.: Bella Books, →ISBN:

Synonyms of gasbag

Forms of gasbag

Noun
pluralgasbags
Verb
third-person singular presentgasbags
present participlegasbagging
past participlegasbagged
pastgasbagged

Origin of gasbag

From gas + bag.

Words formed from gasbag

Questions about gasbag

What does gasbag mean?
Gasbag means a bag or bladder to hold a reservoir of gas, as in a hot-air balloon.
How do you use gasbag in a sentence?
A novel robotic gasbag polishing technique based on flexible polishing principle has been presented by S.M.
What part of speech is gasbag?
Gasbag can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce gasbag?
Gasbag is pronounced /ˈɡæs.bæɡ/ (UK).
What is the plural of gasbag?
The plural of gasbag is gasbags.

Words near gasbag in the dictionary

  1. gasalier
  2. gasaliers
  3. gasals
  4. Gasaway
  5. Gasaways
  6. gasbag
  7. gasbagged
  8. gasbaggery
  9. gasbagging
  10. gasbags
  11. Gasbarian

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gasbag (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-gasbag.opus, en-au-gasbag.ogg.

Cite this entry: “gasbag.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gasbag. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.