sausage balloon
- noun
- /ˈsɔsɪdʒ bəˈluːn/
- Archaic
:
globo de salchicha
- During World War I, the sausage balloon was a common sight above the trenches.
Examples
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The museum displays a restored sausage balloon used in early aerial reconnaissance.
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A single sausage balloon hovered over the city, monitoring for enemy aircraft.
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The military deployed a sausage balloon for surveillance.
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During the war, many sausage balloons were used for defense.
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A single sausage balloon hovered over the city, monitoring for enemy aircraft.
-
During World War I, the sausage balloon was a common sight above the trenches.
-
The museum displays a restored sausage balloon used in early aerial reconnaissance.
Synonyms
28
5.7
A small soft flying balloon used to carry cameras or show ads
21
5.6
A large steerable flying machine filled with a light gas like helium
6
9.9
A long balloon used to watch from the sky with a small cabin under it
A balloon with a tail that keeps it facing the wind
A large balloon tied to the ground with cables to keep low enemy planes away in war
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is directly descriptive: 'sausage' evokes an elongated, cylindrical shape and 'balloon' denotes an inflatable aircraft, so 'sausage balloon' meaning a long, small observation balloon is inferable from the parts. This is a literal, non-idiomatic noun compound following transparent shape+object composition that a B1 learner who knows both constituents would likely understand.
Etymology
Sausage balloon probably comes from the long, tube shape of these wartime balloons, because they looked like a giant sausage floating in the sky so people called them sausage balloons. That's why the name now means a long, soft balloon used for 'observation' or watching for enemy aircraft.