Inflation

noun

1. An act, instance of, or state of expansion or increase in size, especially by injection of a gas.

   "The inflation of the balloon took five hours."

2. An increase in the general level of prices or in the cost of living.
3. A decline in the value of money.
4. An increase in the quantity of money, leading to a devaluation of existing money.
5. Undue expansion or increase, as of academic grades.