fuse

See also: fusé

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: fyo͞oz, IPA^(key): /fjuːz/
• Hyphenation: fuse
• Rhymes: -uːz

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Italian fuso and French fusée, from Latin fūsus (“spindle”).

Noun

fuse (plural fuses)

1. A cord that, when lit, conveys the fire to some explosive device.

   Synonym: fuze (US)

3. (manufacturing, mining, military) The mechanism that ignites the charge in an explosive device.

   Synonym: fuze

5. (electrical engineering) A device to prevent the overloading of an electrical circuit, containing a component that melts and interrupts the current when too high a load is passed through it.
6. (figuratively) Indicating a tendency to lose one's temper.

   When talking about being laid off, he has a short fuse.

7. A friction match for smokers' use, having a bulbous head which when ignited is not easily blown out even in a gale of wind.
8. A kind of match made of paper impregnated with niter and having the usual igniting tip.

Usage notes

Professional publications about explosives and munitions distinguish the fuse and fuze spellings. The latter is preferred for the sense “mechanism that ignites the charge”.

Derived terms

• blow a fuse
• fusebox
• fuse wire
• short fuse

Translations

cord

• Bulgarian: фити́л m (fitíl)
• Catalan: metxa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 導火線 (zh), 导火线 (zh) (dǎohuǒxiàn), 導火索 (zh), 导火索 (zh) (dǎohuǒsuǒ), 導爆線 (zh), 导爆线 (zh) (dǎobàoxiàn)

• Czech: doutnák m
• Dutch: lont (nl) m or f
• Faroese: fjús n, krúttráður m
• Finnish: sytytyslanka (fi)
• French: cordeau (fr) m, mèche (fr)
• German: Zündschnur (de) f
• Greek: θρυαλλίδα (el) f (thryallída), φιτίλι (el) n (fitíli)
• Hungarian: gyújtózsinór (hu), kanóc (hu)
• Italian: miccia (it) f

• Japanese: 導火線 (どうかせん, dōkasen)
• Korean: 도화선 (dohwaseon)
• Malay: sumbu
• Maori: wiki
• Norwegian: lunte c
• Polish: lont (pl) m
• Portuguese: pavio (pt), rastilho (pt) m
• Russian: фити́ль (ru) m (fitílʹ), огнепрово́дный шнур m (ogneprovódnyj šnur)
• Serbo-Croatian: fìtīlj (sh) m
• Spanish: mecha (es) f
• Swedish: stubin (sv), stubintråd (sv)
• Thai: ชนวน (th) (chánuan)

device igniting charge

• Bulgarian: запа́лка (bg) f (zapálka)
• Catalan: espoleta f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 導火線 (zh), 导火线 (zh) (dǎohuǒxiàn), 信管 (zh) (xìnguǎn)

• Czech: doutnák m
• Dutch: lont (nl)
• Estonian: sütik
• Finnish: sytytin (fi)
• French: détonateur (fr) m
• German: Zünder (de) m
• Greek: θρυαλλίδα (el) f (thryallída), εμπύρευμα (el) n (empýrevma)
• Hungarian: gyutacs (hu)
• Irish: aidhnín m

• Italian: miccia (it) f, innesco (it) m, detonatore (it) m
• Japanese: 導火線 (どうかせん, dōkasen), 信管 (しんかん, shinkan)
• Malay: fius
• Maori: wiki
• Norwegian: tennsats m, fenghette c
• Polish: zapalnik m
• Portuguese: pavio (pt)
• Russian: запа́л (ru) m (zapál), детона́тор (ru) m (detonátor)
• Serbo-Croatian: upàljāč (sh) m
• Spanish: espoleta f
• Swedish: tändrör
• Tagalog: tunawin
• Thai: ชนวน (th) (chánuan)

device preventing overloading of a circuit

• Afrikaans: smeltdraad
• Basque: fusible
• Bulgarian: бушо́н (bg) m (bušón)
• Catalan: fusible (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 灰士 (fiu¹ si^6-2, fui¹ si^6-2), 保險絲, 保险丝 (bou² him² si¹) (formal)

  Mandarin: 保險絲 (zh), 保险丝 (zh) (bǎoxiǎnsī)

  Min Nan: 軟線 (zh-min-nan), 软线 (nńg-sòaⁿ) (Taiwan)

• Czech: pojistka (cs) f
• Danish: sikring c
• Dutch: zekering (nl)
• Faroese: sikring f
• Finnish: sulake (fi), varoke (fi)
• French: fusible (fr) m
• German: Sicherung (de) f
• Greek: τηκτασφάλεια f (tiktasfáleia)
• Hungarian: biztosíték (hu), olvadóbiztosító
• Ido: fuzeblo (io)
• Irish: fiús m
• Italian: fusibile (it) m
• Japanese: ヒューズ (hyūzu)

• Korean: 퓨즈 (pyujeu)
• Lithuanian: saugiklis m
• Malay: fius
• Maori: waea katiara
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sikring (no) m

  Nynorsk: sikring f or m

• Persian: فیوز‎ (fa) (fyuz)
• Polish: bezpiecznik (pl) m
• Portuguese: fusível (pt) m
• Russian: пла́вкий предохрани́тель m (plávkij predoxranítelʹ), про́бка (ru) f (próbka) (colloquial)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: osigùrāč (sh) m

• Slovak: poistky pl, poistka f
• Sotho: lethose, fiyusi
• Spanish: fusible (es) m
• Swedish: säkring (sv), propp (sv)
• Thai: ฟิวส์ (th) (fiw)
• Welsh: ffiws f, ffiwsen f

indicating tendency to lose temper

• Catalan: corda (ca) f
• Finnish: pinna (fi)

• Hungarian: hirtelen harag, türelmetlenség, (have a short fuse): könnyen dühbe gurul, (have a short fuse): könnyen begurul

Etymology 2

Back-formation from fusion (“to melt”).

Verb

fuse (third-person singular simple present fuses, present participle fusing, simple past and past participle fused)

1. (transitive) To melt together; to blend; to mix indistinguishably.
2. (intransitive) To melt together.
3. To furnish with or install a fuse.
4. (organic chemistry) To form a bicyclic compound from two similar or different types of ring such that two or more atoms are shared between the resulting rings

Synonyms

• (mix indistinguishably): See also Thesaurus:homogenize
• (melt together): meld, smelt

Translations

transitive: to melt together

• Bulgarian: стапям (bg) (stapjam)
• Catalan: fondre (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 熔化 (zh) (rónghuà), 混合 (zh) (hùnhé)

• Dutch: versmelten (nl)
• Finnish: sulauttaa
• French: fondre (fr)
• German: verschmelzen (de)
• Greek: τήκω (el) (tíko), λιώνω (el) (lióno)

• Hebrew: מִזֵּג‎ (he) (mizzég)
• Italian: fondere (it)
• Manx: co-lheie
• Polish: stopić (pl), połączyć (pl)
• Portuguese: fundir (pt)
• Russian: сплавля́ть (ru) impf (splavljátʹ)
• Spanish: fundir (es)
• Swedish: sammansmälta

intransitive: to melt together

• Bulgarian: топя се (topja se)
• Catalan: fondre (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 熔化 (zh) (rónghuà), 混合 (zh) (hùnhé)

• Dutch: samensmelten (nl)
• Finnish: sulautua (fi)
• French: fusionner (fr)

• German: verschmelzen (de)
• Greek: τήκομαι (tíkomai)
• Hebrew: הִתְמַזֵּג‎ (hitmazzég)
• Italian: fondersi
• Manx: co-lheie
• Russian: сплавля́ться (ru) impf (splavljátʹsja)
• Swedish: sammansmälta

transitive: to furnish with a fuse

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 裝引信, 装引信 (zhuāng xìnguǎn)

• Dutch: smelten (nl)

• German: absichern (de)
• Swedish: säkra (sv)

Anagrams

• feus

---

French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: fusent, fuses

Verb

fuse

1. first-person singular present indicative of fuser
2. third-person singular present indicative of fuser
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of fuser
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of fuser
5. second-person singular imperative of fuser

---

Italian

Adjective

fuse

1. Feminine plural of adjective fuso.

Noun

fuse f pl

1. plural of fusa

Participle

fuse f pl

1. feminine plural of fuso

Verb

fuse

1. third-person singular past historic of fondere

---

Latin

Participle

fūse

1. vocative masculine singular of fūsus

References

• fuse in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• fuse in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• fuse in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

---

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [fuˈse]

Verb

fuse

1. third-person singular simple perfect indicative of fi: he/she has been

Synonyms

• fu (informal)

---

Venetian

Verb

fuse

1. first-person singular imperfect subjunctive of èser
2. third-person singular imperfect subjunctive of èser
3. third-person plural imperfect subjunctive of èser