fuse /fjuːz/verb 8noun 7forms 3phrases 3 verb8 •To melt together; to blend; to mix indistinguishably.That each, who seems a separate whole, Should move his rounds, and fusing all The skirts of self again, should fall Remerging in the general Soul, Is faith as vague as all unsweet: […] — 1850 •To melt together. •To stop operating, having been protected against overcurrent by its fuse blowing.When the bath overflowed, the downstairs lights fused, so we need a torch. •To combine through nuclear fusion. •To liquify by heat; melt.Pure sodium is a lustrous metal... it fuses very easily at a temperature of 97°, and distils at a bright red heat (742°...) — 1891 •To furnish with or install a fuse in (a circuit) to protect against overcurrent. •To furnish with a fuse, to install a fuse on. •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. noun7 •A device to prevent excessive overcurrent from overload or short circuit in an electrical circuit, containing a component that melts and interrupts the current when too high a load is passed through it. •A wick or cord used to convey flame to gunpowder, a bomb, or similar explosive.The Government, having lit the fuse, is not going to be allowed to flee the explosion. — 1962 •(figurative) A tendency to lose one's temper.When talking about being laid off, he has a short fuse. •A kind of match for starting a fire. •A friction match for smokers' use, having a bulbous head which when ignited is not easily blown out even in a gale of wind. •A match made of paper impregnated with niter and having the usual igniting tip. •An otherwise stable arbitrarily long repeating pattern that, when perturbed from one end, destructively carries that perturbation at a constant speed to the other end. formsfused · fusing · fuses Phrases with fuse blow a fuseTo overload a circuit sufficiently that a fuse protecting it melts away (or informally a circuit breaker trips), stopping current from flowing. long fuseThe personality trait of being slow to anger. short fuseThe personality trait of being quick to anger.
