FUSE


Meaning of FUSE in English

/ fjuːz; NAmE / noun , verb

■ noun

1.

a small wire or device inside a piece of electrical equipment that breaks and stops the current if the flow of electricity is too strong :

to change a fuse

Check whether a fuse has blown.

2.

a long piece of string or paper which is lit to make a bomb or a firework explode

3.

( NAmE also fuze ) a device that makes a bomb explode when it hits sth or at a particular time :

He set the fuse to three minutes.

The bombs inside were on a one-hour fuse.

IDIOMS

see blow verb , short noun

■ verb

1.

when one thing fuses with another, or two things fuse or are fused , they are joined together to form a single thing :

[ v ]

As they heal, the bones will fuse together.

Our different ideas fused into a plan.

The sperm fuses with the egg to begin the process of fertilization.

[ vn ]

The two companies have been fused into a single organization.

Atoms of hydrogen are fused to make helium.

2.

[ v , vn ] ( technical ) when a substance, especially metal, fuses , or you fuse it, it is heated until it melts

3.

( BrE ) to stop working or to make sth stop working because a fuse melts :

[ v ]

The lights have fused.

[ vn ]

I've fused the lights.

4.

[ vn ] [ usually passive ] to put a fuse in a circuit or in a piece of equipment :

Is this plug fused?

••

WORD ORIGIN

verb and noun sense 1 late 16th cent.: from Latin fus- poured, melted, from the verb fundere .

noun senses 2 to 3 mid 17th cent.: from Italian fuso , from Latin fusus spindle.

Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь для изучающик язык на продвинутом уровне.