flue

[floo]

See more synonyms for flue on Thesaurus.com

noun

a passage or duct for smoke in a chimney.
any duct or passage for air, gas, or the like.
a tube, especially a large one, in a fire-tube boiler.

Music.
1. flue pipe.
2. Also called windway.a narrow slit in the upper end of an organ pipe through which the air current is directed.

Origin of flue

1555–65; earlier flew, perhaps representing Old English flēwsa a flowing, the form flews being taken as plural

Can be confusedflew flu flue

flue

[floo]

noun

downy matter; fluff.

Origin of flue

1580–90; perhaps to be identified with Old English flug- (in flugol swift, fleeting); akin to fly¹. Compare Low German flug

flue

or flew

[floo]

noun

a fishing net.

Origin of flue

1350–1400; Middle English flowe; compare Middle Dutch vluwe fishing net

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for flue

duct, chimney, vent, tube, channel, passage

Examples from the Web for flue

Historical Examples of flue

The chimney-pot to which he had to fix the flue was in the middle of the roof.
L'Assommoir
Emile Zola
Dirty finger-prints were on the hall-windows, flue and rubbish on its unwashed boards.
Howards End
E. M. Forster
Anyway I got doubled up somehow; and that's the reason I stuck in the flue.
Phil Bradley's Mountain Boys
Silas K. Boone
In these days, how common is it to provide rooms with only a flue for a stove!
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 85, November, 1864
Various
The cross-section area of the flue is likely to prove the most common difficulty.
Making a Fireplace
Henry H. Saylor

British Dictionary definitions for flue

flue

noun

a shaft, tube, or pipe, esp as used in a chimney, to carry off smoke, gas, etc
music the passage in an organ pipe or flute within which a vibrating air column is set upSee also flue pipe

Word Origin for flue

C16: of unknown origin

flue

noun

loose fluffy matter; down

Word Origin for flue

C16: from Flemish vluwe, from Old French velu shaggy

flue

flew

noun

a type of fishing net

Word Origin for flue

Middle English, from Middle Dutch vlūwe

flue

⁴

noun

another word for fluke 1 (def. 1), fluke 1

Derived Formsflued, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for flue

"smoke channel in a chimney," 1580s, perhaps related to 15c. word meaning "mouthpiece of a hunting horn," or perhaps from Old English flowan "to flow," and/or Old French fluie "stream."