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flue1

[floo]
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noun
  1. a passage or duct for smoke in a chimney.
  2. any duct or passage for air, gas, or the like.
  3. a tube, especially a large one, in a fire-tube boiler.
  4. 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.
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Origin of flue1

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

flue2

[floo]
noun
  1. downy matter; fluff.
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Origin of flue2

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

flue3

or flew

[floo]
noun
  1. a fishing net.
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Origin of flue3

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

Examples from the Web for flue

Historical Examples

  • 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.

  • In these days, how common is it to provide rooms with only a flue for a stove!

  • 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

flue1

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

C16: of unknown origin

flue2

noun
  1. loose fluffy matter; down
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Word Origin

C16: from Flemish vluwe, from Old French velu shaggy

flue3

flew

noun
  1. a type of fishing net
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Word Origin

Middle English, from Middle Dutch vlūwe

flue4

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

n.

"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."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper