fuse

¹ American  

[fyooz] / fjuz /

noun

1. a tube, cord, or the like, filled or saturated with combustible matter, for igniting an explosive.

2. fuze.

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verb (used with object)

fused, fusing

1. fuze.

idioms

1. have a short fuse, to anger easily; have a quick temper.

fuse ² American  

[fyooz] / fjuz /

noun

1. Electricity. a protective device, used in an electric circuit, containing a conductor that melts under heat produced by an excess current, thereby opening the circuit.

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verb (used with object)

fused, fusing

1. to combine or blend by melting together; melt.

2. to unite or blend into a whole, as if by melting together.

   The author skillfully fuses these fragments into a cohesive whole.

verb (used without object)

fused, fusing

1. to become liquid under the action of heat; melt.

   At a relatively low temperature the metal will fuse.

2. to become united or blended.

   The two groups fused to create one strong union.

3. Chiefly British. to overload an electric circuit so as to burn out a fuse.

idioms

1. blow a fuse, to lose one's temper; become enraged.

   If I'm late again, they'll blow a fuse.

fuse ¹ British  

/ fjuːz /

verb

1. to unite or become united by melting, esp by the action of heat

   to fuse borax and copper sulphate at a high temperature

2. to become or cause to become liquid, esp by the action of heat; melt

3. to join or become combined; integrate

4. (tr) to equip (an electric circuit, plug, etc) with a fuse

5. to fail or cause to fail as a result of the blowing of a fuse

   the lights fused

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noun

1. a protective device for safeguarding electric circuits, etc, containing a wire that melts and breaks the circuit when the current exceeds a certain value

fuse ² British  

/ fjuːz /

noun

1. a lead of combustible black powder in a waterproof covering ( safety fuse ), or a lead containing an explosive ( detonating fuse ), used to fire an explosive charge

2. any device by which an explosive charge is ignited

3. See blow 1

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verb

1. (tr) to provide or equip with such a fuse

fuse Scientific  

/ fyo̅o̅z /

1. A safety device that protects an electric circuit from becoming overloaded. Fuses contain a length of thin wire (usually of a metal alloy) that melts and breaks the circuit if too much current flows through it. They were traditionally used to protect electronic equipment and prevent fires, but have largely been replaced by circuit breakers.

2. A cord of readily combustible material that is lighted at one end to carry a flame along its length to detonate an explosive at the other end.

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1. To melt something, such as metal or glass, by heating.

2. To blend two or more substances by melting.

fuse More Idioms  

1. see blow a fuse.

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Usage

What is a basic definition of fuse? Fuse means to unite or blend together. Fuse also refers to a protective device in an electrical current and to a tube or cord used to light explosives. Fuse is used in metalworking and similar industries to refer to combining metals by melting them down into liquids. In everyday use, fuse is used figuratively to mean to combine or unite anything as if they were melted together. For example, a band might fuse metal and electronic music to make a unique sound. Something that has been made by fusing things together is called a fusion.

• Real-life examples: Copper scraps can be fused together to make wires. Science fiction often fuses real science with fictional ideas. A mad scientist might fuse animals together to make monsters.
• Used in a sentence: The two kingdoms fused together to create a powerful nation. 

As a noun, fuse refers to a safety device designed to protect electrical equipment from melting or catching on fire. A fuse usually resembles a small rod or wire that is designed to melt from the heat of an electrical current that is moving too fast. Once the fuse melts, the electrical circuit is broken. This stops the current from moving and protects the more expensive or dangerous equipment from melting or catching on fire. Fuses are an extremely common safety device (alongside circuit breakers) and are usually kept in a fuse box located in a remote part of a house or building. The phrase blow a fuse comes from this sense of fuse.

• Real-life examples: Your house may have a fuse box that you can open to replace damaged fuses. Electronic devices such as televisions and computers almost always have fuses to prevent fires or explosions caused by electricity.
• Used in a sentence: The computer technician had to replace several blown fuses in the motherboard.  

The word fuse also refers to a cord, wire, rope, or similar object that is lit on fire in order to ignite an explosive. The purpose of a fuse is to delay an explosion.

• Real-life examples: Almost all fireworks have fuses to prevent them from exploding immediately, such as in a person’s hand. An explosive weapon such as a bomb might have a fuse so the user can run away before it explodes. Explosives used in manufacturing or mining, such as dynamite, may also have fuses for the same reason.
• Used in a sentence: She lit the fuse of the giant firecracker. 

Synonym Usage

See melt ¹.

Other Word Forms

• fuseless
  adjective
• fuselike
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of fuse¹

First recorded in 1640–50; from Italian fuso, from Latin fūsus “spindle” (i.e., a spindle-shaped tube filled with combustible matter)

Origin of fuse²

First recorded in 1675–85 for the verb; from Latin fūsus “melted, poured, cast,” past participle of fundere

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Explanation

A fuse is something that burns in order to ignite a bomb. Do you see anything near you that resembles a bundle of dynamite sticks with a fuse burning down? If so, stop reading this and GET OUT OF HERE! Figuratively, if you say that someone has a short fuse, it means they get angry easily. If someone gets so angry they lose their temper, you can say that they blew a fuse. But this comes from another meaning of fuse — a device that interrupts the flow of electrical current so the system doesn’t get overloaded. If you use the toaster, microwave and dishwasher at the same time, you might literally blow a fuse. As a verb, if two things fuse, they blend or stick together.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fuse fused fusing

He said on the first occasion Peden visited he changed the socket and the fuse, and on the second "it was just the fuse".

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Or someone lit the fuse a day early.

From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026

It always finds a way to reinvent itself — to become more daring, to fuse and bastardize.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

Black persists in his brush drawings of the late 1940s—sumptuous, if monochromatic, ink-on-paper works, like 1948’s “Interior With Window and Palm,” that seem to fuse painting and drawing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

Glaring at me, he rushed to the cannon, knocking it askew in his haste, and thrust the touchwood against the fuse.

From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood

My earliest product ideas, dreamed up more than 60 years ago, fused physics and the culinary arts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

By the time Coralie Fargeat’s 2024 “The Substance” reaches its gloriously grotesque climax, Demi Moore’s Elisabeth Sparkle and Margaret Qualley’s Sue have effectively fused into the spectacularly deformed creature known as Monstro Elisasue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

They offer deinfibulation - a procedure that can be carried out during pregnancy that to separate fused tissue and enable safer births.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

Flatworms are highly effective at rebuilding their own bodies, but these fused "Frankenstein" worms rejected tissue from unrelated individuals.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

He had more heads than I could count, as if a hundred deadly pythons had been fused together.

From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan

Specialists were able to identify Nancy's condition, which is caused by parts of the skull fusing together before birth, merely by visual observation and she was then offered reconstructive surgery on the NHS.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

He’s more positive about robotic brains becoming better at fusing multiple sources of data and turning that into action toward the end of this decade.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 5, 2026

Mr. Ross processes his voice with a bit of distortion to make it sound like a bullhorn, fusing his vocals with the guitars and typically keeping his singing low in the mix.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

The narrative conjures meaning from the Los Angeles cityscape by fusing a hodgepodge of textbook theories about the sprawling metropolis onto the gritty reality of daily life.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026

During most of its life, a star is in an uneasy equilibrium: the propensity to collapse under its own gravity is balanced by the energy that comes from the fusing hydrogen in its center.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

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Related Words

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• weld

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