(esp formerly) a match for lighting cigars; fusee
another name for vesuvianite
First recorded in 1665–75; Vesuvi(us) + -an
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One of the more remarkable findings was the product of pure scholarship: Mr. Goddio remembered a fresco he’d seen unearthed in Herculaneum, the city buried along with Pompeii by the Vesuvian eruption of A.D.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 14, 2025
Now, the diggers are progressively pulling away the volcanic ash and pea-sized stones, known as lapilli that smothered Pompeii during the two catastrophic days of the Vesuvian eruption.
From BBC • Jul. 18, 2023
The scientists behind the September study possibly hinting at life in the Vesuvian clouds based their findings on the presence of the toxic gas phosphine.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 28, 2021
Open runner-up went Vesuvian on his more youthful peers who struggled during the third round when freshening winds and firm greens made a few holes exceedingly difficult.
From Golf Digest • Jun. 28, 2018
A Vesuvian explosion seemed to heave in his capacious bosom, and found vent in a furious roar.
From The Prairie Chief by Ballantyne, R. M. (Robert Michael)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
