fuse

n. [ For fusee, fusil. See 2d Fusil. ] (Gunnery, Mining, etc.) 1. A tube or casing filled with combustible matter, by means of which a charge of powder is ignited, as in blasting; -- called also fuzee. See Fuze. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fuse hole, the hole in a shell prepared for the reception of the fuse. Farrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mil.) a mechanism in a bomb, torpedo, rocket, or artillery shell, usually having an easily detonated explosive charge and activated by the shock of impact, which detonates the main explosive charge. Some fuses may have timing mechanisms, delaying the explosion for a short time, or up to several days after impact. Fuses activated by other mechanisms more sophisticated than impact, such as proximity or heat, are used in modern weapons such as antiaircraft or antimissile missiles. [ PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Fused p. pr. & vb. n. Fusing. ] [ L. fusus, p. p. of fundere to pour, melt, cast. See Foundo to cast, and cf. Futile. ] 1. To liquefy by heat; to render fluid; to dissolve; to melt. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To unite or blend, as if melted together. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whose fancy fuses old and new. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. joined together into a whole.
Syn. -- amalgamate, amalgamated, coalesced, consolidated. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ See 2d Fusil, and cf. Fuse, n. ] 1. A flintlock gun. See 2d Fusil. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A fuse. See Fuse, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (a) A friction match for smokers' use having a bulbous head which when ignited is not easily blown out even in a gale of wind. (b) A kind of match made of paper impregnated with niter and having the usual igniting tip. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

4. A signal device, usually cylindrical, consisting of a tube filled with a composition which burns with a bright colored light for a definite time. It is used principally for the protection of trains or road vehicles, indicating an obstruction or accident ahead. Also called a flare or railroad flare. [ PJC ]

n. [ F. fusée a spindleful, fusee, LL. fusata, fr. fusare to use a spindle, L. fusus spindle. ] (a) The cone or conical wheel of a watch or clock, designed to equalize the power of the mainspring by having the chain from the barrel which contains the spring wind in a spiral groove on the surface of the cone in such a manner that the diameter of the cone at the point where the chain acts may correspond with the degree of tension of the spring. (b) A similar wheel used in other machinery.

n. [ Etymol. uncertain. ] The track of a buck. Ainsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. fusel spindle-shaped + -age; fr. L. fusus spindle. ] (Aëronautics) The central, approximately cylindrical portion of an airplane which carries the passengers, crew, and cargo. It usually forms the main structural portion of an airplane, and to it are typically attached the wings, tail, and sometimes the engines. In single-propeller airplanes, the propeller is typically fixed at the front of the fuselage, although variants have been produced with the propeller at the rear. Some airplanes have no fuselage, properly so called.
Syn. -- body. [ PJC ]

n., . [ G. fusel bad liquor. ] (Chem.) A hot, acrid, oily liquid, accompanying many alcoholic liquors (as potato whisky, corn whisky, etc.), as an undesirable ingredient, and consisting of several of the higher alcohols and compound ethers, but mostly of amyl alcohol; hence, amyl alcohol or a mixture of amyl alcohols. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]