Fuse

Definitions

1. A device to prevent excessive overcurrent from overload or short circuit in an electrical circuit, containing a component that melts and interrupts the current when too high a load is passed through it.
2. A cord that, when lit, conveys the fire to some explosive device, such as a bomb.
3. An otherwise stable arbitrarily long repeating pattern that, when perturbed from one end, destructively carries that perturbation at a constant speed to the other end.
4. The mechanism that ignites the charge in an explosive device; a detonator.
5. A tendency to lose one's temper.
   figuratively
6. A kind of match for starting a fire:
7. A friction match for smokers' use, having a bulbous head which when ignited is not easily blown out even in a gale of wind.
8. A match made of paper impregnated with niter and having the usual igniting tip.

Equivalents

Examples

“The Government, having lit the fuse, is not going to be allowed to flee⟳ the explosion.”

“When talking about being laid off, he has a short fuse.”

CEFR level