Fume
noun, verb ·1 syllable ·Common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 A gas or vapour/vapor that is strong-smelling or dangerous to inhale.
"Don't stand around in there breathing the fumes while the adhesive cures."
- 2 a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas wordnet
- 3 A material that has been vaporized from the solid or liquid state to the gas state and re-coalesced to the solid state.
"Lead fume is a greyish powder, mainly comprising lead sulfate."
- 4 Rage or excitement which deprives the mind of self-control.
"The Fumes of his Passion do as really intoxicate and confound his judging and discerning Faculty , as the Fumes of Drink discompose and stupify the Brain of a Man over - charged with it."
- 5 Anything unsubstantial or airy; idle conceit; vain imagination.
"a show of fumes and fancies"
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- 6 The incense of praise; inordinate flattery.
"to smother him with fumes and eulogies"
- 7 A passionate person. obsolete
- 1 To expose (something) to fumes; specifically, to expose wood, etc., to ammonia in order to produce dark tints. transitive
- 2 be wet with sweat or blood, as of one's face wordnet
- 3 To apply or offer incense to. transitive
"Tyrian garbs, / Neptunian Albion's high teſtaceous food [i.e., oysters], / And flavour'd Chian wines with incenſe fum'd / To ſlake Patrician thirſt: for theſe, their rights / In the vile ſtreets they proſtitute to ſale; / Their ancient rights, their dignities, their laws, / Their native glorious freedom."
- 4 be mad, angry, or furious wordnet
- 5 To emit fumes. intransitive
"where the golden altar fumed"
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- 6 treat with fumes, expose to fumes, especially with the aim of disinfecting or eradicating pests wordnet
- 7 To pass off in fumes or vapours. intransitive
"whose parts are kept from fuming away, not only by their fixity[…]"
- 8 emit a cloud of fine particles wordnet
- 9 To express or feel great anger. figuratively
"He’s still fuming about the argument they had yesterday."
- 10 To be as in a mist; to be dulled and stupefied. figuratively, intransitive
"Keep his brain fuming."
Example
More examples"Don't just sit there and fume. Tell me what's wrong."
Etymology
From Middle English fume, from Old French fum (“smoke, steam, vapour”), from Latin fūmus (“vapour, smoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂mós (“smoke”), from *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust”). Doublet of thymus and thymos. More at dun, dusk, dust.
Related phrases
More for "fume"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.