What is "fume"

Fume \Fume\ (f[=u]m), n. [L. fumus; akin to Skr. dh[=u]ma smoke, dh[=u] to shake, fan a flame, cf. Gr. qy`ein to sacrifice, storm, rage, qy`mon, qy`mos, thyme, and perh. to E. dust: cf. OF. fum smoke, F. fum['e]e. Cf. Dust, n., Femerell, Thyme.]

1. Exhalation; volatile matter (esp. noxious vapor or smoke) ascending in a dense body; smoke; vapor; reek; as, the fumes of tobacco.

   The fumes of new shorn hay.
   --T. Warton.

   The fumes of undigested wine.
   --Dryden.

2. Rage or excitement which deprives the mind of self-control; as, the fumes of passion.
   --South.

3. Anything vaporlike, unsubstantial, or airy; idle conceit; vain imagination.

   A show of fumes and fancies.
   --Bacon.

4. The incense of praise; inordinate flattery.

   To smother him with fumes and eulogies.
   --Burton.

5. (Metal.) Solid material deposited by condensation of fumes; as, lead fume (a grayish powder chiefly lead sulphate).

   In a fume, in ill temper, esp. from impatience.

Fume \Fume\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fumed; p. pr. & vb. n. Fuming.] [Cf. F. fumer, L. fumare to smoke. See Fume, n.]

1. To smoke; to throw off fumes, as in combustion or chemical action; to rise up, as vapor.

   Where the golden altar fumed.
   --Milton.

   Silenus lay, Whose constant cups lay fuming to his brain.
   --Roscommon.

2. To be as in a mist; to be dulled and stupefied.

   Keep his brain fuming.
   --Shak.

3. To pass off in fumes or vapors.

   Their parts are kept from fuming away by their fixity.
   --Cheyne.

4. To be in a rage; to be hot with anger.

   He frets, he fumes, he stares, he stamps the ground.
   --Dryden.

   While her mother did fret, and her father did fume.
   --Sir W. Scott.

   To fume away, to give way to excitement and displeasure; to storm; also, to pass off in fumes.

Fume \Fume\, v. t.

1. To expose to the action of fumes; to treat with vapors, smoke, etc.; as, to bleach straw by fuming it with sulphur; to fill with fumes, vapors, odors, etc., as a room.

   She fumed the temple with an odorous flame.
   --Dryden.

2. To praise inordinately; to flatter.

   They demi-deify and fume him so.
   --Cowper.

3. To throw off in vapor, or as in the form of vapor.

   The heat will fume away most of the scent.
   --Montimer.

   How vicious hearts fume frenzy to the brain!
   --Young.

late 14c., "vapor, odorous vapor; exhalation," from Old French fum "smoke, steam, vapor, breath, aroma, scent" (12c.), from Latin fumus "smoke, steam, fume, old flavor" (source also of Italian fumo, Spanish humo), from PIE *dheu- (1) "dust, vapor, smoke; to rise in a cloud, to fly about (like dust)" (cognates: Sanskrit dhumah, Old Church Slavonic dymu, Lithuanian dumai, Old Prussian dumis "smoke," Middle Irish dumacha "fog," Greek thymos "spirit, mind, soul"). In medieval physiology, an "exhalation" of the body that produces emotions, dreams, sloth, etc; later especially of smokes or vapors that go to the head and affect the senses with a narcotic or stifling quality.

c.1400, "to fumigate" (transitive), from Old French fumer "to smoke, burn" (12c.), from Latin fumare "to smoke, steam," from fumus "smoke, steam, fume" (see fume (n.)). Intransitive meaning "throw off smoke, emit vapor" is from 1530s; the figurative sense "show anger, be irritated" is slightly earlier (1520s). Related: Fumed; fumes; fuming.

n. 1 A gas or vapour/vapor that smells strongly or is dangerous to inhale. Fumes are solid particles formed by condensation from the gaseous state, e.g. metal oxides from volatilized metals. They can flocculate and coalesce. Their particle size is between 0.1 and 1 micron. (A micron is one millionth of a metre) 2 A material that has been vaporized from the solid state to the gas state and re-coalesced to the solid state. 3 Rage or excitement which deprives the mind of self-control. 4 Anything unsubstantial or airy; idle conceit; vain imagination. 5 The incense of praise; inordinate flattery. vb. 1 To emit fumes. 2 To expose something (especially wood) to ammonia fumes in order to produce dark tints. 3 To feel or express great anger. 4 To be as in a mist; to be dulled and stupefied. 5 To pass off in fumes or vapours.

1. v. be mad, angry, or furious

2. emit a cloud of fine particles; "The chimney was fuming" [syn: smoke]

3. treat with fumes, expose to fumes, especially with the aim of disinfecting or eradicating pests [syn: fumigate]

4. be wet with sweat or blood, as of one's face [syn: reek]

n. a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas [syn: smoke]

Fume, fumes or fumed may refer to:

• Combustion gas, smoke
• Vapor
• Fume (grape), another name for the French wine grape Sauvignon blanc
  • Pouilly-Fumé, French wine region in the Loire Valley that produces wine from Sauvignon blanc
• Fifi La Fume, a cartoon character from the animated television series Tiny Toon Adventures
• Pere Fume (21st century), Canadian musician
• Silica fume, a fine-grain, thin, and very high surface area silica
• Ammonia fuming, a wood finishing process
• "Fumes", a song on the album None Shall Pass by Aesop Rock
• Fune and funeral.