Fume Meaning
/fjuːm/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA gas or vapour/vapor that is strong-smelling or dangerous to inhale.
nounA material that has been vaporized from the solid or liquid state to the gas state and re-coalesced to the solid state.
Sentence Examples
Don't just sit there and fume. Tell me what's wrong.
He speaks to me, I fume internally.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
She began to ____ after hearing the cruel insult from her boss.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The chemical spill caused a toxic ____ to rise from the floor, requiring the entire building to be evacuated.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"the fumes of new-shorn hay"
— 1753, Thomas Warton, Ode:
"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."
— 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
"In his execution of this mission, Mr Tinkler perhaps expressed that Mr Dorrit was in a raging fume."
— 1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC:
"a show of fumes and fancies"
— a. 1627 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “Considerations Touching a Warre with Spaine. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany Works of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. […], London: […] I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, […], published 1629, →OCLC:
"to smother him with fumes and eulogies"
— 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She began to ____ after hearing the cruel insult from her boss.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The chemical spill caused a toxic ____ to rise from the floor, requiring the entire building to be evacuated.