Category:Fume

Fume, n. Etym: [L. fumus; akin to Skr. dh smoke, dh to shake, fan a flame, cf. Gr. fum smoke, F. fumée. 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. In a fume, in ill temper, esp. from impatience.

fume Fume, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fumed; p. pr. & vb. n. Fuming.] Etym: [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 pre 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 tame away, to give way to excitement and displeasure; to storm; also, to pass off in fumes.

fume Fume, e. 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.