defuse
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /diːˈfjuːz/
- Rhymes: -uːz
Verb
defuse (third-person singular simple present defuses, present participle defusing, simple past and past participle defused)
- (transitive) To remove the fuse from (a bomb, etc.).
- (transitive) To make less dangerous, tense, or hostile.
- to defuse a hostage situation
Usage notes
The words defuse and diffuse are sometimes confused.
Translations
to remove the fuse from a bomb
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to make something less dangerous
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Etymology 2
Compare diffuse.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dɪˈfjuːz/
- Rhymes: -uːz
- Homophones: diffuse
Verb
defuse (third-person singular simple present defuses, present participle defusing, simple past and past participle defused)
- (obsolete) To disorder; to make shapeless.
- 1605, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King Lear, I. iv. 2:
- If but as well I other accents borrow / That can my speech defuse,
- 1605, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King Lear, I. iv. 2:
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