English Explanatory Dictionary

flue

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A pipe or duct that carries gaseous combustion products away from the point of combustion (such as a furnace).
  2. An enclosed passageway in which to direct a current of air or other gases along.
  3. A woolly or downy substance; down, nap; a piece of this.
  4. In an organ flue pipe, the opening between the lower lip and the languet.
adj
  1. Alternative form of flew (“shallow, flat”).

Pronunciation

/fluː/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-flue.wav /fljuː/

Word forms

flue flues more flue most flue

Etymology

From Middle English flue, flewe (“mouthpiece of a hunting horn”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps a back-formation from Middle English *flews (mistaken as a plural), from Old English flēwsa (“a flow, flowing, flux”). Alternatively, perhaps an alteration of Middle English floute, fleute, flote (“a pipe”), see English flute. Compare also Middle Dutch vloegh (“groove, channel, flute of a fluted column”).

Related words

flue whale

Derived words

balanced flue flued flue-faker flue gas flueless fluelike flue pipe flue stop fluework fluey fluff hot-flue multiflue open flue
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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