flue en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /fljuː/ (obsolete)
- audio Multicultural British English
- /fluː/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /flu/ (Canada, General-American)
- /flʉː/ (Australia, New-Zealand)
- (Southern-England) audio
- [flʉː] (Received-Pronunciation) goose-fronting
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”).
Meanings
-
A pipe or duct that carries gaseous combustion products away from the point of combustion (such as a furnace).
It has frequently been a subject of inquiry, whether the ancients were acquainted with chimneys, or open fire-places. In the houses discovered at Herculaneum and Pompeii, there are no chimneys; they all appear to have been warmed by furnaces and flues.
1815, Robertson Buchanan, A Treatise on the Economy of Fuel, and Management of Heat, Especially as it Relates to Heating and Drying by Means of Steam, Appendix, p. 307.:Besides the usual run of machines, planers, millers, automatics, centre lathes, cranes, etc., there were several power stations, the rolling mills for strip material and for 60 ft. rails, and all the steel furnaces with their complicated systems of flues. If variety is the spice of life, then there was plenty here.
1944 November and December, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 341:
- An enclosed passageway in which to direct a current of air or other gases along.
- (countable, obsolete, uncountable) A woolly or downy substance; down, nap; a piece of this.
- In an organ flue pipe, the opening between the lower lip and the languet.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| flues | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
fluey · multiflue · flue stop · fluework · hot-flue · flueless · open flue · flued · flue gas · flue-faker · fluelike · flue pipe · balanced flue · fluff
Translations (32)
fi savuhormi (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · hu kürtő (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · it scarico (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · gl tiro (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · it tubo di scarico (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · mk вула (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · sh сулунар (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · ba мөрйә (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · da røgrør (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · ru дымохо́д (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · fr conduit (enclosed passageway for a gas) · it condotta (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · fi hormi (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · ru жарова́я труба́ (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · it canna fumaria (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · cs kouřovod (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · de Abzug (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · de Dunstabzug (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · fi savukanava (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · fi putki (enclosed passageway for a gas) · ca canó (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · fi kanava (enclosed passageway for a gas) · es humero (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · de Rauchabzug (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · fr conduit (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · bg димоотвод (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · cs sopouch (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · sh сулундар (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · ca fumeral (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · et lõõr (enclosed passageway for a gas) · et lõõr (pipe that carries gaseous combustion products away from their origin) · ca canó (enclosed passageway for a gas)