What does fuse mean?
Word: Fuse
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Fuse means a small safety part in an electric plug or machine, with a thin wire inside that melts and stops the current if too much electricity flows.
How do you spell fuse?
Syllables: fuse
Tricky part: The whole 'you' sound in the middle is made by a single letter u. Children who spell by ear often write ew or yu there instead.
Watch out for: fewse, fyuse
Memory tip: Think of the letter u as the little wire inside: one thin u, standing alone, is all it takes to carry the 'you' sound.
Fuse in a sentence
Example 1: When the toaster stopped working, Dad checked whether the fuse in the plug had gone.
Example 2: Our neighbour, who repairs fans and lights, showed us where the spare fuse was kept.
Example 3: A fuse is there to keep the wires in a house from getting too hot.
Fun Fact
Most plugs in Britain have a small fuse inside the plug itself, which is unusual: plugs in most other countries, including the United States, do not.
Practise the CREST Way
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
sefu
a) fuse
b) fume
c) focus
d) fuel
Show answer
a) fuse. Fuel, fume and focus each bring in a letter that is not in the jumble.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
_u_e
a) f, s
b) v, s
c) v, c
d) f, c
Show answer
a) f, s. It begins like fan and fix, and its middle sound is the buzzy s heard in rose and nose.
Word Makeup
Choose the prefix that completes the word:
fuse
a) conn
b) con
c) kon
d) cun
Show answer
b) con. When two things get mixed up in your mind, they confuse you.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) battery
b) socket
c) fuse
d) electrisity
Show answer
d) electrisity. The sound before the ending is a soft c, the same letter that starts the word city.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What is most likely to happen when the fuse in a plug melts?
a) the machine stops working
b) the bulbs shine more brightly
c) the machine runs much faster
d) the wires carry more power
Show answer
a) the machine stops working
2. Who would you call to fit a new fuse box in a house?
a) a gardener
b) a carpenter
c) an electrician
d) a plumber
Show answer
c) an electrician
