defuse

English

Etymology 1

From de- +‎ fuse.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /diːˈfjuːz/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Rhymes: -uːz

Verb

defuse (third-person singular simple present defuses, present participle defusing, simple past and past participle defused)

  1. (transitive) To remove the fuse from (e.g. a bomb).
    • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Noveria:
      Shepard: I wear a lot of hats, Mr. Vargas. Some days I shut down criminals. Some days I defuse nukes. Some days I like to enjoy private vices. You understand me?
  2. (transitive, figurative) To make less dangerous, tense, or hostile.
    to defuse a hostage situation
    • 2008 April 4, Michael Moss, “Rising Leader for Next Phase of Al Qaeda’s War”, in The New York Times‎[1]:
      In recent months, those tactics have come to include defensive maneuvers aimed at defusing the media counteroperations of the United States and its allies.
    • 2010, Edwin M. Truman, Sovereign Wealth Funds: Threat Or Salvation?, →ISBN, page 8:
      As a result of the Santiago Principles and other parallel efforts at education such as the SWF scoreboard that I have featured in my research, a substantial amount of distrust surrounding SWFs has been defused.
    • 2013 June 18, Simon Romero, “Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders”, in New York Times, retrieved 21 June 2013:
      Shaken by the biggest challenge to their authority in years, Brazil’s leaders made conciliatory gestures on Tuesday to try to defuse the protests engulfing the nation’s cities.
    • 2020, Alex Stitt, ACT for Gender Identity: The Comprehensive Guide‎[2], page 202:
      Defying this, Western queer culture actively defuses from cisnormative values, yet in so doing may also fuse with their new, queernormative value constructs.
Usage notes
  • May be confused with diffuse (“to spread through fluid”), especially the figurative sense.
Derived terms
Translations

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)

  1. (obsolete) To disorder; to make shapeless.
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