1
a
: a smoke, vapor, or gas especially when irritating or offensive
engine exhaust fumes
b
: an often noxious suspension of particles in a gas (such as air)
2
: something (such as an emotion) that impairs one's reasoning
sometimes his head gets a little hot with the fumes of patriotism—
Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold3
: a state of excited irritation or anger
—usually used in the phrase in a fume
fumed; fuming
1
: to expose to or treat with fumes
2
: to give off in fumes
fuming thick black smoke
3
: to utter while in a state of excited irritation or anger
1
a
: to emit fumes
b
: to be in a state of excited irritation or anger
fretted and fumed over the delay
2
: to rise in or as if in fumes
Synonyms
Examples of fume in a Sentence
Verb
She's still fuming about not being invited to the party.
We sat there waiting for him, fuming with anger at the delay.
“They made these changes without even asking our opinion,” one employee fumed.
The volcano was fuming thick black smoke.
Recent Examples on the WebEric Lach, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Those who work from home consume much less gasoline, avoid traffic jams and overall produce less exhaust fumes.
—Leonard Martin Schmedding, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
It can be found in fumes produced by burning fuel in vehicles, small engines, stoves, lanterns, grills, fireplaces, gas ranges, or furnaces.
—USA TODAY, 18 Jan. 2024
Funnels are essentially used as smokestacks or chimneys to expel fumes and engine exhaust.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 25 Mar. 2024
To date, studies of female nonsmokers in Asia have identified risk factors such as cooking oil fumes, secondhand smoke, air pollution and indoor heating with coal, but no research has focused on Asian American women, Gomez said.
—Simar Bajaj, NBC News, 7 Mar. 2024
Officials have also raised concerns that toxic fumes are drifting into neighboring communities and polluted water has been discharged into nearby waterways due to heavy rains.
—Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2024
Inhaling carbon monoxide fumes prevents the body from using oxygen properly, which can harm organs, including the brain and heart.
—USA TODAY, 18 Jan. 2024
On March 6, fumes detected in the cabin of a Boeing 737-800 Alaska Airlines flight destined for Phoenix caused pilots to head back to the Portland airport.
—Claire Rush, Fortune, 16 Mar. 2024
Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 21 Mar. 2024
On the day of the visit, the increasingly unhinged Eva hovers outside the room, fuming.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 22 Feb. 2024
Kansas City was frustrated, and no one fumed more than star tight end Travis Kelce.
Kelce, after a massive Isiah Pacheco fumble early in the second quarter, berated Andy Reid on the sidelines.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 12 Feb. 2024
Trump, who left the Manhattan courtroom before the verdict was read, fumed on social media and vowed to appeal the jury's decision.
—Aysha Bagchi, USA TODAY, 26 Jan. 2024
In 2016, Bernie Sanders supporters fumed at the structure of the caucus that allowed Hillary Clinton to win in spite of Sanders possibly having had more votes.
—Dan McLaughlin, National Review, 16 Jan. 2024
Sinclair said the crowd — some of whom had traveled even farther, from England or northern Scotland — was fuming.
—Daniel Wu, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024
Dan Campbell is still probably fuming at how his team lost to the Dallas Cowboys on the controversial referee call.
—USA TODAY, 3 Jan. 2024
The decision, which found that Musk’s control over Tesla’s board led it to grant him an unfairly lavish compensation deal, left Musk fuming.
—Rachel Lerman, Washington Post, 19 Feb. 2024
Noun
When the stations were being built, during Mike Bloomberg’s and Bill de Blasio’s mayoral administrations, hundreds of residents protested, fearing mess, smell, and exhaust fumes.
—Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Those who work from home consume much less gasoline, avoid traffic jams and overall produce less exhaust fumes.
—Leonard Martin Schmedding, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
It can be found in fumes produced by burning fuel in vehicles, small engines, stoves, lanterns, grills, fireplaces, gas ranges, or furnaces.
—USA TODAY, 18 Jan. 2024
Funnels are essentially used as smokestacks or chimneys to expel fumes and engine exhaust.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 25 Mar. 2024
To date, studies of female nonsmokers in Asia have identified risk factors such as cooking oil fumes, secondhand smoke, air pollution and indoor heating with coal, but no research has focused on Asian American women, Gomez said.
—Simar Bajaj, NBC News, 7 Mar. 2024
Officials have also raised concerns that toxic fumes are drifting into neighboring communities and polluted water has been discharged into nearby waterways due to heavy rains.
—Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2024
Inhaling carbon monoxide fumes prevents the body from using oxygen properly, which can harm organs, including the brain and heart.
—USA TODAY, 18 Jan. 2024
On March 6, fumes detected in the cabin of a Boeing 737-800 Alaska Airlines flight destined for Phoenix caused pilots to head back to the Portland airport.
—Claire Rush, Fortune, 16 Mar. 2024
Verb
Meanwhile, certain irritations exceed the boundaries of workplace settings; Whether at home or in the office, workers fume at colleagues taking credit for their work (46%), talking over them (36%), and micromanaging (34%).
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 21 Mar. 2024
On the day of the visit, the increasingly unhinged Eva hovers outside the room, fuming.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 22 Feb. 2024
Kansas City was frustrated, and no one fumed more than star tight end Travis Kelce.
Kelce, after a massive Isiah Pacheco fumble early in the second quarter, berated Andy Reid on the sidelines.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 12 Feb. 2024
Trump, who left the Manhattan courtroom before the verdict was read, fumed on social media and vowed to appeal the jury's decision.
—Aysha Bagchi, USA TODAY, 26 Jan. 2024
In 2016, Bernie Sanders supporters fumed at the structure of the caucus that allowed Hillary Clinton to win in spite of Sanders possibly having had more votes.
—Dan McLaughlin, National Review, 16 Jan. 2024
Sinclair said the crowd — some of whom had traveled even farther, from England or northern Scotland — was fuming.
—Daniel Wu, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024
Dan Campbell is still probably fuming at how his team lost to the Dallas Cowboys on the controversial referee call.
—USA TODAY, 3 Jan. 2024
The decision, which found that Musk’s control over Tesla’s board led it to grant him an unfairly lavish compensation deal, left Musk fuming.
—Rachel Lerman, Washington Post, 19 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fume.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Fume.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fume. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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