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fuse
fuse Various small fuse cartridges.

fuse

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fuse, in electrical engineering, a safety device that protects electrical circuits from the effects of excessive currents. A fuse commonly consists of a current-conducting strip or wire of easily fusible metal that melts, and thus interrupts the circuit of which it is a part, whenever that circuit is made to carry a current larger than that for which it is intended. The screw-plug fuse was once commonly used in domestic electrical systems. It contains a short bit of wire (the fusible element) enclosed in a fireproof container that has a screw-threaded base; the wire is connected to metal terminals at both the screw base and at the side, and the whole is covered with a transparent glass or mica window for seeing whether the fuse has melted. The cartridge fuse, a type of fuse widely used in industry where high currents are involved, has a fusible element connected between metal terminals at either end of a cylindrical insulating tube.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.