flue1

[floo] /flu/
noun
1.
a passage or duct for smoke in a chimney.
2.
any duct or passage for air, gas, or the like.
3.
a tube, especially a large one, in a fire-tube boiler.
4.
Music.
  1. flue pipe.
  2. Also called windway. a narrow slit in the upper end of an organ pipe through which the air current is directed.
Origin
1555-65; earlier flew, perhaps representing Old English flēwsa a flowing, the form flews being taken as plural

flue2

[floo] /flu/
noun
1.
downy matter; fluff.
Origin
1580-90; perhaps to be identified with Old English flug- (in flugol swift, fleeting); akin to fly1. Compare Low German flug

flue3

[floo] /flu/
noun
1.
a fishing net.
Also, flew.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English flowe; compare Middle Dutch vluwe fishing net
Examples from the web for flue
  • It might have been better to have selected the stove first and then the properly sized flue pipe.
  • The flue from a boiler to the chimney should be the same size as the chimney flue itself.
  • Still there was a flue breeze on the water, and suburbans were not aware of the fact that it was so terribly hot after all.
  • Scrubbers remove the sulfur by venting flue gas through a limestone slurry shower.
  • Then the flue closed and the living room filled with smoke.
  • None of the flue pipes were tested to determine what type of ash and it origin was it wood or coal.
  • Lab-scale membrane modules are being studied with simulated flue-gas mixtures with and without flue gas emission contaminants.
  • Again, scrubbers on the flue gases aim to eliminate particulate and sulfur emissions.
British Dictionary definitions for flue

flue1

/fluː/
noun
1.
a shaft, tube, or pipe, esp as used in a chimney, to carry off smoke, gas, etc
2.
(music) the passage in an organ pipe or flute within which a vibrating air column is set up See also flue pipe
Word Origin
C16: of unknown origin

flue2

/fluː/
noun
1.
loose fluffy matter; down
Word Origin
C16: from Flemish vluwe, from Old French velu shaggy

flue3

/fluː/
noun
1.
a type of fishing net
Word Origin
Middle English, from Middle Dutch vlūwe

flue4

/fluː/
noun
1.
another word for fluke1 (sense 1), fluke1
Derived Forms
flued, adjective

flue pipe

noun
1.
an organ pipe or tubular instrument of the flute family whose sound is produced by the passage of air across a sharp-edged fissure in the side. This sets in motion a vibrating air column within the pipe or instrument
Word Origin and History for flue
n.

"smoke channel in a chimney," 1580s, perhaps related to 15c. word meaning "mouthpiece of a hunting horn," or perhaps from Old English flowan "to flow," and/or Old French fluie "stream."