fusee

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A friction match with a large head capable of burning in a wind.
2. n. A colored flare used as a warning signal for trucks and railroad trains.
3. n. A cone-shaped pulley with a spiral groove, used in a cord- or chain-winding clock to maintain even travel in the timekeeping mechanism as the force of the mainspring lessens in unwinding.
4. n. A combustible fuse for detonating explosives.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Same as fusil.
2. n. Same as fuse.
3. n. A kind of match for lighting a pipe, cigar, and the like. It is made of cardboard impregnated with niter and tipped with a composition which ignites by friction. E. H. Knight.
4. n. A spindle-shaped figure.
5. n. A cone or solid conical piece in a watch or a spring-clock on which is wound a chain or cord, attached at one end to its widest part and at the other to the barrel containing the mainspring, the action of which unwinds it, transferring it to the barrel. The object of the fusee is to equalize the effect of the mainspring, as its force is relaxed through regular diminution of tension, by gradually diminishing the resistance of the chain or cord through its increasing distance from the axis of the fusee. This axis is the arbor of the main wheel, which is attached to the fusee and imparts the motion derived from the spring to the other wheels. In many watches the fusee is now dispensed with, its object being attained by other contrivances. The term is also applied to similar mechanical contrivances used for other purposes. Also called fuse-wheel.
6. n. In farriery, a kind of splint applied to the leg of a horse.
7. n. See fuse.

Wiktionary

1. n. A conical, grooved pulley in early clocks.
2. n. A large friction match.
3. n. A fuse for an explosive.
4. n. US A colored flare used as a warning on the railroad

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. obsolete A flintlock gun. See 2d fusil.
2. n. A fuse. See Fuse, n.
3. n. A friction match for smokers' use having a bulbous head which when ignited is not easily blown out even in a gale of wind.
4. n. A kind of match made of paper impregnated with niter and having the usual igniting tip.
5. n. A signal device, usually cylindrical, consisting of a tube filled with a composition which burns with a bright colored light for a definite time. It is used principally for the protection of trains or road vehicles, indicating an obstruction or accident ahead. Also called a flare or railroad flare.
6. n. The track of a buck.
7. n. The cone or conical wheel of a watch or clock, designed to equalize the power of the mainspring by having the chain from the barrel which contains the spring wind in a spiral groove on the surface of the cone in such a manner that the diameter of the cone at the point where the chain acts may correspond with the degree of tension of the spring.
8. n. A similar wheel used in other machinery.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a spirally grooved spindle in a clock that counteracts the diminishing power of the uncoiling mainspring
2. n. a friction match with a large head that will stay alight in the wind
3. n. a colored flare used as a warning signal by trucks and trains
4. n. any igniter that is used to initiate the burning of a propellant