fusion

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The act or procedure of liquefying or melting by the application of heat.
2. n. The liquid or melted state induced by heat.
3. n. The merging of different elements into a union: the fusion of copper and zinc to form brass; the difficult fusion of conflicting political factions.
4. n. A union resulting from fusing: A fusion of religion and politics emerged.
5. n. Physics A nuclear reaction in which nuclei combine to form more massive nuclei with the simultaneous release of energy.
6. n. Music that blends jazz elements and the heavy repetitive rhythms of rock. Also called jazz-fusion, jazz-rock.
7. n. A style of cooking that combines ingredients and techniques from very different cultures or countries.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act or operation of melting or rendering fluid by heat, without the aid of a solvent: as, the fusion of ice or of metals.
2. n. The state of being melted or dissolved by heat; a state of fluidity or flowing in consequence of heat: as, metals in fusion.
3. n. Hence The act of uniting or blending together, or the state of being united or blended, as if through melting; complete union, as of previously diverse elements or individuals.
4. n. Specifically In politics, the coalition of two parties or factions.
5. n. Abundance; plenty; profusion: same as foison.
6. n. In modern psychology: A mode of intimate connection of elementary mental processes, such that the connected elements are difficult of analysis, and the resulting complex approximates the simplicity of impression characteristic of the element itself.
7. n. The product of this connection; the blend or fused complex. The term has gained currency from its use in C. Stumpf's “Tonpsychologie” (1883, 1890). It is used with varying shades of meaning by different authors, and has not as yet received final definition.
8. n. The perception set up by the concurrence of a number of simple tonal stimuli. See fusion, 6.

Wiktionary

1. n. The merging of similar or different elements into a union
2. n. physics A nuclear reaction in which nuclei combine to form more massive nuclei with the concomitant release of energy
3. n. music a style of music that blends disparate genres; especially types of jazz
4. n. A style of cooking that combines ingredients and techniques from different countries or cultures
5. n. The act of melting or liquifying something by heating it

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The act or operation of melting or rendering fluid by heat; the act of melting together.
2. n. The state of being melted or dissolved by heat; a state of fluidity or flowing in consequence of heat.
3. n. The union or blending together of things, .
4. n. (Biol.) The union, or binding together, of adjacent parts or tissues.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the combining of images from the two eyes to form a single visual percept
2. n. the act of fusing (or melting) together
3. n. the merging of adjacent sounds or syllables or words
4. n. a nuclear reaction in which nuclei combine to form more massive nuclei with the simultaneous release of energy
5. n. an occurrence that involves the production of a union
6. n. the state of being combined into one body
7. n. correction of an unstable part of the spine by joining two or more vertebrae; usually done surgically but sometimes done by traction or immobilization