French–English dictionary

fuseler

(transitive) To design and construct the contours of a vehicle etc. so as to offer the least resistance to its flow through a fluid.

fusible

(electrical engineering) A device to prevent excessive overcurrent from overload or short circuit in an electrical circuit, containing a component that melts and interrupts the current when too high a load is passed through it.

fusiforme

(chiefly, _, botany, zoology) Shaped like a spindle with yarn spun on it; having round or roundish cross-section and tapering at each end.

fusil

(now, historical) A light flintlock musket or firelock.

fusil de chasse

(firearms) A gun which fires loads typically consisting of small metal balls, called shot, from a cartridge.

fusillade

The simultaneous firing of a number of firearms.

fusion

The process of changing the state of a substance from solid to liquid by heating it past its melting point.

fusion du cœur d'un réacteur nucléaire

Severe overheating of the core of a nuclear reactor resulting in the core melting and potentially in radiation escaping.

fusionnement

The act or process of merging two or more parts into a single unit.

fusionner

(transitive) To melt together; to blend; to mix indistinguishably.

fustiger

(transitive) To chide or scold vehemently.

fût

The trunk or stem of a tree.

futaille

(countable) A round (cylindrical) vessel, such as a cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends (heads). The word is sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum.

futaine

Originally, a kind of coarse fabric made from cotton and flax; now, a kind of coarse twilled cotton, or cotton and linen, stuff with a short pile and often dyed a dull colour, which is chiefly prepared for menswear.

futé

Capable or clever; able to put available resources to efficient or ingenious use; using materials at hand wisely or efficiently.

futile

Incapable of producing results, useless; doomed not to be successful; not worth attempting.

futilité

(uncountable) The quality of being futile or useless.

futon

A thin mattress of tufted cotton or similar material, placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame as a bed.

futur

Having to do with or occurring in the future.

futur époux

A man in the context of his own wedding; one who is going to marry or has just been married.

futur marié

A man in the context of his own wedding; one who is going to marry or has just been married.

futurisme

(art) An early 20th century avant-garde art movement focused on speed, the mechanical, and the modern, which took a deeply antagonistic attitude to traditional artistic conventions.

futuriste

In the style of futurism.

fuyant

Elusive or difficult to retain.

GAB

(banking) Initialism of automated teller machine or automatic teller machine.

gabarit

The height or width of a tunnel, bridge or other passage, or the distance between a vehicle and the walls or roof of such passage; a gap, headroom.

gabarits

A strip of metal used in boiler-making, pierced with a series of holes, and serving as a guide in marking out a line of rivet-holes.

gâble

(architectural element) The triangular area at the peak of an external wall adjacent to, and terminating, two sloped roof surfaces (pitches).

Gabrielle

A en given name, a latinate feminine form of Gabriel.

gâché

Made or repaired in a clumsy or incompetent manner.

gâcher

(slang) To make a mistake.

gâchette

Part of a gun that retards the hammer until the trigger is pulled.

gâchis

a thing or group of things in a disagreeable, disorganised, or dirty state; hence a bad situation

gadget

Any device or machine, especially one whose name cannot be recalled, often either clever or complicated.

gadoue

Slimy mud, sludge.

gaélique

Division of the Celtic languages including Irish Gaelic, Manx Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic.

gaélique irlandais

(uncountable) The Gaelic language indigenous to Ireland, also known as Irish Gaelic.

gâfe

One who enforces confinement in a jail or prison.

gaffe

(slang, with possessive determiner) Error; mistake.

gaffer

(intransitive) To make a big mistake, especially when it is careless or stupid. [from 1706]

gag

A joke or other mischievous prank.

gaga

(informal) Mentally senile.

Gagarine

A transliteration of the Russian surname Гага́рин (Gagárin).

gage

(finance) A security or guarantee (usually an asset) pledged for the repayment of a loan if one cannot procure enough funds to repay.

gagnant

One who has won or often wins.

gagnante

One who has won or often wins.

gagne-pain

The primary income-earner in a household.

gagner

(transitive) To receive payment for work or for a role or position held (regardless of whether effort was applied or whether the remuneration is deserved or commensurate).

gagner du temps

(idiomatic) To purposefully cause a delay, in order to achieve something else.

gagner par soumission

(transitive, mixed martial arts, professional wrestling) To win a fight against (an opponent) by submission.

gai

(chiefly, Scotland, elsewhere, _, dated, or, literary) Cheerful, happy.

gaie

(dated) Happy, joyful, and lively.

gaiement

(dated) Merrily.

gaieté

A state of enjoyable exuberance.

gaillarde

(printing, dated) A size of type between brevier and long primer, standardized as 9-point.

gain

The act of gaining; acquisition.

gainage

Physical exercise in which one holds a pushup position for a measured length of time.

gaine

A belt or sash at the waist, often used to support stockings or hosiery.

gaine technique

A vertical utility conduit, pipe or path between floors of a building for placement of cables (e.g. telephone, networking), or to convey fluids (e.g. gas, water).

gala

(uncountable) Pomp, show, or festivity.

galactique

(astronomy, specifically, sometimes capitalized) Relating to the Milky Way galaxy.

galanterie

Courteous behaviour, especially that of men towards women.

galaxie

(galaxy) Any of the collections of many millions or billions of stars, galactic dust, black holes, etc. existing as independent and coherent systems, of which there are billions in the known universe. [from 19th c.]

gale

(veterinary medicine) A skin disease of nonhuman mammals caused by parasitic mites (Sarcoptes spp., Demodecidae spp.).

galée

(nautical, historical) A long, slender ship propelled primarily by oars, whether having masts and sails or not; usually a rowed warship used in the Mediterranean from the 16th century until the modern era.

galère

(nautical, historical) A long, slender ship propelled primarily by oars, whether having masts and sails or not; usually a rowed warship used in the Mediterranean from the 16th century until the modern era.

galerie

The uppermost seating area projecting from the rear or side walls of a theater, concert hall, or auditorium.

galerie marchande

(architecture) A covered passage, usually with shops on both sides.

galeriste

The owner or operator of an art gallery

galet

A small stone, especially one rounded by the action of water.

galet aménagé

(archaeology) A crude tool with an irregular cutting edge formed by removing flakes from one side of a stone.

galetas

An attic or semi-finished room just beneath the roof of a house.

galets

Small, smooth pebbles, as found on a beach.

galette

(specifically) This or any similar traditional bread when made by indigenous Americans, originally from native sources such as maize or pseudocereals and plants with starchy roots

galeux

Afflicted, or looking as if afflicted, with mange.

Galice

A former kingdom and autonomous community in northwestern Spain.

Galicie

A former kingdom and autonomous community in northwestern Spain.

Galilée

A mountainous geographic region in northern Israel.

galimatias

Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur.

galion

A large, three masted, square rigged sailing ship with at least two decks.

galipette

Starting on one's feet, an instance of rotating one's body 360 degrees while airborne or on the ground, with one's feet passing over one's head.

galle

(plant disease) A blister or tumor-like growth found on the surface of plants, caused by various pathogens, especially the burrowing of insect larvae into the living tissues, such as that of the common oak gall wasp (Cynips quercusfolii).

gallo

A Romance language spoken in north-west France, see Gallo language.

gallois

(uncountable) The Welsh language. [from 10th c.]

galoche

(British) A waterproof overshoe used to provide protection from rain or snow.

galon

(in the plural) The badge worn by certain officers in the military or other forces.

galonnés

(military, business, or, other organizations, uncountable, used as a singular or plural noun, metonym) High-ranking officers: the brass hats.

galop

The fastest gait of a horse, a two-beat stride during which all four legs are off the ground simultaneously.

galoper

(intransitive) To ride at a galloping pace.

galopin

A mischievous person, especially a playful, impish youngster.

Galway

A city in County Galway, Ireland.

gambader

(intransitive) To make merry; to have fun; to romp; to behave playfully and uninhibitedly. [from 1580s]

gamberger

(usually with over) To work (over) mentally; to cogitate; to ruminate.

gambit

(chess) An opening in chess in which a minor piece or a pawn is sacrificed to gain an advantage.

gamelle

(UK, Australia, South Africa) A lightweight pot for cooking or boiling water, used in camping.

gamer

(gaming, video games) A gamer; a person of video games or similar.

gameur

(gaming, video games) A gamer; a person of video games or similar.

gameuse

(gaming, video games) A gamer; a person of video games or similar.

gamin

Immature in thought or behaviour.

gamma

The third letter of the Greek alphabet (Γ, γ), preceded by beta (Β, β) and followed by delta, (Δ, δ).

gamme

A large collection.

gamut

All the colours that can be presented by a device such as a monitor or printer.

gan

One of the major varieties of Chinese, spoken in Jiangxi province.

Gand

The capital city of the province of East Flanders, Belgium.

Ganesh

(Hinduism) A Hindu god of intellect, wisdom, gates, and beginnings, son of Parvati and Shiva.

gang

A criminal group with a common cultural background and identifying features, often associated with a particular section of a city.

Gange

A river in India and Bangladesh, sacred within Hinduism.

gangrène

The necrosis and rotting of flesh, usually caused by lack of blood supply.

gangster

A member of a criminal or street gang.

gant

(clothing) An item of clothing, covering all or part of the hand and fingers, but usually allowing independent movement of the fingers.

gant de toilette

A small cloth used to wash one's face.

gantelet

Protective armor for the hands, formerly thrown down as a challenge to combat.

gantier

A person who makes or sells gloves.

gantière

A person who makes or sells gloves.

garance

Of a deep reddish purple colour, like that of the dye.

garant

(colloquial) A person who gives such a guarantee; a guarantor.

garantie

(legal) An obligation or duty upon an individual to incur the losses of another.

garantir

(intransitive) To make sure or certain of something (usually some future event or condition). [from 18th c.]

garbon

(ornithology) Any bird of a number of genera in the family Phasianidae, notably in the genera Perdix and Alectoris.

garce

(derogatory, UK, Irish, informal) A woman considered unpleasant in some way, particularly one considered nasty, stupid, fat, lazy, or difficult.

garcette

(sailing) A length of rope or canvas band used for reefing a sail, or holding a stowed sail in place.

garçon

(informal, sometimes mildly derogatory) A male human of any age, as opposed to a "girl" (female human of any age).

garçon d'honneur

A male escort at a wedding.

garçon manqué

(informal) A young woman who behaves in a laddish manner, namely being boisterous and loud and drinking to excess.

garçonne

A female undergarment that covers the hips like a pair of shorts.

garçonnité

The state or condition of being a boy.

garde

(swords) A metal bar fixed between, and at right angles to, the blade and the handle of a sword or other bladed weapon that stops an opponent's similar weapon from sliding along the blade and injuring the hand of the person wielding the sword.

garde à vous

(military) Used as a command to bring soldiers to the attention position.

garde à vue

The state of being imprisoned or detained, usually pending a trial.

garde d'enfants

(countable) A place where young children are supervised while away from their parents or guardians.

garde du corps

A person or group of persons, often armed, responsible for protecting someone.

garde-boue

(US) panel of a car which encloses the wheel area, especially the front wheels.

garde-chasse

A person employed to maintain the game for hunting and all associated materials and effects.

garde-manger

A cool room in a domestic house where food is stored, but larger than a pantry.

garde-robe

A movable cupboard or cabinet designed for storing clothes, particularly as a large piece of bedroom furniture.

garde-temps

A timepiece designed to measure the amount of time elapsed between a particular time when activated and when the piece is deactivated.

gardénia

Any of various tropical evergreen small trees or shrubs, of the genus Gardenia, having glossy leaves and white flowers.

garder

(ambitransitive) To watch or tend someone else's child for a period of time, often for money.

garder précieusement

(transitive, of a person or thing) To consider to be precious; to value highly.

garder son sang froid

(intransitive) To control oneself when provoked.

garderie

A nursery for the supervision of preschool children while the parents work. Generally more entertaining and less educational than a preschool, but with longer hours of operation.

gardien

(chiefly, UK) Temporary, on a short term basis.

gardien d’enfant

A person who cares for one or more babies or children for a short period of time in place of their legal guardians.

gardien de but

(sports) A designated player that attempts to prevent the opposing team from scoring by protecting a goal.

gardien de la paix

A member of a military force charged with peacekeeping duties in a troublespot.

gardien de zoo

A person employed at a zoo to attend to the animals.

gardienne

Someone who takes care of a place or thing; someone looking after a place, or responsible for keeping it in good repair.

gardienne d’enfant

A person who cares for one or more babies or children for a short period of time in place of their legal guardians.

gardienne de but

(sports) A designated player that attempts to prevent the opposing team from scoring by protecting a goal.

gardienne de la paix

A member of a military force charged with peacekeeping duties in a troublespot.