In the field of electronics, a fuse is a protective device containing a wire that melts and breaks the circuit when the current exceeds a certain value in order to safeguard electric circuits. The word itself is from the mid 17th century, not long before inventors such as Benjamin Franklin began to dabble in the world of electricity.

The original meaning of fuse referred to a "combustible cord or tube for lighting an explosive device" (Online Etymology Dictionary), as opposed to something that protects.
It stems from the Italian fuso, which means "spindle", a rod or pin, tapered at one end and usually weighted at the other, on which fibres are spun by hand into thread and then wound. It's also related to the French fusée, which is a "spindleful of hemp fibre."

The sense of fuse as something that interrupts an electrical circuit was first recorded around 1884. Although it was so named because of the resemblance to a spindleful of fibre, it was mistakenly attributed to the verb "fuse" because of the way it melts.

The expression "a short fuse" or "to have a short fuse" is used to describe someone who can be easily angered by something, thus quickly exploding like a real electronics fuse, but in a figurative sense. You could also view it in reference to a device with a very short detonator fuse that doesn't take long to explode once it is lit.

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SYNONYMS

anger, cantankerousness, crossness, grouchiness, hotheadedness, irascibility, irritability, low boiling point, peevishness, petulance, quick temper, short temper, touchiness

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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation

"People with a short fuse need to be treated diplomatically."