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barbed wire

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noun
a wire or strand of wires having small pieces of sharply pointed wire twisted around it at short intervals, used chiefly for fencing in livestock, keeping out trespassers, etc.

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Also called barbwire.

Origin of barbed wire

First recorded in 1860–65
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use barbed wire in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for barbed wire

barbed wire

noun
strong wire with sharply pointed barbs at close intervalsAlso called (US): barbwire
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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