Dictionary.com

hard-wired

or hard·wired

[ hahrd-wahyuhrd ]
/ ˈhɑrdˈwaɪərd /

adjective

Computers.
  1. built into a computer's hardware and thus not readily changed.
  2. (of a terminal) connected to a computer by a direct circuit rather than through a switching network.
(of electrical or electronic components) connected by hardwiring.
pertaining to or being an intrinsic and relatively unmodifiable behavior pattern: Every cricket has a hard-wired pattern of chirps.

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Origin of hard-wired

First recorded in 1970–75

Words nearby hard-wired

hard water, hardwearing, hard wheat, Hardwick, Hardwick Hall, hard-wired, hardwiring, hardwood, hardworking, hardy, hardy ageratum
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for hard-wired

British Dictionary definitions for hard-wired

hard-wired

adjective

(of a circuit or instruction) permanently wired into a computer, replacing separate software
(of human behaviour) innate; not learnedhumans have a hard-wired ability for acquiring language
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

Cultural definitions for hard-wired

hardwired

In computer jargon, a circuit is hardwired if it is built to perform a specific function and requires no outside instructions or program.

notes for hardwired

“Hardwired” is often used loosely to refer to functions that are innate and unlearned in living systems: “The ability to perceive objects in a certain way appears to be hardwired into the brains of mammals.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.