hard-wired

or hard·wired

[ hahrd-wahyuhrd ]

/ ˈhɑrdˈwaɪərd /

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adjective

Computers.

built into a computer's hardware and thus not readily changed.
(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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hard-wired in a sentence

It makes evolutionary sense that we're hardwired to go postal about intentional harm from other people.
We Shouldn't Treat Terrorism the Way We Treat Bathroom Falls|Megan McArdle|June 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
From the very beginning, victimhood was hardwired into the Christian psyche.
The Death of Jesus and the Rise of the Christian Persecution Myth|Candida Moss|March 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Y is for our young, now hardwired to be eco-fanatics, for better or worse, and for Yvo de Boer.
A Skeptic's Guide to Copenhagen|Tunku Varadarajan|December 6, 2009|DAILY BEAST

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.”