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haywire

[ hey-wahyuhr ]
/ ˈheɪˌwaɪər /
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noun
wire used to bind bales of hay.
adjective Informal.
in disorder: The town is haywire because of the bus strike.
out of control; disordered; crazy: The car went haywire. He's been haywire since he got the bad news.
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Origin of haywire

First recorded in 1900–05; hay + wire
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use haywire in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for haywire

haywire
/ (ˈheɪˌwaɪə) /

adjective (postpositive) informal
(of things) not functioning properly; disorganized (esp in the phrase go haywire)
(of people) erratic or crazy

Word Origin for haywire

C20: alluding to the disorderly tangle of wire removed from bales of hay
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

Other Idioms and Phrases with haywire

haywire

see go haywire.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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