a flat plate with slots in which standard wire sizes can be measured
a standard system of sizes for measuring the diameters of wires
First recorded in 1825–35
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A wire’s size is referred to as the wire gauge.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 30, 2021
And fences must meet strict criteria on height, wire gauge and post spacing.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 23, 2015
Fortunately, however, so far as magnet wire is concerned, the so-called Brown and Sharpe, or American, wire gauge is almost universally employed in this country.
From Cyclopedia of Telephony & Telegraphy Vol. 1 A General Reference Work on Telephony, etc. etc. by Miller, Kempster
A simple wire gauge is usually formed of a piece of steel containing numerous notches, whose widths are equal to the intended thickness to be measured in each respective notch.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua
Very thin wire--i.e. above No. 20 on the Birmingham wire gauge — does not do, for it gets burned through, and perhaps allows the work to fall apart at a critical moment.
From On Laboratory Arts by Threlfall, Richard
A comparison between the Brown and Sharpe and the Birmingham wire-gauge is shown in Fig.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua
Since, however, Mr. Stubs has also a wire-gauge of his own, whose numbers and gauge-sizes do not correspond to those of the Birmingham gauge, the two Stubs gauges are sometimes confounded.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua
This gauge is sometimes termed the Stubs wire-gauge, Mr. Stubs being a manufacturer of instruments whose notches are spaced according to the Birmingham wire-gauge.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua
The following table gives the numbers and sizes of the Birmingham wire-gauge.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua
Below is given the Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company’s music wire-gauge.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
