wire entanglement

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noun

a barbed-wire obstacle, usually mounted on posts and zigzagged back and forth along a front, designed to channel, delay, or halt an advance by enemy foot soldiers.

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Origin of wire entanglement

First recorded in 1875–80

Words nearby wire entanglement

wire cutter, wired, wired equivalent privacy, wiredraw, wiredrawn, wire entanglement, wireframe, wire fraud, wire gauge, wire gauze, wire glass

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

How to use wire entanglement in a sentence

And extortion makes a lot more sense before a story hits the news wire, not after.
Phylicia Rashad and the Cult of Cosby Truthers|Stereo Williams|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
As zealots poured in from Arkansas and Mississippi, a wire service reporter got punched in the ribs.
The Louisiana Racists Who Courted Steve Scalise|Jason Berry|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
At that point, a tall, brown-haired man with wire-rimmed glasses came over to me, sat down, and peppered me with questions.
I Was Gang Raped at a UVA Frat 30 Years Ago, and No One Did Anything|Liz Seccuro|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To Hitchcock, this is not a sweet wire from an old colleague but a condolence letter on the occasion of his own death.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST

On the day of the AFI dinner, Hitchcock receives a wire from Frank Capra, who is in Palm Springs.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That the weather being calm, he rowed round me several times, observed my windows and wire-lattices that defenced them.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift
They require frequent cleaning with a long wire and a bit of tow, and in some large towns there are professional pipe-cleaners.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
Wire Nails, Staples, &c., are made at Nettlefold's by machinery much in advance of what can ba seen elsewhere.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham|Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell
I need fourteen wire ropes, all pulling in different directions, to hold me steady.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II|Rudyard Kipling
The Post Office arrangements were also of a very primitive character, nor was there any wire nearer than Thetford.
Asbestos|Robert H. Jones

British Dictionary definitions for wire entanglement

wire entanglement

noun

a barrier or obstruction of barbed wire used in warfare

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