a slender, stringlike piece or filament of relatively rigid or flexible metal, usually circular in section, manufactured in a great variety of diameters and metals depending on its application.
such pieces as a material.
a length of such material, consisting either of a single filament or of several filaments woven or twisted together and usually insulated with a dielectric material, used as a conductor of electricity.
a cross wire or a cross hair.
a barbed-wire fence.
a long wire or cable used in cable, telegraph, or telephone systems.
Nautical. a wire rope.
Informal.
a telegram.
the telegraphic system: to send a message by wire.
wires,a system of wires by which puppets are moved.
a metallic string of a musical instrument.
Underworld Slang. the member of a pickpocket team who picks the victim's pocket.Compare stall2(def 5).
Horse Racing. a wire stretched across and above the track at the finish line, under which the horses pass.
Ornithology. one of the extremely long, slender, wirelike filaments or shafts of the plumage of various birds.
a metal device for snaring rabbits and other small game.
Papermaking. the woven wire mesh over which the wet pulp is spread in a papermaking machine.
the wire,the telephone: There's someone on the wire for you.
adjective
made of wire; consisting of or constructed with wires.
resembling wire; wirelike.
verb (used with object),wired,wir·ing.
to furnish with wires.
to install an electric system of wiring in, as for lighting.
to fasten or bind with wire: He wired the halves together.
to put on a wire, as beads.
to send by telegraph, as a message: Please wire the money at once.
to send a telegraphic message to: She wired him to come at once.
to snare by means of a wire.
to equip with a hidden electronic device, as an eavesdropping device or an explosive.
to connect (a receiver, area, or building) to a television cable and other equipment so that cable television programs may be received.
Informal. to be closely connected or involved with: a law firm wired into political circles.
Informal. to prepare, equip, fix, or arrange to suit needs or goals: The sales force was wired for an all-out effort.
Croquet. to block (a ball) by placing it behind the wire of an arch.
verb (used without object),wired,wir·ing.
to send a telegraphic message; telegraph: Don't write; wire.
Idioms
down to the wire, to the very last moment or the very end, as in a race or competition: The candidates campaigned down to the wire.
pull wires, Informal. to use one's position or influence to obtain a desired result: to pull wires to get someone a job.
under the wire, just within the limit or deadline; scarcely; barely: to get an application in under the wire.
Origin of wire
before 900;Middle Englishwir(e) (noun), Old Englishwīr; cognate with Low Germanwīr,Old Norsevīra- wire, Old High Germanwiara fine goldwork
Related formswir·a·ble, adjectivewire·like, adjectivede·wire, verb (used with object),de·wired,de·wir·ing.mis·wire, verb,mis·wired,mis·wir·ing.pre·wire, verb (used with object),pre·wired,pre·wir·ing.un·wir·a·ble, adjectiveCan be confusedwhy'rewire
"wires collectively," 1809, later especially "electrical wirework," from present participle of wire (v.).
wire
n.
Old English wir "metal drawn out into a thread," from Proto-Germanic *wiraz (cf. Old Norse viravirka "filigree work," Swedish vira "to twist," Old High German wiara "fine gold work"), from PIE *wei- "to turn, twist, plait" (cf. Old Irish fiar, Welsh gwyr "bent, crooked;" Latin viere "to bend, twist," viriæ "bracelets," of Celtic origin). Wiretapping is recorded from 1904, from earlier wiretapper (1893). Wirepuller in the political sense is 1848, American English.
wire
v.
"to furnish with wires," mid-15c., from wire (n.). Related: Wired; wiring.
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