wire

Metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die.

Noun

  1. Metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die.
    • Holonyms: cable; wire rope; wiring harness; wire wool
    • From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the...
  2. A piece of such material; a thread or slender rod of metal, a cable.
  3. A metal conductor that carries electricity.
    • That wire powers the lamp.
    • Time is running out, so I renounce a spin on a Class 387 for a fast run to Paddington on another Class 800 - a shame as the weather was perfect for pictures. Even so, it's enjoyable - boy, can those trains shift under...
  4. A fence made of usually barbed wire.
  5. A finish line of a racetrack.
  6. A telecommunication wire or cable.
    • The episode began by a telephone ring in the morning and the voice of Algernon Mailey at the far end of the wire. - 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist...
  7. An electric telegraph; a telegram.
    • Another letter. "Friedrichswerks, Hamburg, Germany. We beg to acknowledge receipt of order for fifteen thousand Robots." [Telephone rings.] Hello! This is the Central Office. Yes. Certainly. Well, send them a wire....
    • “Oh, hadn’t I told you?” the other said quickly. “I had a wire yesterday. He landed in New York Wednesday. It was such a mixed-up sort of message, I never could understand what he was trying to tell me, except that he...
  8. A hidden listening device on the person of an undercover operative for the purposes of obtaining incriminating spoken evidence.
  9. A deadline or critical endpoint.
    • This election is going to go right to the wire
    • If you don't surrender now, it's gonna go down to the wire - 1988, The Traveling Wilburys, “Tweeter and the Monkey Man”, in The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1:
  10. A wire strung with beads and hung horizontally above or near the table which is used to keep score.
  11. Any of the system of wires used to operate the puppets in a puppet show; hence, the network of hidden influences controlling the action of a person or organization; strings.
    • to pull the wires for office
  12. A pickpocket, especially one who targets women.

Origin

From Middle English wir, wyr, from Old English wīr (“wire, metal thread, wire-ornament”), from Proto-Germanic *wīraz (“wire”), from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁iros (“a twist, thread, cord, wire”), from *weh₁y- (“to turn, twist, weave, plait”).

Forms

wires

Synonyms

cable steel wire thread conducting wire barbed wire telegraph telegram score string

Hyponyms

baling wire barbed wire chicken wire earthing wire earth wire enameled wire enamelled wire fuse wire guy wire haywire jump wire live wire piano wire pull wire razor wire telegraph wire tinsel wire trawlwire tripwire trip wire woven wire

Related

filament hawser cable

Derived

American wire gauge archwire barbed wire barb wire barb-wire behind the wire Birmingham wire gauge bobbed wire bob wire bodge wire body wire bridge wire Brussels wire ground by wire cheese wire chicken wire common wire concertina wire conducting wire contact wire crosswire C wire Dannert wire down to the wire

Verb

  1. To fasten with wire, especially with reference to wine bottles, corks, or fencing.
    • We need to wire that hole in the fence.
    • I could see him in his plane flying low over the river or a reservoir, dropping the club out with a chunk of lead wired to the shaft. - 1934, Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance, Bantam, published 1992, →ISBN, page 222:
  2. To string on a wire.
    • wire beads
  3. To equip with wires for use with electricity.
    • Do you know how to wire a plug?
    • Replying on March 20 to a Commons Written Question from Alberto Costa (Conservative, South Leicestershire) about plans to wire to Leicester, Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: "We are currently investing in the...
  4. To connect, embed, incorporate, or include (something) into (something else) by or as if by wires:
    • I'll just wire your camera to the computer screen.
    • Assuming that all of the conference rooms are wired into the LAN, the sales representative would have to carry a cable to connect into any conference room that they visit, find the appropriate wall jack, and connect...

    1. To add (something) into a system (especially an electrical system) by means of wiring.

    2. To add or connect (something) into a system as if with wires (for example, with nerves).

      • There is an enormous neurological consequence to mechanorecptor dysfunction, which is related to how these cells are wired into the spinal cord. - 2004, Richard Weinstein, The Stress Effect, →ISBN:
      • The distal tier of cells has a wider acceptance angle than the proximal tier and different neuronal wiring (distal photoreceptors are wired into the lamina, while proximal photoreceptors are wired into the medulla), as...

    3. To connect, involve or embed (something) deeply or intimately into (something else, such as an organization or political scene), so that it is plugged in (to that thing) (“keeping up with current information about (the thing)”) or has insinuated itself into (the thing).

      • He was the minority leader's political eyes and ears— nicknamed "the Electrician," due to all the intrigue and legislative shenanigans he was wired into. - 1996, H. L. Richardson, Split Ticket, →ISBN, page 54:
      • Like the fledgling scientist who tried to wire himself into the sisterly circle at Field Place, Prometheus joins the electric circuit formed by his "Fair sister nymphs," Panthea, Asia, ... - 1999, Teddi Chichester...
      • ... and quite handy indeed that they also saw fit to wire themselves into the social problem that they had a major hand in creating in the first place. This almost blatant orchestration of social conflict is just a...
  5. To set or predetermine (someone's personality or behaviour, or an organization's culture) in a particular way.
    • There's no use trying to get Sarah to be less excitable. That's just the way she's wired.
    • “‘Cept I do hurt people sometimes, Case. I guess it's just the way I'm wired.” - 1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 25:
    • PPT hypothesises that grammatical properties which are universal will not have to be learned by the child, since they are wired into the language faculty and hence part of the child's genetic endowment... - 2004, Andrew...
  6. To send a message or monetary funds to another person through a telecommunications system, formerly predominantly by telegraph.
    • Urgent: please wire me another 100 pounds sterling.
    • The detective wired ahead, hoping that the fugitive would be caught at the railway station.
    • If the thing doesn't tempt you, say no more about it. If it does, just wire a time and I'll be at the station. - 1923, Ernest Bramah, The Eyes of Max Carrados:
  7. To make someone tense or psyched up. See also adjective wired.
    • Coffee late at night wires me good and proper.
  8. To install eavesdropping equipment.
    • We wired the suspect's house.
  9. To snare by means of a wire or wires.
  10. To place (a ball) so that the wire of a wicket prevents a successful shot.

Forms

wires wiring wired

Synonyms

electrify cable telegraph

Antonyms

unwire

Derived

biwired biwiring hard-wire hot-wire miswire prewire rewire structured wiring unwire wirable wire away wiredness wire in wire into wiring