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Webster 1913 Edition

Wire

Wire

(wīr)
,
Noun.
[OE.
wir
, AS.
wir
; akin to Icel.
vīrr
, Dan.
vire
, LG.
wir
,
wire
; cf. OHG.
wiara
fine gold; perhaps akin to E.
withy
. √141.]
1.
A thread or slender rod of metal; a metallic substance formed to an even thread by being passed between grooved rollers, or drawn through holes in a plate of steel.
☞ Wire is made of any desired form, as round, square, triangular, etc., by giving this shape to the hole in the drawplate, or between the rollers.
2.
A telegraph wire or cable; hence, an electric telegraph;
as, to send a message by
wire
.
[Colloq.]
Wire bed
,
Wire mattress
,
an elastic bed bottom or mattress made of wires interwoven or looped together in various ways.
–
Wire bridge
,
a bridge suspended from wires, or cables made of wire.
–
Wire cartridge
,
a shot cartridge having the shot inclosed in a wire cage.
–
Wire cloth
,
a coarse cloth made of woven metallic wire, – used for strainers, and for various other purposes.
–
Wire edge
,
the thin, wirelike thread of metal sometimes formed on the edge of a tool by the stone in sharpening it.
–
Wire fence
,
a fence consisting of posts with strained horizontal wires, wire netting, or other wirework, between.
–
Wire gauge
or
Wire gage
.
(a)
A gauge for measuring the diameter of wire, thickness of sheet metal, etc., often consisting of a metal plate with a series of notches of various widths in its edge.
(b)
A standard series of sizes arbitrarily indicated, as by numbers, to which the diameter of wire or the thickness of sheet metal in usually made, and which is used in describing the size or thickness. There are many different standards for wire gauges, as in different countries, or for different kinds of metal, the Birmingham wire gauges and the American wire gauge being often used and designated by the abbreviations B. W. G. and A. W. G. respectively.
–
Wire gauze
,
a texture of finely interwoven wire, resembling gauze.
–
Wire grass
(Bot.)
,
either of the two common grasses
Eleusine Indica
, valuable for hay and pasture, and
Poa compressa
, or blue grass. See
Blue grass
.
–
Wire grub
(Zool.)
,
a wireworm.
–
Wire iron
,
wire rods of iron.
–
Wire lathing
,
wire cloth or wire netting applied in the place of wooden lathing for holding plastering.
–
Wire mattress
.
See
Wire bed
, above.
–
Wire micrometer
,
a micrometer having spider lines, or fine wires, across the field of the instrument.
–
Wire nail
,
a nail formed of a piece of wire which is headed and pointed.
–
Wire netting
,
a texture of woven wire coarser than ordinary wire gauze.
–
Wire rod
,
a metal rod from which wire is formed by drawing.
–
Wire rope
,
a rope formed wholly, or in great part, of wires.
–
down to the wire
,
up to the last moment, as in a race or competition;
as, the two front runners were neck-and-neck
down to the wire
. From
wire{6}
.
–
under the wire
,
just in time; shortly before the deadline;
as, to file an application just
under the wire
.

Wire

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Wired
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Wiring
.]
1.
To bind with wire; to attach with wires; to apply wire to;
as, to
wire
corks in bottling liquors
.
2.
To put upon a wire;
as, to
wire
beads
.
3.
To snare by means of a wire or wires.
4.
To send (a message) by telegraph.
[Colloq.]

Wire

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To pass like a wire; to flow in a wirelike form, or in a tenuous stream.
[R.]
P. Fletcher.
2.
To send a telegraphic message.
[Colloq.]

Webster 1828 Edition

Wire

WIRE

,
Noun.
A thread of metal; any metallic substance drawn to an even thread.

WIRE

,
Verb.
T.
To bind with wire; to apply wire to, as in bottling liquors.

Definition 2024

wire

wire

English

Stranded electrical wire.

Noun

wire ‎(countable and uncountable, plural wires)

  1. (uncountable) Metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die.
    • 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:
      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 high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.
  2. A piece of such material; a thread or slender rod of metal, a cable.
  3. A metal conductor that carries electricity.
  4. A fence made of usually barbed wire.
  5. (sports) A finish line of a racetrack.
  6. (informal) A telecommunication wire or cable
  7. (by extension) An electric telegraph; a telegram.
  8. (slang) A hidden listening device on the person of an undercover operative for the purposes of obtaining incriminating spoken evidence.
  9. (informal) A deadline or critical endpoint.
    This election is going to go right to the wire‎
  10. (billiards) A wire strung with beads and hung horizontally above or near the table which is used to keep score.
  11. (chiefly plural) 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. (archaic, thieves' slang) A pickpocket who targets women.
  13. (Scotland) A knitting needle.

Synonyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

Verb

wire ‎(third-person singular simple present wires, present participle wiring, simple past and past participle wired)

  1. To fasten with wire, especially with reference to wine bottles, corks, or fencing.
    We need to wire that hole in the fence.‎
    • 1934, Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance, 1992 Bantam edition, ISBN 0553278193, page 222:
      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.
  2. To string on a wire.
    wire beads‎
  3. To equip with wires for use with electricity.
  4. To add something into an electrical system by means of wiring; to incorporate or include something.
    I'll just wire your camera to the computer screen.
  5. (informal) To send a message or a money value to another person through a telecommunications system, formerly predominately by telegraph.
    Urgent: please wire me another 100 pounds sterling.‎
  6. To make someone tense or psyched up.
    I'm never going to sleep: I'm completely wired from all that coffee.‎
  7. (slang) To install eavesdropping equipment.
    We wired the suspect's house.‎
  8. To snare by means of a wire or wires.
  9. (transitive, croquet) To place (a ball) so that the wire of a wicket prevents a successful shot.

Synonyms

  • (to equip for use with electricity): electrify
  • (informal: to send a message or a money value to another person through a telecommunications system): cable, telegraph

Antonyms

  • (to fasten with wire): unwire

Troponyms

  • (to fasten with wire): rewire
  • (to equip for use with electricity): rewire

Derived terms

  • wire in
  • wire into

Translations

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English wir, wyr, from Old English wīr ‎(“wire, metal thread, wire-ornament”), from Proto-Germanic *wīraz ‎(“wire”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁ros ‎(“a twist, thread, cord, wire”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‎(“to turn, twist, weave, plait”). Cognate with Low German Wier ‎(“wire”), German Wiere ‎(“wire, metallic thread”), Icelandic vír ‎(“wire”), Swedish vira ‎(“to twist”), Latin vieō ‎(“weave together”), Welsh gŵyr ‎(“bent”), and Ancient Greek Ἶρις ‎(Îris, “Iris (goddess of the rainbow)”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /waɪə/
  • Rhymes: -aɪə(r)

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