Wire Definition

wīr
wired, wires, wiring
noun
wires
Metal that has been drawn into a very long, thin thread or rod, usually circular in cross section.
Webster's New World
A strand or rod of such material, or a cable made of such strands twisted together.
American Heritage
A length of this, used for various purposes, such as conducting electric current or stringing musical instruments.
Webster's New World
Anything made of wire or wirework, as a telephone cable, a barbed-wire fence, or a snare.
Webster's New World
The system of strings employed in manipulating puppets in a show.
American Heritage
verb
wired, wires, wiring
To telegraph.
Webster's New World
To furnish, connect, bind, attach, string, etc. with a wire or wires.
Webster's New World
To supply with a system of wires for electric current.
Webster's New World
To snare with a wire or wires.
Webster's New World
To telegraph.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
adjective
Made of wire or wirework.
Webster's New World
idiom
down to the wire
  • To the very end, as in a race or contest.
American Heritage
under the wire
  • At the finish line.
  • Just in the nick of time; at the last moment.
American Heritage
down to the wire
  • to the very end or the very last moments
Webster's New World
pull wires
  • to use private influence to achieve a purpose
Webster's New World
(get in) under the wire
  • (to arrive or accomplish something) barely on time or at the last minute
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Wire

Noun

Singular:
wire
Plural:
wires

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Wire

Origin of Wire

  • From Middle English wir, wyr, from Old English wÄ«r (“wire, metal thread, wire-ornament"), from Proto-Germanic *wÄ«raz (“wire"), from Proto-Indo-European *weyro- (“a twist, thread, cord, wire"), from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, twist, weave, plait"). Cognate with Low German Wir (“wire"), German Wiere (“wire, metallic thread"), Icelandic vír (“wire"), Swedish vira (“to twist"), Latin vieō (“weave together"), Welsh gwyr ('bent'), and Greek ίρις ('rainbow').

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English from Old English wīr wei- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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