Wiktionary

wire

See also:Wire

English

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Strandedelectrical wire.

Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishwir,wyr,fromOld Englishwīr(“wire, metal thread, wire-ornament”),fromProto-Germanic*wīraz(“wire”),fromProto-Indo-European*weh₁iros(“a twist, thread, cord, wire”),from*weh₁y-(“to turn, twist, weave, plait”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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wire(countableanduncountable,pluralwires)

  1. (uncountable)Metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die.
    • 2013June 8, “The new masters and commanders”,inThe Economist,volume407,number8839,page52:
      From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted bywirefences, 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; athreador slender rod ofmetal,acable.
  3. A metal conductor that carries electricity.
    • 2020December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, inRail,page68:
      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 thewires.
  4. Afencemade of usuallybarbedwire.
  5. (sports)A finish line of a racetrack.
  6. (informal)Atelecommunicationwire or cable.
  8. (by extension)Anelectrictelegraph;atelegram.
    • c.1921(date written), Karel Čapek, translated byPaul Selver,R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama[…],Garden City, N.Y.:Doubleday, Page & Company,published1923,→OCLC,Act 1:
      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 awire.Good. [Hangs up telephone.] Where did I leave off?
    • 1964[1929],William Faulkner,Sartoris(The Collected Works of William Faulkner), London:Chatto & Windus,page23:
      “Oh, hadn’t I told you?” the other said quickly. “I had awireyesterday. 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 would have to stay in New York for a week or so. It was over fifty words long.”
  9. (slang)A hidden listening device on the person of anundercoveroperative for the purposes of obtaining incriminating spoken evidence.
  10. (informal)A deadline or critical endpoint.
    This election is going to go right to thewire
    • 1988,The Traveling Wilburys(lyrics and music), “Tweeter and the Monkey Man”, inThe Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1:
      If you don't surrender now, it's gonna go down to thewire
  11. (billiards)A wire strung withbeadsand hung horizontally above or near the table which is used to keep score.
  12. (usually in theplural)Any of thesystemof wires used to operate thepuppetsin a puppet show; hence, thenetworkof hiddeninfluencescontrolling the action of a person or organization;strings.
    to pull thewiresfor office
  13. (archaic,thieves' slang)Apickpocket,especially one who targetswomen.
  14. (slang)Acovertsignalsent between peoplecheatingin acard game.
  15. (Scotland)Aknitting needle.
  16. The slendershaftof theplumageof certainbirds.
  17. (journalism,informal)Clippingofwire serviceand/ornewswire.
    Breaking news reports have just come in to us over thewire.

Synonyms

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Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • →Gulf Arabic:واير(wāyir)
  • →Norwegian Bokmål:vaier,wire
  • →Norwegian Nynorsk:vaier,wire
  • →Swedish:vajer,wire

Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

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Verb

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wire(third-person singular simple presentwires,present participlewiring,simple past and past participlewired)

  1. Tofastenwith wire, especially with reference to wine bottles, corks, or fencing.
    We need towirethat hole in the fence.
    • 1934,Rex Stout,Fer-de-Lance,Bantam,published1992,→ISBN,page222:
      I could see him in his plane flying low over the river or a reservoir, dropping the club out with a chunk of leadwiredto the shaft.
  2. Tostringon a wire.
    wirebeads
  3. To equip with wires for use with electricity.
    Do you know how towirea plug?
    • 2020April 8, “Network News: MML still on electrification agenda”, inRail,page23:
      Replying on March 20 to a Commons Written Question from Alberto Costa (Conservative, South Leicestershire) about plans towiretoLeicester,Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: "We are currently investing in the biggest upgrade of the Midland Main Line since it was completed in 1870. [...]
  4. Toconnect,embed,incorporate,orinclude(something) into (something else) by or as if by wires:
    1. To add (something) into a system (especially an electrical system) by means of wiring.
      I'll justwireyour camera to the computer screen.
      • 2004,David Wall,Managing and Securing a Cisco Structured Wireless-Aware Network,→ISBN,page 2:
        Assuming that all of the conference rooms arewiredinto 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 into the network.
    2. To add or connect (something) into a system as if with wires (for example, with nerves).
      • 2004,Richard Weinstein,The Stress Effect,→ISBN:
        There is an enormous neurological consequence to mechanorecptor dysfunction, which is related to how these cells arewiredinto the spinal cord.
      • 2003,Carol L. Boggs, Ward B. Watt, Paul R. Ehrlich,Butterflies: Ecology and Evolution Taking Flight,→ISBN,page31:
        The distal tier of cells has a wider acceptance angle than the proximal tier and different neuronal wiring (distal photoreceptors arewiredinto the lamina, while proximal photoreceptors arewired intothe medulla), as well as a different spectral receptor composition.
    3. To connect,involveorembed(something) deeply or intimately into (something else, such as an organization or political scene), so that it isplugged in (to that thing)(“keeping up with current information about (the thing)”)or hasinsinuateditself into (the thing).
      • 1996,H. L. Richardson,Split Ticket,→ISBN,page54:
        He was the minority leader's political eyes and ears— nicknamed "the Electrician," due to all the intrigue and legislative shenanigans he waswiredinto.
      • 1999,Teddi Chichester Bonca, Teddi Lynn Chichester,Shelley's Mirrors of Love: Narcissism, Sacrifice, and Sorority,SUNY Press,→ISBN,page186:
        Like the fledgling scientist who tried towirehimself into the sisterly circle at Field Place, Prometheus joins the electric circuit formed by his "Fair sister nymphs," Panthea, Asia,...
      • 2000,Joan D'Arc,Phenomenal World: Remote Viewing, Astral Travel, Apparitions, Extraterrestrials, Lucid Dreams and Other Forms of Intelligent Contact in the Magical Kingdom of Mind-at-Large,Book Tree,→ISBN,page154:
        ... and quite handy indeed that they also saw fit towirethemselves 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 ladle in the soup of...
      • 2002,Penny Gurstein,Wired to the World, Chained to the Home: Telework in Daily Life,→ISBN,page193:
        I amwiredinto my work on a continuous basis. I think that I can shut it off, but in my heart I know I cannot
      • 2006,John F. Stacks,Scotty: James B. Reston and the Rise and Fall of American Journalism,U of Nebraska Press,→ISBN,page102:
        RESTON MOVED QUICKLY to parlay his new prominence bywiringhimself into high-level Washington sources, and not just Republicans like Vandenberg.
      • 2006,Don Pendleton,Slaughter House,→ISBN,page180:
        "When the island was initially green-lighted for casinos, Hu Dzem figured he was first in line, given the way he waswiredinto the gambling rackets in Hong Kong and on the mainland.
      • 2007,Michael G. Santos,Inside: Life Behind Bars in America,St. Martin's Press,→ISBN,page132:
        Working together with a highly-respected and well-connected gang leader like Lion reduces the risk of detection. Such menwirethemselves into the happenings of the pen; they know who can pay how much, and they have finely tuned instincts for the rackets they control. The Nelsons work as a husband-and-wife team, which makes escaping detection easier.
      • 2009,Natalie Welsh,Sentenced to Hell: The Incredible True Story of a Young Mother's Miraculous Escape from Venezuela's Notorious Prison System,→ISBN,page29:
        Dealers saw the potential in him because he waswiredinto all the right social networks, and asked him to start selling pills for them.
      • 2010,John Martin Somers,Pick Your Own Strawberries,Lulu,→ISBN,page276:
        The remainder of the Inn Crowd started towirethemselves into the session. Frank, who was almost always the first to get pissed, was practically gone already, delighted with his career and with his life and determined to drink[…]
      • 2010,Jim Devellano, Roger Lajoie,The Road to Hockeytown: Jimmy Devellano's Forty Years in the NHL,→ISBN,page xi:
        He is reallywired intothe world of hockey and connected to all facets of the sport. Jimmy iswiredinto the media as well.
      • 2013,John Rentoul,Tony Blair: Prime Minister,Faber & Faber,→ISBN:
        Blair brought out the febrile intensity of Stanhope,wiringhimself into his ever more circumscribed troglodyte world, speculating moodily on the worm that went down when it thought it was coming up. Robert Philp thought Blair's...
      • 2014,Helen Giltrow,The Distance: A Thriller,Anchor,→ISBN:
        A week, and most of it spent inside the compound, but already he's begun towirehimself into the environment, read its codes. The pecking order and the power struggles and the personalities. The fixers and the operators,...
      • 2015March 30, Bob Raissman, “Duke's Mike Krzyzewski the darling of Final Four coaches”, inNew York Daily News:
        The same, obviously, cannot be said for Calipari, or Coach Cal as he's known by all thosewiredinto the world of college basketball.
      • 2015April 18, Daniel McDonnell, “Captain Pearce aims to deliver knockout blow to Arsenal in FA Cup”, inIrish Independent:
        "In the changing room I'm not very relaxed, I getwiredinto it then and psyched up but I think it's important not to build the game up in your mind into something that it's not, "he asserts.
      • 2015July 4, John Cassillo, “Neutral Fan at the Final Four: How I Got Through Four Days in Indianapolis Without Syracuse”, inSB Nation:
        Duke fans REALLY showed up in the noise department...The cheers may not have been overly varied, but the noise was consistent, and they werewiredinto every single play that occurred on the court.
      • 2018,Robin Brunet,Let's Get Frank,Douglas & McIntyre,→ISBN:
        He has always done this, having a good system forwiringhimself in to the daily action and buzz of what's going on with clients and the business in general. He also has a pretty good nose for figuring out who the key influencers are,[…]
      • 2019,Frank H Baker, Mason Miller,Stud Managers' Handbook,CRC Press,→ISBN:
        All that determines the amount that livestock producers receive is the degree to which theywirethemselves into the various sources that are available. However, the primary source is still the land-grant-university system.
  5. (figuratively,usually passive)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'swired.
    • 1984,William Gibson,Neuromancer(Sprawl;book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books,→ISBN,page25:
      “‘Cept I do hurt people sometimes, Case. I guess it's just the way I'mwired.”
    • 2004,Andrew Radford,English Syntax: An Introduction,→ISBN,page11:
      PPT hypothesises that grammatical properties which are universal will not have to be learned by the child, since they arewiredinto the language faculty and hence part of the child's genetic endowment...
    • 2005,Michael Dunmore,Inside-out Marketing,→ISBN,page 6:
      That voyage will be far more comfortable and may involve some sightseeing if internal marketing iswiredinto organizational culture and strategy rather than something that is done from time to time depending upon the economic cycle.
    • 2011,Jay Pestrichelli, Wayne Ferbert,Buy and Hedge: The 5 Iron Rules for Investing Over the Long Term,→ISBN,page 9:
      You make decisions innately; doing so iswiredinto how you behave.
    • 2011,Kathryn E. Hood, Carolyn Tucker Halpern, Gary Greenberg,Handbook of Developmental Science, Behavior, and Genetics,→ISBN:
      Maternal instinct iswiredinto the brain.
    • 2013March 1, Jay Payleitner,52 Things Daughters Need from Their Dads: What Fathers Can Do to Build a Lasting Relationship,Harvest House Publishers,→ISBN,page132:
      If Godwiredher to be a corporate tycoon, Olympic champion, presidential hopeful, or Academy Award-winning actress, that's awesome. Come alongside her and cheer her on. But just as awesome is the idea that the plan for her life is far [simpler].
    • 2015February 18, Orvelin Valle, “This Journalist Nails The Reason Why Young Men Want To Go To War”, inWe Are The Mighty:
      It's certainlywiredinto our language when we talk about, 'C'mon, be a man about it,' or 'Man up.'
  6. To send amessageormonetaryfundsto another person through atelecommunicationssystem, formerly predominantly bytelegraph.
    Urgent: pleasewireme another 100 pounds sterling.
    The detectivewiredahead, hoping that the fugitive would be caught at the railway station.
  7. (slang)To make someone tense or psyched up.See also adjectivewired.
    Coffee late at nightwiresme good and proper.
  8. (slang)To installeavesdroppingequipment.
    Wewiredthe suspect's house.
  9. Tosnareby means of a wire or wires.
  10. (transitive,croquet)To place (a ball) so that the wire of awicketprevents a successfulshot.

Usage notes

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  • In the sense of "connect" or "set, predetermine", the term can sometimes be made more emphatic by usinghard-wire.
  • Comparewired.

Synonyms

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  • (equip for use with electricity):electrify
  • (informal: send a message or funds by telecommunications):cable,telegraph

Antonyms

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  • (antonym(s) of“to fasten with wire”):unwire

Troponyms

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

Derived terms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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Javanese

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Romanization

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wire

  1. Romanization ofꦮꦶꦫꦺ

Lovono

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Etymology

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FromProto-Oceanic*waiʀ.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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wire

  1. water,fresh water
  2. river,stream

References

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Noun

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wirem(definite singularwiren,indefinite pluralwirer,definite pluralwirene)

  1. Alternative spelling ofvaier

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Noun

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wirem(definite singularwiren,indefinite pluralwirar,definite pluralwirane)

  1. Alternative spelling ofvaier
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