Wiktionary

wire

See also: Wire

English

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Stranded electrical wire.

Etymology

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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”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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.
    • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:
      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 the wires.
  4. A fence made of usually barbed wire.
  5. (sports) A finish line of a racetrack.
  6. (informal) A telecommunication wire or cable.
  8. (by extension) An electric telegraph; a telegram.
    • c. 1921 (date written), Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama […], Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1923, →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 a wire. Good. [Hangs up telephone.] Where did I leave off?
    • 1964 [1929], William Faulkner, Sartoris (The Collected Works of William Faulkner), London: Chatto & Windus, page 23:
      “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 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 an undercover operative for the purposes of obtaining incriminating spoken evidence.
  10. (informal) A deadline or critical endpoint.
    This election is going to go right to the wire
    • 1988, The Traveling Wilburys (lyrics and music), “Tweeter and the Monkey Man”, in The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1:
      If you don't surrender now, it's gonna go down to the wire
  11. (billiards) A wire strung with beads and hung horizontally above or near the table which is used to keep score.
  12. (usually in the 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
  13. (archaic, thieves' slang) A pickpocket, especially one who targets women.
  14. (slang) A covert signal sent between people cheating in a card game.
  15. (Scotland) A knitting needle.
  16. The slender shaft of the plumage of certain birds.
  17. (journalism, informal) Clipping of wire service and/or newswire.
    Breaking news reports have just come in to us over the wire.

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 at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

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Verb

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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, Bantam, published 1992, →ISBN, 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.
    Do you know how to wire a plug?
    • 2020 April 8, “Network News: MML still on electrification agenda”, in Rail, page 23:
      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 biggest upgrade of the Midland Main Line since it was completed in 1870. [...]
  4. To connect, embed, incorporate, or include (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 just wire your 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 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 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 are wired into the spinal cord.
      • 2003, Carol L. Boggs, Ward B. Watt, Paul R. Ehrlich, Butterflies: Ecology and Evolution Taking Flight, →ISBN, page 31:
        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 well as a different spectral receptor composition.
    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).
      • 1996, H. L. Richardson, Split Ticket, →ISBN, page 54:
        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.
      • 1999, Teddi Chichester Bonca, Teddi Lynn Chichester, Shelley's Mirrors of Love: Narcissism, Sacrifice, and Sorority, SUNY Press, →ISBN, page 186:
        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, ...
      • 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, page 154:
        ... 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 ladle in the soup of ...
      • 2002, Penny Gurstein, Wired to the World, Chained to the Home: Telework in Daily Life, →ISBN, page 193:
        I am wired into 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, page 102:
        RESTON MOVED QUICKLY to parlay his new prominence by wiring himself into high-level Washington sources, and not just Republicans like Vandenberg.
      • 2006, Don Pendleton, Slaughter House, →ISBN, page 180:
        "When the island was initially green-lighted for casinos, Hu Dzem figured he was first in line, given the way he was wired into 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, page 132:
        Working together with a highly-respected and well-connected gang leader like Lion reduces the risk of detection. Such men wire themselves 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, page 29:
        Dealers saw the potential in him because he was wired into all the right social networks, and asked him to start selling pills for them.
      • 2010, John Martin Somers, Pick Your Own Strawberries, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 276:
        The remainder of the Inn Crowd started to wire themselves 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 really wired into the world of hockey and connected to all facets of the sport. Jimmy is wired into the media as well.
      • 2013, John Rentoul, Tony Blair: Prime Minister, Faber & Faber, →ISBN:
        Blair brought out the febrile intensity of Stanhope, wiring himself 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 to wire himself into the environment, read its codes. The pecking order and the power struggles and the personalities. The fixers and the operators, ...
      • 2015 March 30, Bob Raissman, “Duke's Mike Krzyzewski the darling of Final Four coaches”, in New York Daily News:
        The same, obviously, cannot be said for Calipari, or Coach Cal as he's known by all those wired into the world of college basketball.
      • 2015 April 18, Daniel McDonnell, “Captain Pearce aims to deliver knockout blow to Arsenal in FA Cup”, in Irish Independent:
        "In the changing room I'm not very relaxed, I get wired into 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.
      • 2015 July 4, John Cassillo, “Neutral Fan at the Final Four: How I Got Through Four Days in Indianapolis Without Syracuse”, in SB 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 were wired into 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 for wiring himself 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 they wire themselves 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's wired.
    • 1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 25:
      “‘Cept I do hurt people sometimes, Case. I guess it's just the way I'm wired.”
    • 2004, Andrew Radford, English Syntax: An Introduction, →ISBN, page 11:
      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...
    • 2005, Michael Dunmore, Inside-out Marketing, →ISBN, page 6:
      That voyage will be far more comfortable and may involve some sightseeing if internal marketing is wired into 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 is wired into how you behave.
    • 2011, Kathryn E. Hood, Carolyn Tucker Halpern, Gary Greenberg, Handbook of Developmental Science, Behavior, and Genetics, →ISBN:
      Maternal instinct is wired into the brain.
    • 2013 March 1, Jay Payleitner, 52 Things Daughters Need from Their Dads: What Fathers Can Do to Build a Lasting Relationship, Harvest House Publishers, →ISBN, page 132:
      If God wired her 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].
    • 2015 February 18, Orvelin Valle, “This Journalist Nails The Reason Why Young Men Want To Go To War”, in We Are The Mighty:
      It's certainly wired into our language when we talk about, 'C'mon, be a man about it,' or 'Man up.'
  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.
  7. (slang) To make someone tense or psyched up. See also adjective wired.
    Coffee late at night wires me good and proper.
  8. (slang) To install eavesdropping equipment.
    We wired the suspect's house.
  9. To snare by means of a wire or wires.
  10. (transitive, croquet) To place (a ball) so that the wire of a wicket prevents a successful shot.

Usage notes

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  • In the sense of "connect" or "set, predetermine", the term can sometimes be made more emphatic by using hard-wire.
  • Compare wired.

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 of ꦮꦶꦫꦺ

Lovono

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Etymology

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From Proto-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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wire m (definite singular wiren, indefinite plural wirer, definite plural wirene)

  1. Alternative spelling of vaier

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Noun

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wire m (definite singular wiren, indefinite plural wirar, definite plural wirane)

  1. Alternative spelling of vaier
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