The Collaborative International Dictionary
Wire \Wire\ (w[imac]r), n. [OE. wir, AS. wir; akin to Icel. v[=i]rr, Dan. vire, LG. wir, wire; cf. OHG. wiara fine gold; perhaps akin to E. withy. [root]14
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] 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.
Note: 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.
A telegraph wire or cable; hence, an electric telegraph; as, to send a message by wire. [Colloq.]
Chiefly in pl. The system of wires used to operate the puppets in a puppet show; hence (Chiefly Political Slang), the network of hidden influences controlling the action of a person or organization; as, to pull the wires for office; -- in this sense, synonymous with strings.
One who picks women's pockets. [Thieves' Slang]
A knitting needle. [Scot.]
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A wire stretching across over a race track at the judges' stand, to mark the line at which the races end. [Racing Cant] 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 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.
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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 (Zo["o]l.), 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.
Usage examples of "wire fence".
On the right-hand side a line of wire fence strung out across the cotton field, and the dusty green cotton was the same on both sides, dusty and dry and dark green.
About half way between the parked taxis, where they were all out of my sight, I took Admiral right up to the wire fence to give him a look at it.
What she carried between two hands rolled under the wire of the barbed-wire fence with her into the battery area.
He could see only the backs of the rear ranks of the crowd, and over their heads the top of the wire fence and the iron roof of the station.
So Pancho locked the goat in the shed next door to the henhouse, which was also surrounded by the chicken pen's wire fence.
They had never met any one who was so well qualified to discuss the pros and cons of the barb-wire fence question, and they learned many things which they had never heard before.
He was going over the barbed-wire fence to make sure that the dilapidated hangars didn't hold some fancy high-tech machine that could come roaring up into the sky and shoot them down as they made their getaway.
He raised it and his fourteen men darted through, past a double barbed-wire fence and another that looked electrified.
Just a short dash to a shadowed part of the six-wire fence, then easily through and a quick run into the jungle.
But before the car had stopped rocking he was out of it and had crossed the strip of grass to press his head against Brinkly's wire fence.
I can see there that within a week of my return from Tynsham I had started on the work of erecting a wire fence to keep the triffids out.
It involved a stout wire fence which took advantage of the natural features and standing barriers, and, inside it, a lighter fence to prevent either the stock or ourselves from coming inadvertently within sting range of the main fence.
It was Fiver who was clambering over him, clawing and grabbing like a rabbit trying to climb a wire fence in a panic.
He crashed down across the wire fence, his torso almost severed before the mesh tore loose from its fixtures and wrapped round him in a crackling tangle of sparks.
Varak approached the lone figure in a raincoat by the rocks of a jetty several hundred yards from the high, imposing wire fence of the Naval Air Station.