wire
Pronunciation: /waɪə(ɹ)/
The English word “wire” has 20 meanings listed here.
noun
- Metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die.
- A piece of such material; a thread or slender rod of metal, a cable.
- A metal conductor that carries electricity.
- A fence made of usually barbed wire.
- A finish line of a racetrack.
- A telecommunication wire or cable.
- An electric telegraph; a telegram.
- A hidden listening device on the person of an undercover operative for the purposes of obtaining incriminating spoken evidence.
- A deadline or critical endpoint.
- A wire strung with beads and hung horizontally above or near the table which is used to keep score.
- 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.
- A pickpocket, especially one who targets women.
- A covert signal sent between people cheating in a card game.
- A knitting needle.
- A long, filamenteous, ornamental feather.
verb
- To fasten with wire, especially with reference to wine bottles, corks, or fencing.
- To string on a wire.
- To equip with wires for use with electricity.
- To add (something) into a system (especially an electrical system) by means of wiring.
- To add or connect (something) into a system as if with wires (for example, with nerves).
Etymology
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”).
Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “wire” there
More English words
About this dictionary
The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.
Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.