- wire
- wire1 [ `waır ] noun **1. ) count or uncount a long thin piece of metal like a THREAD:copper/steel/gold wireThe sticks were tied in bundles with wire.a piece/length of wirea coil/roll of wirea ) only before noun made from wire:glasses with wire framesa wire fence/cagewire netting/mesh/fencing2. ) count or uncount a long thin piece of metal that carries electricity or telephone signals:telephone wires3. ) count INFORMAL a piece of electronic equipment that someone wears under their clothes to allow other people to hear their conversations secretly4. ) count AMERICAN INFORMAL a TELEGRAMget your wires crossedif two people get their wires crossed, they become confused because they each think that the other one is talking about something else(right) down to the wire INFORMALat the latest possible timeunder the wire INFORMALjust before the time when something ends or the time when it must be finishedwirewire 2 [ `waır ] verb transitive1. ) to connect a piece of electrical equipment to something, or connect the wires inside a piece of equipment:The kids are taught how to wire a plug.The patients are wired up to various machines for tests.2. ) to join things together using wire:Doctors will wire the sections of broken bone together.3. ) to send money directly from one bank to another using an electronic systema ) to send a TELEGRAM to someone4. ) to hide a piece of equipment somewhere that allows conversations to be heard secretly
Usage of the words and phrases in modern English. 2013.