> as lemmas

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 3513 His hæð [read hæd] wes swulc swa beoð gold wir.

a1400 MS Westm. Abbey 34/11 in Notes & Queries (1981) Feb. 14/2 Filum ferreum est arguill.., irne wyr.

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. ii. l. 11 Fetislich hir fyngres were fretted with golde wyre And þere-on red rubyes.

a1425 (?c1350) Ywain & Gawain (1964) l. 2967 Many maidens þare he sese Wirkand silk and gold-wire.

c1500 (?a1437) Kingis Quair (1939) i (MED) In Aquary, Citherea the clere Rynsid hir tressis like the goldin wyre.

1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. iv. sig. P7^v [He] Shakt his long locks, colourd like copper-wyre.

1669 S. Sturmy Summary of Penalties & Forfeitures in Mariners Mag. 2 Iron Wyre, or whited Wyre, are forfeited if any such be Imported.

1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant iii. 46 Fasten to each of the two pieces that are to enter into one another, some Iron, Copper, or Silver wire, turned Screw-wise.

1700 J. Brome Trav. iii. 184 [Highlanders] delight much in Musick, but chiefly in Harps and Clarishoes of their own Fashion, the strings of which are made of Brass-Wire, and the strings of their Harps with Sinews.

1717 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 1 Apr. (1965) I. 342 [The] Cushions..are gennerally Brocade or embroidery of Gold Wire upon Satin.

1796 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 86 260 A small piece of fine cambric, or reticulated silver wire stretched before it.

1831 G. Henson Civil Hist. Framework-knitters i. 32 To draw gold and silver wire for the use of ‘Orris’, or gold and silver lace weavers, is the utmost perfection of that business.

1892 Proc. Royal Soc. 1891 50 408 Another line was coincident..with the radiation at λ 500 from burning magnesium wire.

1903 Electr. World & Engineer 29 Aug. 341 (Cent. Dict. Suppl.) The stranded conductors are universally made of very fine copper or copper bronze wire, or what is technically called tinsel.

1915 Oxf. Univ. Gaz. Feb. 377/2 What Professor Flinders Petrie has sent us from the discoveries..at Harageh..consists of..much of Dynasty XII—a model amulet-case of wood bound with gold wire.

1936 E. A. Atkins & A. G. Walker Electr. Arc & Oxy-acetylene Welding (ed. 3) xvii. 248 Perhaps it will be interesting to follow the changes that take place in a piece of 16 gauge mild steel wire as it is heated up to various temperatures.

1965 Limnol. & Oceanogr. 10 147/1 The cathode is made from a shallow Lucite cup with a center post of 18-gauge platinum wire.

1999 New Yorker 19 July 46/3 She had a powerful idea: to supply wireless telephone service in Africa and other emerging-market areas with radio-based phones, which would circumvent the threat of stolen copper wire and vandalized telephone booths.