1588 J. Aske Elizabetha Triumphans 18 Now came the day..Where-in Aurora putting foorth hir head, Hir curled head with wirey hanging locks Of brightest Siluer, [etc.].

a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iii. iv. 64 O what loue I note In the faire multitude of those her haires; Where but by chance a siluer drop hath falne, Euen to that drop ten thousand wiery f[r]iends Doe glew themselues in sociable griefe. View more context for this quotation

1710 E. Ward Nuptial Dialogues & Deb. I. xxvi. 319 Your Wiry-Hair, like Ell-flocks, starts beneath Your Coif, and hangs in here and there a Wreath.

1798 Trans. Soc. Arts 16 123 The grass it now produces..is so hard and wiry.

1836 W. H. Ainsworth Rookwood (rev. ed.) i. i. 3 A strange superannuated terrier with a wirey back.

1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 464 Straw Cotton..is a wiry kind of thread, starched and stiff,..exclusively made for use in the manufacture of straw goods.

1920 Amer. Woman Aug. 25/2 (advt.) Very brilliant crimson; full double flowers on stiff wiry stems.

1952 Life 17 Nov. 82 (advt.) Whisk off wiry stubble in jigtime—leave your face looking and feeling its best.

2004 Time Out 31 Mar. 36/2 Both vegetable and chicken ramen contained wiry, instant-looking noodles in an anaemic stock that lacked depth or character.

1770 J. Armstrong Misc. I. 199 Your solid wirey nerves are asleep it would seem to the lute.

1809 W. Blake Descr. Catal. 63 The more distinct, sharp, and wirey the bounding line, the more perfect the work of art.

1830 E. Bulwer-Lytton Paul Clifford I. iv. 75 ‘Knock him down’. There is something peculiarly harsh and stunning in those three, hard—wirey—sturdy—stubborn monosyllables.

1861 Gentleman's Mag. July 22 This revival was ushered in here, as elsewhere, with the production of some very wiry Gothic churches.

1925 Times 14 Feb. 17/3 The photographic silhouette, with its meagre forms and wiry outlines, does not become obtrusive.

1941 Art Bull. 23 176/1 A type of drawing which, from the first wiry sketch to the steel-hard final version, aimed at a strict verisimilitude.

2001 Locus June 21/3 Apart from the delights of Brown's wiry style..one of the most striking things about this collection is the number of ways in which Brown..managed to anticipate later modes of SF and irrealism.

1808 W. Scott Marmion v. Introd. 228 Wiry terrier, rough and grim, And greyhound with his length of limb,..Cumber our parlour's narrow floor.

1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xi. 105 Mrs. Blimber..was a lady of great suavity, and a wiry figure.

1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. viii Such hard-bitten, wiry, whiskered fellows.

a1870 W. Stubbs Lect. European Hist. (1904) i. xi. 138 A wiry pertinacity was the distinctive feature of Charles's character.

1909 M. E. Durham High Albania iv. 80 A lean, wiry, active woman of forty-seven, clad in very ragged garments.

1924 R. Long My Story that I like Best 7 An interesting group..Jim Curwood, tall, wiry, outdoorsy in every line and movement.

1947 E. Berridge Sel. Stories 72 She suspected that the frail look of the old lady hid an indomitable good health and wiry will to live.

1966 W. Percy Last Gentleman iii. iii. 111 He shook hands with the engineer with a strong wiry grip, pronating his elbow.

2005 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 4 Dec. v. 12/4 Out dashed a wiry sand fox, an omnivorous animal native to the Sahara.

1793 J. Clarke Pract. Ess. Managem. Pregnancy & Labour 80 The pulse becomes small, frequent, and of a wiry hardness.]

1823 Lancet 5 Oct. 22/2 Pulse very quick (130), and wiry.

1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. III. 621 The pulse becomes small, sharp, wiry or thready.

1966 R. Silverberg Dawn Med. 142 A deep and slippery pulse is a sign of indigestion..a wiry pulse, heart disease.

1997 B. Rowlands Which? Guide Complementary Med. 77 There are six pulses in each wrist and they can have up to 28 qualities including wiry, empty, floating, rapid, slippery, knotted and intermittent.