wire-frameadj.n.
/ˌwʌɪəˈfreɪm/, U.S. /ˈwaɪ(ə)rˈfreɪm/ A. adj.
1. Of an object (esp. a pair of spectacles): consisting of or having a frame made of wire.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > ophthalmology or optometry > aids to defective vision > [adjective] > types of spectacles
steel-rimmeda1400
steelbowed1606
young1667
near-sighted1796
trifocal1826
steel-bow1834
pantoscopic1836
window glass1885
bifocal1888
horn-rimmed1894
pebbled1928
thick-lensed1946
single-vision1962
wire-rim1968
wire-frame1977
Lennon1984
1915 B. E. Jones Cinematogr. Bk. iii. 19 A wire-frame direct-vision finder..is fitted in addition.
1977 E. Leonard Unknown Man No. 89 ii. 13 His tinted wire-frame glasses glistened.
1987 Adaptable Housing (U.S. Dept. Housing & Urban Devel.) 40 (caption) Rotating slide-out wire frame corner storage shelves.
2002 N.Y. Mag. 29 Apr. 24/2 His look—wire-frame glasses, an exceedingly bland tan sweater, unremarkable jeans—is so understated that it doesn't even qualify as geek chic.
2. Designating a (usually computer-generated) three-dimensional image in which only the edges and vertices of an object are depicted or represented; of or relating to such images.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > software > [adjective] > applications > images
wire-frame1963
1963 Proc. AFIPS Conf. 23 348 A prototype graphical communications system capable of manipulating straight line, ‘wire frame’, figures in three-dimensional space is now in operation.
1982 J. E. Scott Introd. Interactive Computer Graphics viii. 135 A wire-frame drawing is less pleasing visually, but it is considerably faster for the computer to produce.
1999 Daily Tel. 28 Jan. (Connected section) 8/1 The process of rendering, in which textures and lighting are added to wire-frame animations and backgrounds, requires an incredible amount of raw number-crunching power.
2004 B. McFarlane Modelling with AutoCAD 2004 xxvii. 191 As wire-frame models have no surfaces, they cannot detect interference between adjacent components.
B. n. Chiefly in form wireframe.
1. A wire-frame image (see sense A. 2); this means of presenting an image.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > software > [noun] > applications program > graphics > image
colour graphics1951
computer graphic1963
primitive1968
wire-frame1971
1971 G. A. Pall Introd. to Sci. Computing viii. 556 It may be scaled, translated, rotated, and viewed as either a solid body or a wire frame.
1982 D. H. Ballard & C. M. Brown Computer Vision ix. 292 It is possible..to determine algorithmically all possible polyhedral boundaries described by a three-dimensional wireframe.
1991 Technol. Horizons in Educ. Apr. 33/1 The program also..envisions results in wireframe,..shaded and dithered viewing modes.
2002 Personal Computer World Dec. 83/1 You don't have to work with wireframes, modelling techniques, or jargonistic 3D design concepts.
2. An image or set of images which displays the functional (but not the graphical) elements of a website or page, typically used during the design process for planning a site's structure and functionality.
ΚΠ
1999 Network Mag. Jan. 65/1 We..produce a wireframe, which is a flat, nondynamic mock-up of the Web site.
2008 R. Hoekman Designing Moment vi. 49 They came to me with a wireframe for the home page of the LMS.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
adj.n.1915