wire
noun /ˈwaɪə(r)/
/ˈwaɪər/
Idioms - [uncountable, countable] metal in the form of thin thread; a piece of this
- a coil of copper wire
- wire mesh
- A high wire fence encircles the complex.
- a wire basket
- The box was fastened with a rusty wire.
Extra Examples- Cool the cakes on a wire rack.
- Surely the wires shouldn't show like that?
- The wire was stretched between two poles.
- wire coat hangers
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- taut
- loose
- fine
- …
- length
- piece
- strand
- …
- cut
- bend
- twist
- …
- mesh
- netting
- basket
- …
- behind a/the wire
- under a/the wire
enlarge image[countable, uncountable] a piece of wire that is used to carry an electric current or signal- electrical wires
- a spider's web of unsightly overhead wires
- The telephone wires had been cut.
Wordfindersee also hot-wire- battery
- charge
- conduct
- connect
- electricity
- generate
- insulate
- power
- switch
- wire
Extra ExamplesTopics Engineeringb2- Don't place carpets over electrical wires.
- Don't touch that wire. It's live.
- He disconnected the wire from the clock.
- The electrician ran a wire from the kitchen to the bedroom.
- The wire was attached to a pin in the plug.
- Watch out for bare wires.
- overhead electricity wires
- the flow of electrical current down a wire
- I found myself tripping over a tangle of wires and cables.
- There were wires trailing everywhere.
- Where does this wire go?
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- electric
- electrical
- electricity
- …
- attach
- connect
- disconnect
- …
- go
- lead
- run
- …
- along a/the wire
- down a/the wire
- a tangle of wires
- an electronic listening device that can be hidden on a person
- an undercover police informer who was wearing a wire
- the wire[singular] a wire fence
- Three prisoners escaped by crawling under the wire.
Extra Examples- Behind the wire, the prisoners were exercising.
- They cut the perimeter wire and escaped.
- [countable] (informal, especially North American English) a telegram (= a message sent by telegraph and then printed and given to somebody)
- We sent a wire asking him to join us.
see also wiry
Word OriginOld English wīr; of Germanic origin, probably from the base of Latin viere ‘plait, weave’.
Idioms
get your wires crossed
- (informal) to become confused about what somebody has said to you so that you think they meant something else
- We seem to have got our wires crossed. I thought you were coming on Tuesday.
go, come, etc. (right) down to the wire
- (informal) if you say that a situation goes down to the wire, you mean that the result will not be decided or known until the very end
a live wire
- a person who is lively and full of energyTopics Personal qualitiesc2
pull wires (North American English)
(also pull strings (for somebody) British and North American English)
- (informal) to use your influence in order to get an advantage for somebody
under the wire
- (informal, especially North American English) at the last possible opportunity; just in time
- The files arrived just under the wire and we made the deadline.
- We got in under the wire.