wire : Idioms & Phrases

• noun wire used to make bales
  

WordNet

• noun strong wire with barbs at regular intervals used to prevent passage
  barbwire.
  

WordNet

• a wire, or a strand of twisted wires, armed with barbs or sharp points. It is used for fences.

Webster 1913

• a ground for lace, made of silk, with meshes partly straight and partly arched.

Webster 1913

• noun a galvanized wire network with a hexagonal mesh; used to build fences
  

WordNet

• noun a metal conductor that carries electricity over a distance
  wire.
  

WordNet

• noun either of two fine mutually perpendicular lines that cross in the focus plane of an optical instrument and are use for sighting or calibration
  cross hair; cross wire.
  
  • he had the target in his cross hairs

WordNet

• noun either of two fine mutually perpendicular lines that cross in the focus plane of an optical instrument and are use for sighting or calibration
  cross hair; cross wire.
  
  • he had the target in his cross hairs

WordNet

• fine wires made to traverse the field of view in a telescope, and moved by a screw with a graduated head, used for delicate astronomical observations; spider lines. Fixed cross wires are also used in microscopes, etc.

Webster 1913

• noun a cable, wire, or rope that is used to brace something (especially a tent)
  guy rope; guy; guy cable.
  

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• noun a tightrope very high above the ground
  

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• verb start (a car engine) without a key by bypassing the ignition interlock
  
  • The woman who lost the car keys had to hot-wire her van

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• wire wound with silk, or covered with other nonconducting material, for electrical use.

Webster 1913

• noun an alert and energetic person
  sharpy; eager beaver; sharpie; busy bee.
  

WordNet

• noun a small plant of Oregon resembling mustard; a threatened species
  Stephanomeria malheurensis.
  

WordNet

• (of an optical instrument), their apparent displacement when the eye changes its position, caused by their not being exactly in the focus of the object glass.

Webster 1913

• noun thin steel wire of high tensile strength
  

WordNet

• wire fluted longitudinally, for making the pinions of clocks and watches. It is formed by being drawn through holes of the shape required for the leaves or teeth of the pinions.

Webster 1913

• a pointed wire used to penetrate the vent of a piece, for piercing the cartridge before priming.

Webster 1913

• verb influence or control shrewdly or deviously
  pull strings; manipulate.
  
  • He manipulated public opinion in his favor

WordNet

• noun the wire that carries telegraph and telephone signals
  telegraph line; telegraph wire; telephone line.
  

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• noun the wire that carries telegraph and telephone signals
  telegraph line; telegraph wire; telephone line.
  

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• noun a small military force that serves as a first line of defense; if they become engaged in hostilities it will trigger the intervention of stronger military forces
  
• noun a wire stretched close to the ground that activates something (a trap or camera or weapon) when tripped over
  

WordNet

• an elastic bed bottom or mattress made of wires interwoven or looped together in various ways.

Webster 1913

• a bridge suspended from wires, or cables made of wire.

Webster 1913

• a shot cartridge having the shot inclosed in a wire cage.

Webster 1913

• noun fabric woven of metallic wire
  

WordNet

• a coarse cloth made of woven metallic wire, used for strainers, and for various other purposes.

Webster 1913

• noun an edge tool used in cutting wire
  

WordNet

• the thin, wirelike thread of metal sometimes formed on the edge of a tool by the stone in sharpening it.

Webster 1913

• a fence consisting of posts with strained horizontal wires, wire netting, or other wirework, between.

Webster 1913

• noun gauge for measuring the diameter of wire
  wire gage.
  

WordNet

• noun gauge for measuring the diameter of wire
  wire gage.
  

WordNet

• . (a) A gauge for measuring the diameter of wire, thickness of sheet metal, etc., often consisting of a metal plate with a series of notches of various widths in its edge. (b) A standard series of sizes arbitrarily indicated, as by numbers, to which the diameter of wire or the thickness of sheet metal in usually made, and which is used in describing the size or thickness. There are many different standards for wire gauges, as in different countries, or for different kinds of metal, the Birmingham wire gauges and the American wire gauge being often used and designated by the abbreviations B. W.G. and A. W.G. respectively.

Webster 1913

• a texture of finely interwoven wire, resembling gauze.

Webster 1913

• noun a glass that contains a layer of wire netting in it
  

WordNet

• noun handsome hardy North American grass with foliage turning pale bronze in autumn
  Schizachyrium scoparium; prairie grass; broom beard grass; Andropogon scoparius.
  
• noun coarse annual grass having fingerlike spikes of flowers; native to Old World tropics; a naturalized weed elsewhere
  Eleusine indica; goose grass; yard grass; yardgrass.
  

WordNet

• (Bot.), either of the two common grasses Eleusine Indica, valuable for hay and pasture, and Poa compressa, or blue grass. See Blue grass.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), a wireworm.

Webster 1913

• wire rods of iron.

Webster 1913

• wire cloth or wire netting applied in the place of wooden lathing for holding plastering.

Webster 1913

• noun an impact printer in which each character is represented by a pattern of dots made by wires or styli
  wire matrix printer; stylus printer.
  

WordNet

• . See Wire bed, above.

Webster 1913

• a micrometer having spider lines, or fine wires, across the field of the instrument.

Webster 1913

• a nail formed of a piece of wire which is headed and pointed.

Webster 1913

• a texture of woven wire coarser than ordinary wire gauze.

Webster 1913

• noun an impact printer in which each character is represented by a pattern of dots made by wires or styli
  wire matrix printer; stylus printer.
  

WordNet

• noun an early type of magnetic recorder using iron wire
  

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• a metal rod from which wire is formed by drawing.

Webster 1913

• a rope formed wholly, or in great part, of wires.

Webster 1913

• noun an agency to collects news reports for newspapers and distributes it electronically
  press association; press agency; news organization; news agency; news organisation.
  

WordNet

• noun a hand tool used by electricians to remove insulation from the cut end of an insulated wire
  

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• noun a mass of woven steel fibers used as an abrasive
  steel wool.
  

WordNet

Wire"-draw`er noun

Definitions

1. One who draws metal into wire.

Webster 1913

• adjective satellite (especially of dogs) having stiff wiry hair
  wiry-coated.
  
  • a wire-haired terrier

WordNet

• noun a fox terrier with wiry hair
  

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• noun breed of medium-sized long-headed dogs with downy undercoat and harsh wiry outer coat; originated in Holland but largely developed in France
  griffon.
  

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• noun a terrier with wiry hair
  wirehaired terrier; wirehair.
  

WordNet

Wire"-heel` noun

Definitions

1. (Far.) A disease in the feet of a horse or other beast.

Webster 1913

• noun one who uses secret influence (i.e. pulls wires or strings) for his own ends
  

WordNet

Wire"-pull`er noun

Definitions

1. One who pulls the wires, as of a puppet; hence, one who operates by secret means; an intriguer.

   Political wire-pullers and convention packers. Lowell.

Webster 1913

Wire"-pull`ing noun

Definitions

1. The act of pulling the wires, as of a puppet; hence, secret influence or management, especially in politics; intrigue.

Webster 1913

Wire"-tailed` adjective

Definitions

1. (Zoöl.) Having some or all of the tail quills terminated in a long, slender, pointed shaft, without a web or barbules.

Webster 1913

Wire"-work`er noun

Definitions

1. One who manufactures articles from wire.

Webster 1913

• noun a schematic drawing of the wiring of an electrical system
  

WordNet