Word.ws English Dictionary

behind the wire

behind the wire phrase: in a prison camp or refugee camp.

Phrase

behind the wire

  1. (slang) In a prison camp or refugee camp.
    • Some were to find themselves behind the wire for virtually the entire war.2000, Patrick Wilson, The War Behind the Wire, page 9
    • The Archive has over two hundred of them — men, women and children who spent years behind the wire and yet lived to tell us their stories . . . and the stories of those people they do not want forgotten.2010, Michael Caulfield, War Behind the Wire: Australian Prisoners of War
  2. (broadly, slang) In prison.
    • Hutton, as engineer of the train which brought the mob, was one of the first ones detained and he remained behind the wire for several days until he could prove that he had acted as he did only because of the gun at his head.1959, Locomotive Engineers Journal - Volume 93, page 5
    • Remain strong until the walls come crashing down. You're in my thoughts, and the fine work each of you do. Later, brothers behind the wire.2003, Michael Arpaia, Angolite - Volume 28, page 2

Examples of behind the wire in a sentence

  • Nevertheless, even camps near "perfection," as the Red Cross described them, could not prevent battles from erupting behind the wire.2011, Cheryl Benard, Cathryn Quantic Thurston, Andrés Villamizar, The Battle Behind the Wire: U.S. Prisoner and Detainee Operations from...
  • Once we were back in the van and on our way "behind the wire" we were subjected to two more searches, one outside the first gate of the camp, and one behind the first and second gates.2011, Steve Eubanks, Golf Freek, page 236:
  • Section Three takes readers behind the wire and tells them what to expect if they ever get sentenced to time.2004, Greg Newbold, “Review: Behind Bars: Surviving Prison”, in Journal of Prisoners on Prisons:

Origin of behind the wire

A reference to the chain-link fence that surrounds a prison camp.

Questions about behind the wire

What does behind the wire mean?
Behind the wire means in a prison camp or refugee camp.
How do you use behind the wire in a sentence?
Nevertheless, even camps near "perfection," as the Red Cross described them, could not prevent battles from erupting behind the wire.
What part of speech is behind the wire?
Behind the wire is a phrase.

Words near behind the wire in the dictionary

  1. behind the eightball
  2. behind the scene
  3. behind the scenes
  4. behind the times
  5. behind the wheel
  6. behind the wire
  7. behind time
  8. behind-hand
  9. behind-the-scenes
  10. behinde
  11. behinded

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: behind the wire (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “behind the wire.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/behind_the_wire. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.