Word.ws English Dictionary

wire

UK/waɪə(ɹ)//ˈwaɪɚ/

wire noun: metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die. Also the clipping of wire service and/or newswire.

wire: metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die
Image: CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

wire (countable and uncountable, plural wires)

  1. (uncountable) Metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die.
    • Holonyms: cable; wire rope; wiring harness; wire wool
    • From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52
    Synonyms:
    cable, steel wire, thread
  2. A piece of such material; a thread or slender rod of metal, a cable.
  3. A metal conductor that carries electricity.
    • That wire powers the lamp.
    • Time is running out, so I renounce a spin on a Class 387 for a fast run to Paddington on another Class 800 - a shame as the weather was perfect for pictures. Even so, it's enjoyable - boy, can those trains shift under the wires.2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68
    Synonyms:
    conducting wire
  4. A fence made of usually barbed wire.
    Synonyms:
    barbed wire
  5. A finish line of a racetrack.
  6. (informal) A telecommunication wire or cable.
    • The episode began by a telephone ring in the morning and the voice of Algernon Mailey at the far end of the wire.1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019
  7. (broadly) An electric telegraph; a telegram.
    • Another letter. "Friedrichswerks, Hamburg, Germany. We beg to acknowledge receipt of order for fifteen thousand Robots." [Telephone rings.] Hello! This is the Central Office. Yes. Certainly. Well, send them a wire. Good. [Hangs up telephone.] Where did I leave off?c. 1921 (date written), Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama […], Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1923, →OCLC, Act...
    • “Oh, hadn’t I told you?” the other said quickly. “I had a wire yesterday. He landed in New York Wednesday. It was such a mixed-up sort of message, I never could understand what he was trying to tell me, except that he would have to stay in New York for a week or so. It was over fifty words long.”1964 [1929], William Faulkner, Sartoris (The Collected Works of William Faulkner), London: Chatto & Windus, page 23
    Synonyms:
    telegraph, telegram
  8. (slang) A hidden listening device on the person of an undercover operative for the purposes of obtaining incriminating spoken evidence.
  9. (informal) A deadline or critical endpoint.
    • This election is going to go right to the wire
    • If you don't surrender now, it's gonna go down to the wire1988, The Traveling Wilburys, “Tweeter and the Monkey Man”, in The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1
  10. A wire strung with beads and hung horizontally above or near the table which is used to keep score.
  11. (plural-normally) Any of the system of wires used to operate the puppets in a puppet show; hence, the network of hidden influences controlling the action of a person or organization; strings.
    • to pull the wires for office
  12. (archaic, thieves' slang) A pickpocket, especially one who targets women.
Show 3 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. (slang) A covert signal sent between people cheating in a card game.
  2. (Scotland) A knitting needle.
  3. A long, filamenteous, ornamental feather.
    • Over the forehead is a large patch of pure white feathers, which shine like satin; and from the sides of the head spring the six wonderful feathers from which the bird receives its name. These are slender wires, six inches long, with a small oval web at the extremity.1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 409

Verb

wire (third-person singular simple present wires, present participle wiring, simple past and past participle wired)

  1. To fasten with wire, especially with reference to wine bottles, corks, or fencing.
    • We need to wire that hole in the fence.
    • I could see him in his plane flying low over the river or a reservoir, dropping the club out with a chunk of lead wired to the shaft.1934, Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance, Bantam, published 1992, →ISBN, page 222
  2. To string on a wire.
    • wire beads
  3. To equip with wires for use with electricity.
    • Do you know how to wire a plug?
    • Replying on March 20 to a Commons Written Question from Alberto Costa (Conservative, South Leicestershire) about plans to wire to Leicester, Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: "We are currently investing in the biggest upgrade of the Midland Main Line since it was completed in 1870. [...]2020 April 8, “Network News: MML still on electrification agenda”, in Rail, page 23
    Synonyms:
    electrify
  4. To add (something) into a system (especially an electrical system) by means of wiring.
    • I'll just wire your camera to the computer screen.
    • Assuming that all of the conference rooms are wired into the LAN, the sales representative would have to carry a cable to connect into any conference room that they visit, find the appropriate wall jack, and connect into the network.2004, David Wall, Managing and Securing a Cisco Structured Wireless-Aware Network, →ISBN, page 2
  5. To add or connect (something) into a system as if with wires (for example, with nerves).
    • There is an enormous neurological consequence to mechanorecptor dysfunction, which is related to how these cells are wired into the spinal cord.2004, Richard Weinstein, The Stress Effect, →ISBN
    • The distal tier of cells has a wider acceptance angle than the proximal tier and different neuronal wiring (distal photoreceptors are wired into the lamina, while proximal photoreceptors are wired into the medulla), as well as a different spectral receptor composition.2003, Carol L. Boggs, Ward B. Watt, Paul R. Ehrlich, Butterflies: Ecology and Evolution Taking Flight, →ISBN, page 31
  6. To connect, involve or embed (something) deeply or intimately into (something else, such as an organization or political scene), so that it is plugged in (to that thing) (“keeping up with current information about (the thing)”) or has insinuated itself into (the thing).
    • He was the minority leader's political eyes and ears— nicknamed "the Electrician," due to all the intrigue and legislative shenanigans he was wired into.1996, H. L. Richardson, Split Ticket, →ISBN, page 54
    • Like the fledgling scientist who tried to wire himself into the sisterly circle at Field Place, Prometheus joins the electric circuit formed by his "Fair sister nymphs," Panthea, Asia, ...1999, Teddi Chichester Bonca, Teddi Lynn Chichester, Shelley's Mirrors of Love: Narcissism, Sacrifice, and Sorority, SUNY Press, →ISBN, page 186
  7. (figuratively, passive, usually) To set or predetermine (someone's personality or behaviour, or an organization's culture) in a particular way.
    • There's no use trying to get Sarah to be less excitable. That's just the way she's wired.
    • “‘Cept I do hurt people sometimes, Case. I guess it's just the way I'm wired.”1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 25
  8. (ambitransitive) To send a message or monetary funds to another person through a telecommunications system, formerly predominantly by telegraph.
    • Urgent: please wire me another 100 pounds sterling.
    • The detective wired ahead, hoping that the fugitive would be caught at the railway station.
    Synonyms:
    cable
  9. (slang) To make someone tense or psyched up. See also adjective wired.
    • Coffee late at night wires me good and proper.
  10. (slang) To install eavesdropping equipment.
    • We wired the suspect's house.
  11. To snare by means of a wire or wires.
  12. (transitive, croquet) To place (a ball) so that the wire of a wicket prevents a successful shot.

Proper noun capitalized: Wire

Wire (plural Wires)

  1. A surname.

Also used as

wire is also the clipping of wire service and/or newswire.

wire meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

wire in Hindi

thin thread of metal
तार tār

wire in Tamil

கம்பி

wire in Marathi

तार, वायर

wire in Urdu

thin thread of metal
تار tār
More languagesFewer languages
wire in Bengali
তার tar
wire in Telugu
వైర్, తీగ
wire in Malayalam
വയർ, വയർ ചെയ്യാൻ
wire in Kannada
ತಂತಿ, ತಂತಿಯು
wire in Punjabi
ਤਾਰ, ਵਾਇਰ, ਤਾਰ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
wire in Gujarati
વાયર, વાયર કરવા માટે
wire in Odia
ତାରର
wire in Assamese
তাৰ tar
wire in Nepali
तार tār
wire in Pashto
تار tār
wire in Tagalog
alambre
wire in Arabic
سِلْك silk
wire in Malay
wayar, kawat, dawai
wire in Indonesian
kawat
wire in Thai
ลวด lûuat, สาย sǎai, สายไฟฟ้า sǎai-fai-fáa, สายไฟ sǎai-fai
wire in Vietnamese
dây, dây thép
wire in Myanmar
ဝိုင်ယာကြိုး wuing-ya-krui:

Examples of wire in a sentence

  • ... and quite handy indeed that they also saw fit to wire themselves into the social problem that they had a major hand in creating in the first place.2000, Joan D'Arc, Phenomenal World: Remote Viewing, Astral Travel, Apparitions, Extraterrestrials, Lucid Dreams and Other Forms of...
  • I am wired into my work on a continuous basis.2002, Penny Gurstein, Wired to the World, Chained to the Home: Telework in Daily Life, →ISBN, page 193:
  • "When the island was initially green-lighted for casinos, Hu Dzem figured he was first in line, given the way he was wired into the gambling rackets in Hong Kong and on the mainland.2006, Don Pendleton, Slaughter House, →ISBN, page 180:
  • Such men wire themselves into the happenings of the pen; they know who can pay how much, and they have finely tuned instincts for the rackets they control.2007, Michael G. Santos, Inside: Life Behind Bars in America, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 132:

All 40 example sentences with wire

Synonyms of wire

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of wire

Forms of wire

Noun
pluralwires
Verb
third-person singular presentwires
present participlewiring
past participlewired
pastwired
Proper noun
pluralWires

Past tense of wire: wired

Plural of wire: wires

Origin of wire

From Middle English wir, wyr, from Old English wīr (“wire, metal thread, wire-ornament”), from Proto-Germanic *wīraz (“wire”), from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁iros (“a twist, thread, cord, wire”), from *weh₁y- (“to turn, twist, weave, plait”).

Words formed from wire

Phrases with wire

96 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with wire

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about wire

What does wire mean?
Wire means metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die.
What is wire in Hindi?
Wire in Hindi is तार (tār). See Wire meaning in Hindi.
How do you use wire in a sentence?
... and quite handy indeed that they also saw fit to wire themselves into the social problem that they had a major hand in creating in the first place.
What part of speech is wire?
Wire can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce wire?
Wire is pronounced /waɪə(ɹ)/ (UK).
What is the plural of wire?
The plural of wire is wires.

Words near wire in the dictionary

  1. Wiraiari
  2. wirble
  3. wirbled
  4. wirbles
  5. wirbling
  6. wire
  7. wire away
  8. wire bail
  9. wire bails
  10. wire bonder
  11. wire bonders

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: wire (page history and authors); Wire (page history and authors); wire (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); wire (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); wire (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); wire (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); wire (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); wire (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); wire (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); wire (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-wire.ogg.

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