wire

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A thin thread of metal, often used to carry electricity.

   That wire powers the lamp.

2. 2
   verb

   To connect something to an electrical supply.

   An electrician came to wire the new kitchen.

3. 3
   verb

   To fasten or join things together using wire.

   The columns were wired to the beams for support.

4. 4
   noun

   A final, decisive moment, especially in 'to the wire'.

   This election is going to go right to the wire.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Wire comes from Old English, and its underlying base probably meant “to plait or weave.” In the 1850s people began to speak of taking or sending a message by wire, meaning by telegraph.

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”).

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary