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View synonyms for barbed wire

barbed wire

noun

  1. a wire or strand of wires having small pieces of sharply pointed wire twisted around it at short intervals, used chiefly for fencing in livestock, keeping out trespassers, etc.


barbed wire

noun

  1. strong wire with sharply pointed barbs at close intervals Also called (US)barbwire


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Word History and Origins

Origin of barbed wire1

First recorded in 1860–65

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Compare Meanings

How does barbed wire compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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Example Sentences

A teenager, sometimes two or three, falls for an undercover detective’s offers and ends up locked behind barbed wire.

The buildings, which are connected by roads and dominated by towering barbed wire, look like sturdy blocks.

In addition, 340 miles of barbed wire fences have fragmented habitat, impacted animal crossings, and deterred the general public from exploring nearly a third of their park.

Jury selection began this week in a courthouse surrounded by concrete barricades and high fencing topped with barbed wire, amid fears of fresh civil unrest in a city still scarred by last year’s violence.

To close the mouth, you either sew the jaw together internally and through the nose, or you have this thing called the needle injector where you shoot a little barbed wire into the top gums and bottom gums and then tie the jaw together with wire.

So perhaps the barbed wire and the machinations of the plot did duty for other obstacles that stood between myself and freedom.

Click here to see a photo of Galbraith and Fairchild posing in front of barbed wire that marked off mines in the zone.

Two parallel fences tipped with barbed wire formed a narrow corridor into the gymnasium.

Fences built ten-feet high with fifteen rows of electrified barbed wire surrounded the compound.

These days, the vast majority of coalition forces work within the walls, guard towers, and barbed wire of their bases.

By this time the red cow had become excited and was threatening to follow her fool daughter through the barbed wire fence.

I turned hastily, just in time to see the farrow cow in the act of shredding herself through a tight barbed wire fence.

I had to put in the three of them before they would stop threatening to commit hari-kari on the barbed wire fence.

In a few moment's the group in advance pulled up, shouting "'Ware barbed wire!"

There was a streak of barbed wire on the fence, and in tryin' to get over he got tangled; and if I didn't give it to him!

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barbed tributarybarbed-wire grass