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down to the wire

 - 7 dictionary results
Down To The Wire
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wire

  [wahyuhr] noun, adjective, verb, wired, wir⋅ing.
Use down to the wire in a Sentence
–noun
1. a slender, stringlike piece or filament of relatively rigid or flexible metal, usually circular in section, manufactured in a great variety of diameters and metals depending on its application.
2. such pieces as a material.
3. a length of such material, consisting either of a single filament or of several filaments woven or twisted together and usually insulated with a dielectric material, used as a conductor of electricity.
4. a cross wire or a cross hair.
5. a barbed-wire fence.
6. a long wire or cable used in cable, telegraph, or telephone systems.
7. Nautical. a wire rope.
8. Informal.
a. a telegram.
b. the telegraphic system: to send a message by wire.
9. wires, a system of wires by which puppets are moved.
10. a metallic string of a musical instrument.
11. Underworld Slang. the member of a pickpocket team who picks the victim's pocket. Compare stall 2 (def. 5).
12. Horse Racing. a wire stretched across and above the track at the finish line, under which the horses pass.
13. Ornithology. one of the extremely long, slender, wirelike filaments or shafts of the plumage of various birds.
14. a metal device for snaring rabbits and other small game.
15. Papermaking. the woven wire mesh over which the wet pulp is spread in a papermaking machine.
16. the wire, the telephone: There's someone on the wire for you.
–adjective
17. made of wire; consisting of or constructed with wires.
18. resembling wire; wirelike.
–verb (used with object)
19. to furnish with wires.
20. to install an electric system of wiring in, as for lighting.
21. to fasten or bind with wire: He wired the halves together.
22. to put on a wire, as beads.
23. to send by telegraph, as a message: Please wire the money at once.
24. to send a telegraphic message to: She wired him to come at once.
25. to snare by means of a wire.
26. to equip with a hidden electronic device, as an eavesdropping device or an explosive.
27. to connect (a receiver, area, or building) to a television cable and other equipment so that cable television programs may be received.
28. Informal. to be closely connected or involved with: a law firm wired into political circles.
29. Informal. to prepare, equip, fix, or arrange to suit needs or goals: The sales force was wired for an all-out effort.
30. Croquet. to block (a ball) by placing it behind the wire of an arch.
–verb (used without object)
31. to send a telegraphic message; telegraph: Don't write; wire.
—Idioms
32. down to the wire, to the very last moment or the very end, as in a race or competition: The candidates campaigned down to the wire.
33. pull wires, Informal. to use one's position or influence to obtain a desired result: to pull wires to get someone a job.
34. under the wire, just within the limit or deadline; scarcely; barely: to get an application in under the wire.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME wir(e) (n.), OE wīr; c. LG wīr, ON vīra- wire, OHG wiara fine goldwork

Related forms:
wir⋅a⋅ble, adjective
wirelike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Down To The Wire
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wire   (wīr)   
n.  

  1. A usually pliable metallic strand or rod made in many lengths and diameters, sometimes clad and often electrically insulated, used chiefly for structural support or to conduct electricity.

  2. A group of wire strands bundled or twisted together as a functional unit; cable.

  3. Something resembling a wire, as in slenderness or stiffness.

  4. An open telephone connection.

  5. Slang A hidden microphone, as on a person's body or in a building.

    1. A telegraph service.

    2. A telegram or cablegram.

    3. The system of strings employed in manipulating puppets in a show.

    4. Hidden controlling influences.

  7. A wire service.

  8. Computer Science A pin in the print head of a computer printer.

  9. The screen on which sheets of paper are formed in a papermaking machine.

  10. Sports The finish line of a racetrack.

  11. wires

    1. The system of strings employed in manipulating puppets in a show.

    2. Hidden controlling influences.

  12. Slang A pickpocket.

  13. Fencing made of usually barbed wire.

v.   wired, wir·ing, wires

v.   tr.

  1. To bind, connect, or attach with wires or a wire.

  2. To string (beads, for example) on wire.

  3. To equip with a system of electrical wires.

  4. Slang To install electronic eavesdropping equipment in (a room, for example).

  5. To send by telegraph: wired her congratulations.

  6. To send a telegram to.

  7. Computer Science To implement (a capability) through logic circuitry that is permanently connected within a computer or calculator and therefore not subject to change by programming.

  8. To determine or put into effect by physiological or neurological mechanisms; hard-wire: "It is plausible that the basic organization of grammar is wired into the child's brain" (Steven Pinker).

v.   intr.
To send a telegram.

[Middle English, from Old English wīr; see wei- in Indo-European roots.]
wir'a·ble adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
down to the wire

  1. mod.
    until the very last minute. : We went right down to the wire on that one.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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wire

  1. n.
    a spy smuggled into a place. : Marlon thought Lefty was a wire.
  2. tv.
    to install electronic eavesdropping equipment. : Somebody wired the mayor's office.

  3. Go to (live) wire. :
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

wire  (n.)
O.E. wir "metal drawn out into a thread," from P.Gmc. *wiraz (cf. O.N. viravirka "filigree work," Swed. vira "to twist," O.H.G. wiara "fine gold work"), from PIE *wei- "to turn, twist, plait" (cf. O.Ir. fiar, Welsh gwyr "bent, crooked;" L. viere "to bend, twist," viriæ "bracelets," of Celtic origin). The verb meaning "to furnish with wires" is recorded from 1435. Wiretapping is recorded from 1904, from earlier wiretapper (1893). Wiry in the sense of "lean, tough" is first recorded 1808. Wired (adj.) "nervous, jittery" is from 1970s. Wirepuller in the political sense is 1848, Amer.Eng. Wiring "wires collectively," esp. "electrical wirework" is recorded from 1809.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: wire
Pronunciation: 'wI(&)r
Function: noun
: metal thread or a rod used in surgery to suture soft tissue or transfix fractured bone and inorthodontic dentistry to position teeth —wire transitive verb wired; wir·ing
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Idioms & Phrases

down to the wire

To the last minute; to the very end. For example, We're just about down to the wire with this project. This term comes from horseracing, where it was long the practice to stretch a wire across and above the track at the finish line. It was extended to figurative use about 1900.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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