Nearby Words
Synonyms

wiring

[wahyuhr-ing] Origin

wir·ing

[wahyuhr-ing]
noun
1.
an act of a person who wires.
2.
Electricity. the aggregate of wires in a lighting system, switchboard, radio, etc.

Origin:
1800–10; wire + -ing1

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Wiring is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

wire

[wahyuhr] noun, adjective, verb, wired, wir·ing.
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.
EXPAND
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 stall2 (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.
COLLAPSE
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.
EXPAND
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.
COLLAPSE
verb (used without object)
31.
to send a telegraphic message; telegraph: Don't write; wire.
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:
before 900; Middle English wir(e) (noun), Old English wīr; cognate with Low German wīr, Old Norse vīra- wire, Old High German wiara fine goldwork

wir·a·ble, adjective
wire·like, adjective
de·wire, verb (used with object), -wired, -wir·ing.
mis·wire, verb, -wired, -wir·ing.
pre·wire, verb (used with object), -wired, -wir·ing.
EXPAND
un·wir·a·ble, adjective
COLLAPSE

why're, wire.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To wiring
Collins
World English Dictionary
wiring (ˈwaɪərɪŋ)
 
n
1.  the network of wires used in an electrical system, device, or circuit
2.  the quality or condition of such a network
 
adj
3.  used in wiring

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

wire
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).
EXPAND
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
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

wiring wir·ing (wīr'ĭng)
n.
The fastening together of the ends of a broken bone with wire sutures.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Slang Dictionary

wire definition


  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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