Forms: 1–4 wir, 4–5, 7 Sc. wyr, 4–7 wyre, 5–7 wyer, (5 were, whir, 6 wyere, wheire, wiar; Sc. 6 wyir, 7 vyr, weyer), 6–7 wier, wyar, 5– wire (Sc. 8 weyr, 9 weir). [OE. wír, corresp. to MLG. wîre (LG. wîr), ON. *vírr in víravirki filigree work, related further to OHG. wiara (MHG. wiere) finest gold, ornament of this: referred to the base wi- of L. viēre to plait, weave, etc. (cf. WITHE sb.).]
I. Denoting the substance.
1. Metal wrought into the form of a slender rod or thread, formerly by hammering, now by the operation of wire-drawing. a. of precious metal, esp. gold, used chiefly in ornamentation.
From the 13th to the 16th century golden hair was freq. poetically likened to gold wire.
a. 1000. Riddles, xxvii. 14. Wrætlic weorc smiþa wire bifongen.
c. 1205. gold wir [see GOLD1 8 a].
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. II. 11. Fetislich hir fyngres were fretted with golde wyre, And þere-on red rubyes.
c. 1400. Ywaine & Gaw., 2967. Many maidens thar he sese, Wirkand silk and gold wir.
c. 1420. ? Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 373. Dame Venus … Whoos long here shone as wyre of goold bryght.
1423. James I., Kingis Q., i. In Aquary, Cinthia the clere, Rynsid hir tressis like the goldin wyre.
1618. in Archaeologia, XLI. 254. All his silver made up in wyer.
1717. Lady M. W. Montagu, Lett. to Mrs. Thistlethwayte, 1 April. [The] cushions … are generally brocade, or embroidery of gold wire upon satin.
1879. S. C. Bartlett, Egypt to Pal., iv. 73. Silver wire is thirty-three hundred years old, and gold wire six hundred years older.
b. of any metal, esp. iron, brass, or copper, drawn out into a rod or thread.
1348. Acc. Exch. K. R., 470/18 m. 6 (P.R.O.). In Wir empt[o] pro fistula conducti mundanda iiij. d.
1387–8. [see WIRE-DRAWER 1].
1435. Cov. Leet Bk., 182. And yif the cardwirc-drawer were ones or twies disseyued withe ontrewe wire he wolde be warre.
1482. York Myst., Introd. 40. [Pynners and Wyredrawers] makes pynnes or draweth wyre.
1497. Naval Acs. Hen. VII. (1896), 100. Wire for prymers.
1508. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., IV. 113. Item … for wyir to the pottar of Strivelin to bind the gun muld v s.
1572. in Feuillerat, Revels Q. Eliz. (1908), 159. ij lb of drawen wyer—iijs. iiij d.
1600. Fairfax, Tasso, II. xxvi. They … bound her tender armes in twisted wire.
1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., i. 14. Iron used for making of Wyer, which of all other sorts is the softest and toughest.
1815. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, II. 786. The parts are then to be joined properly together, and kept in that state, by means of wire.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 955. A pin is a small bit of wire, commonly brass, with a point at one end, and a spherical head at the other.
1888. Encycl. Brit., XXIV. 615/1. The metals suitable for wire, possessing almost equal ductility, are platinum, silver, iron, copper, and gold.
c. with qualification denoting (a) the metal, as brass, copper, iron, magnesium, platinum wire, (b) the form or color, as black, small, white wire, (c) its use, as binding, electric, fuse, joint, pinion wire; also lapland wire (see quot. 1755).
14[?]. in Wr.-Wülcker, 582/48. Ferrifilum, wyre of yre.
1435. Cov. Leet Bk., 183. Ne Cardwyre ne mystermannes wyre.
1463. Act 3 Edw. IV., c. 4 § 4. Blanc file de ferre vulgarement nomme whitewyre.
1530. Palsgr., 288/2. Wyar of brasse, fil darcal, fil de laton.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., II. iv. 15. [He] Shakt his long lockes, colourd like copper-wire.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., Penalties & Forfeitures, 2. Iron Wyre, or whited Wyre, are forfeited if any such be Imported.
1755. Dict. Arts & Sci., s.v. Wire, Wire of Lapland … called … lapland-wire. It is made of the sinews of the reindeer … spun into a sort of thread … covered with tin.
1837. Hebert, Engin. & Mech. Encycl., II. 906. Rolled or ‘black wire,’ (as it is sometimes called, to distinguish it from the bright, or drawn-wire).
1843. Holtzapffel, Turning, I. 429. The drawn tube called joint-wire,… used by the silversmiths, for hinges and joints. Ibid., 433. In hard-soldering, it is … necessary to bind the works together in their respective positions; this is done with soft iron binding-wire.
† d. as the material of a lash or scourge. Obs.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., II. v. 65. Thou shalt be whipt with Wyer.
1622. Middleton & Rowley, Changeling, I. ii. Alib. Peace, peace, or the wyer comes.
1648. Gage, West Ind., xiii. 70. Disciplines of wyar, rods of iron, haire-cloths.
e. used for fencing; esp. barbed (earlier barb) wire, later often simply wire: a fencing wire composed of two or more strands twisted together, with barbs or short spikes fastened a few inches apart in the strands; also, the fencing or defence so constructed; also attrib.
1876. Field, 16 Dec., 714/2. I was in hopes that a country like the Bicester (where every farmer seems to enjoy the chase) would be free of such an enemy as wire.
1883. J. Scott, Farm Roads, etc., 88. Barb wire fencing should consist of at least two barbs, used in connection with two wires twisted together. Ibid., 89. With cattle the great advantage of barbed wire is that it keeps them in; with sheep, it keeps their enemies out.
1900. Kinnear, Modder River, xi. 93. They could but kill or maim by the mere automatic discharging of their guns at the hustling crowd of human deer impaled upon Cronje’s wicked barbed wire.
1915. Daily News, 6 Jan., 4. Four German snipers were shot on our wire.
1917. H. Gibson, Diplom. Diary, 168. Tremendous barbed wire entanglements form a broad barrier all around the outer and inner fortifications.
II. Denoting an individual object.
* 2. A piece, length, or line of wire used for various purposes (see quots.; some early uses are obsolete).
Beowulf, 2413. Se [eorðsele] wæs innan full wrætta and wira.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, III. 1636. For worldly Ioye halt not but by a wir; That preueth wel it brest alday so ofte; For-þi nede is to werke wiþ it softe. Ibid. (c. 1385), L. G. W., 1205, Dido. Vp on a courser, stertelynge as the fyr, Men myghte turne hym with a litil wyr, Sit Enyas. Ibid. (c. 1391), Astrol., II. § 38. 46. In centre of the compas stike an euene pyn or a whir vp-riht.
1426–7. Rec. St. Mary at Hill, 63. First payd for the sepulcre for diuers naylis & wyres & glu ix d.
1469. Rolls of Parlt., VI. 232. A Image or lede … broken in the myddes, and made fast with a Wyre.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 52. I haue distroyed Rycharde Hun…. I put a wyre in his nose.
1572. in Feuillerat, Revels Q. Eliz. (1908), 159. Greate wyers that went crosse the hall.
1581. W. Borough, Disc. Var. Cumpas, ii. B ij. The Flye of the Cumpas of Variation, is so turned by vertue of the Magneticall wiers, that the North poinct thereof doeth shew the Pole of the Magnes.
1583. [see SUPPORTASSE].
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomencl., 7/2. Graphium,… a writing wyer, or a steele wherewith to write.
1616. A. Rathborne, Surveyor, 126. On the head or top of which shorter sight, must be placed a wyer or brasse pin.
1680. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., x. 179. Through this Button should be fastned an Iron Wyer.
1695. J. Edwards, Author. O. & N. Test., III. 244. Round Wires of Gold put into the Ears.
1753. Mrs. Delany, Lett., 17 Feb., in Autobiogr. (1861), III. 206. Mr. Maddox, who does surprising feats of activity on a wire.
1811. Bk. Trades, III. (ed. 4), 67. The mould, which the paper-maker has in his hand, is composed of many wires set in a frame close together.
1827. Faraday, Chem. Manip., xvi. (1842), 425. The open limb is afterwards to be wiped clean … with a wire and tow.
1840. Lardner, Geom., xv. 193. One of these cylindrical cards, which, as it revolves, carries away the wool spread upon the points of its wires.
1857. Miller, Elem. Chem., Org. (1862), iv. § 1. 270. [The soap] is cut up with wires into bars.
1880. R. Ward, Sportsman’s Handbk., 62. [In setting up birds] the leg wires should be half as stout again as the body wire.
1897. Times, 18 Sept., 8/2. The [wireless] messages being transmitted from a vertical wire carried up a pole.
b. spec. One of the fine platinum cross-wires fixed horizontally and vertically at the focus of a telescope: see COLLIMATOR 1.
1774. M. Mackenzie, Maritime Surv., I. (1819), 52. If, while the vertical wire runs along the pole, the horizontal wire runs exactly along … the cross-piece [on the pole]…, the quadrant and telescope are right.
1878. Abney, Photogr., xxxvi. 294. Securing a sharp image of the sun together with that of the cross-wires or ruled gratings.
c. connecting a bell with the bell-pull or -push.
1837. Dickens, Pickw., xxxvi. ‘There ain’t a bell, is there, ma’am?’… ‘It’s only a handle,’ said Mrs. Dowler; ‘the wire’s broken.’
1883. Miss Broughton, Belinda, III. ix. The door-bell may ring itself off its wire.
3. A line of wire used as a conductor of electric current.
Live wire, a wire charged with electricity; fig. (colloq.) an energetic or vigorously active person.
1747. [see ELECTRIZE v.].
1796. Imison’s Sch. Arts (ed. 4), 91. When the shocks are to be given with this apparatus … two slender and pliable wires … are to be fastened [etc.].
1807. Crabbe, Par. Reg., II. 380. So two cold limbs, touch’d by Galvani’s wire, Move with new life.
1817. Byron, Mazeppa, vi. 11. Conveying, as the electric wire, We know not how, the absorbing fire.
1886. A. A. C. Swinton, Elem. Princ. Electr. Lighting, 26. The conducting wires for electric lighting are almost invariably made of copper…. They are usually covered with an insulating coat of india-rubber and tape.
1890. live electric wire [see LIVE a. 4].
fig. 1876. Geo. Eliot, Deronda, xlviii. Political and social movements touched him only through the wire of his rental.
b. spec. The line of wire connecting the transmitting and receiving instruments of a telegraph or telephone.
1854. telegraphic wires [see TELEGRAPHIC a. 1 b].
1860. G. Prescott, Electr. Telegr., Pref. p. vi. The wires … are creeping over the Rocky Mountains, and erelong we shall have momentary advices from the Pacific States.
c. transf. The telegraphic system. By wire (formerly by the wires): by means of a telegraphic message. Hence (colloq.) a telegraphic message, a telegram.
1859. Lever, Dav. Dunn, xlix. He then telegraphed to his man of business,… to ascertain … the latest accounts of Lord Lackington’s health, and answer ‘by wire.’
1860. Trollope, Framley P., xviii. You had better come up yourself; but say the word ‘Yes,’ or ‘No,’ by the wires.
1876. ‘E. Pinto’ (Latham Smith), Ye Outside Fools! (1877), 87. Gusher, of the Bellowgraphic, may have a wire from his sub-editor.
1883. Harper’s Mag., July, 255/1. The forte of the Enquirer is its voluminous correspondence, both by wire and mail.
1889. Conan Doyle, Sign of Four, viii. We pulled up at the Great Peter Street post-office, and Holmes dispatched his wire.
** Senses used mainly in pl. or collect. sing.
4. Metallic strings (of a musical instrument).
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 355. Irische men beeþ connyng … in harpe and tymbre þat is i-armed wiþ wire and wiþ strenges of bras.
1599. Peele, David & Bethsabe, B j. When his consecrated fingers strooke The golden wiers of his rauishing harpe. Ibid., E iij. His haire is lyke the wyer of Dauids Harpe.
1628. Milton, Vac. Exerc., 38. Apollo sings To th’ touch of golden wires.
a. 1718. Prior, Power, 656. They breath the Flute, or strike the vocal Wire.
1780. Cowper, Progr. Err., 126. When he has pray’d and preach’d the sabbath down, With wire and catgut he concludes the day.
1818. Byron, Ch. Har., IV. xxxviii. His country’s creaking lyre, That whetstone of the teeth—monotony in wire!
1818. Shelley, Rosal. & Helen, 1164. From the twinkling wires among, My languid fingers drew and flung Circles of life-dissolving sound.
1875. Encycl. Brit., I. 112/2. In the violin and in the pianoforte, the lower notes are obtained from wires formed of denser material.
5. Metallic bars (of a cage).
1656. Beale, Heref. Orchards (1657), 8. A constant aviary of sweet singers, which are here retained without the charge or violence of the Italian Wiers.
1748. Richardson, Clarissa, III. lxxv. 348. It [sc. a captive bird] bents and bruises itself against its wires.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, vii. A new cage with gilded wires.
6. Croquet. The iron hoops or arches through which the balls are driven. Now rare.
1868. Chambers’s Encycl., X. 483/2. The implements used in croquet are mallets, balls, posts (or sticks), and hoops (which are called indifferently hoops, wires, or arches).
1904. E. F. Benson, Challoners, i. Martin … struck wildly in the hopes of an impossible cannon off the wire.
7. Knitting needles. Sc.
a. 1774. Fergusson, Hallowfair, Poems (1845), 14. I wyt they are as pretty hose As come frae weyr or leem.
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XVII. 805/1. The method of knitting stockings by wires or needles.
1827. Scott, Chron. Canongate, v. Knitting her stocking systematically, as if she meant every twist of her thread, and inclination of the wires, to bear burden to the cadence of my voice.
a. 1878. in D. H. Edwards, Mod. Scott. Poets (1880), I. 39. She’s handy an’ quick wi’ her weirs an’ her needles.
8. The metallic lines by which puppets are worked. Chiefly fig. in the phrase to pull (or move) the wires (see WIRE-PULLER).
1607. Beaum. & Fl., Woman Hater, III. i. Like dead motions moving upon wyers.
a. 1680. Glanvill, Sadducismus, II. (1681), 35. [Miracles] were so easy to be done … by Wiers and Juggling.
a. 1704. T. Brown, Walk Lond. & Westm., Wks. 1720, III. 285. A Guide that … can do no more for them, than the Wire in the Finger of the Poppet-Player.
1826. Mass. Spy, 12 April, 2/6. Mr. McDuffie said … that he was perfectly aware … who was the skulking manager who moved the wires.
1834. S. Rogers, Lett. to Ld. Holland, 28 Oct., in Pearson’s 76th Catal. (1894), 51. Lord Durham appears to be pulling at 3 wires at the same time—not that the 3 papers—the Times, Examiner and Spectator are his puppets, but they speak his opinions.
1862. Fraser’s Mag., July, 28/1. It is no injustice to charge him, in the technical language of his party, with ‘pulling wires,’ and ‘laying pipes’ for the Presidency.
1888. Bryce, Amer. Commw., V. xciv. III. 321. A demagogue of greater talent … may practically pull the wires of a President whom he has put into the chair.
b. To be (all) on wires (fig.), to be in a state of nervous excitement or ‘jumpiness.’
1869. Chamb. Jrnl., 2 Oct., 639/1. Here ’s another for T. P.; a man this time, all on wires.
III. Network or framework of wire.
9. Wirework; now usually, wire netting.
1547. in Feuillerat, Revels Edw. VI. (1914), 12. Twoo hattes … the Turffes of wyer couerid with clothe of golde.
1617. Moryson, Itin., I. 111. Also there is a delicate cage of birds, wrought about with thick wyer.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, 23 April 1646. In the middle of this garden was a cupola made of wyre, supported by slender pillars of brick.
1716. Hearne, Collect. (O.H.S.), V. 260. It is pity the Windows of Fairford are not secured with Wire.
1833. Loudon, Encycl. Archit., § 853. The dairy, the pantry, and the store room to have fly wire (wirecloth to exclude flies) inside of the windows.
1854. Poultry Chron., II. 303. Birds … in new and commodious pens, with galvanised wire fronts.
† b. A frame of wire (a) to support the hair; (b) to support the ruff, = SUPPORTER 3 b, SUPPORTASSE. Obs.
1583. Stubbes, Anat. Abus., 67. Least it [sc. the hair] should fall down it is vnder propped with forks, wyers, and I can not tel what.
1595. Gosson, Pleas. Quips (Percy Soc.), 5. These flaming heads with staring haire, these wyers turnde like hornes of ram.
1603. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. I. 31. For ane corldit wyr to ver on my haed, x s. Ibid. For ane vyr to ver with ane French rouf v s.; item, for thri vyrs to uer vith Inglich roufs iii s.
1607, 1613. [see REBATO c].
1619. Fletcher, Knt. Malta, I. i. Unfledge ’em of their tyres, Their wires,… pins, and Periwigs, And they appear like bald cootes, in the nest.
1690. D’Urfey, Collin’s Walk Lond., III. 115. Like buxom Lass, that trips Curanto With Wires, Comodes, and Topknots flaring.
1690. M. Evelyn, Fop-Dict., Palisade, a Wire sustaining the Hair next to the Duchess, or first Knot.
[1893. Georgiana Hill, Hist. Engl. Dress, I. iii. 197. In addition to the starch, wires were used to stiffen the ruff. The wires were covered with silk or gold and silver thread, and came round the neck under the ruff.]
c. Paper-making. Woven brass wire-cloth.
c. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, 24 Aug. 1678. On this [frame] they take up the papp, the superfluous water draining thro’ the wyre…. The mark we find on the sheets is formed in the wyre.
1881. Spons’ Encycl. Industr. Arts, IV. 1497. The ‘wire’ is an endless cloth made of very fine wire…. The mesh varies from 60 to 70 and even more threads to the inch.
d. A snare for hares or rabbits.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, VI. xii. He himself had passed through that Field, in order to lay Wires for Hares.
1815. Sporting Mag., XLV. 109. Hares are caught … in purse-nets or wires. Ibid. (1819) (N. S.), IV. 210. Fix here and there a large bush … and close to each bush two ‘wires.’
IV. Transferred and miscellaneous uses.
10. Something resembling wire or a wire; e.g., a long thin plant-stem, as a strawberry runner; † a branch-like appendage of a star-stone; a cylindrical piece of native silver.
1601, 1879. strawberry wire [see STRAWBERRY 8].
1696. Phil. Trans., XIX. 291. Capillaries … creeping on … the Ground, with Wires after the manner of Strawberries.
1712. trans. Pomet’s Hist. Drugs, I. 36. Cinquefoil … produces its Leaves … on a Stem, or Wire.
a. 1728. Woodward, Nat. Hist. Fossils (1729), I. II. 81. Several [Asteriæ], with some of those Branches that are wont to arise from them, call’d, by some, Wires.
1793. J. Lodge, Introd. Topogr. Hist. Heref., 37. That when the wires or vines [of hops] spring up, they may not be too far separated to run up the poles.
1805. R. W. Dickson, Pract. Agric., II. 603. It is only in such as possess a … good carbonic earthy matter, that they [sc. potatoes] are enabled to propagate their subterraneous wires or root-buds.
1859. W. S. Coleman, Woodlands (1866), 128. There may they be seen knee-deep in the wires or clambering over the broken grey rocks.
1882. Rep. Prec. Metals U.S., 200. The quartz shows much free gold and silver. The latter is in the form of nuggets and wires.
1897. H. Clifford, In Court & Kampong, 69. The bristling wires of whisker, the long cruel teeth [of a tiger].
11. pl. Applied to hairs, or rays, as resembling shining wires (cf. 1 a). poet. and rhet. Now rare.
1589. Greene, Menaphon (Arb.), 79. Apollo … Cut off his lockes, and let them on her head, And said; I plant these wires in Natures scorne. Ibid. (1590), Never too late, 49 (bis). The golden wyers that checkers in the day, Inferiour to the tresses of her haire.
[c. 1600. Shaks., Sonn., cxxx. If haires be wiers, black wiers grow on her head.]
1876. Hardy, Ethelberta, xv. The sun was peeping out just previous to departure, and sent gold wires of light across the glades.
† 12. City wire: a ‘city wife’ who wears wires (sense 9 b) in her hair or ruff: used opprobriously.
1609. B. Jonson, Silent Wom., Prol. 23. Some [cates] for lords, knights, squires, Some for your waiting wench, and citie-wires.
1632. Marston, Holland’s Leaguer, II. iii. All the City wires, And Summer birds in Towne, that once a yeare Come up to moulter.
13. slang. A pickpocket.
So called from the practice of extracting handkerchiefs from pockets with a piece of wire.
1851. Mayhew, Lond. Labour, I. Introd. 25. ‘Wires,’ or those who pick ladies’ pockets.
1862. Cornh. Mag., Nov., 644. The boy has now become a single-handed street wire.
1921. Chamb. Jrnl., June, 410/1. When the ‘wire’ (that is, the man who actually picks the pocket) has helped himself he passes the ‘swag’ to his confederate, who slips away with it.
14. Short for: a. Wire rope or cable.
1882. Nares, Seamanship (ed. 6), 26. Steel wire is made of six strands, with a hemp heart in the centre.
1883. Gresley, Gloss. Coal-mining, Wire (W.), a hauling rope.
b. Wire-haired fox terrier.
1892. Brit. Fancier, 19 Feb., 79/2. Mr. F. H. Field judged the Wires.
V. attrib. and Comb. 15. a. Simple attrib.: made of wire or wirework, as wire blind, bolter, cable, cage, cloth, fence, fencing, gauze, grate, guard, lattice, mattress, net, netting, network, riddle, rigging, rope, shirt, sieve, spring, staple, trap, web, whip; concerned with wire-drawing, as wire-gauge, -manufactory, manufacture, -manufacturer, -mill; supported or running on wire, as wire railway, tramway. b. Parasynthetic and instrumental, as wire-caged, -guarded, -hung, -mended, -netted, -safed, -sewn adjs. c. Objective, with agent-nouns (applied to persons or to appliances) and vbl. sbs., as wire-cutter, -cutting, -monger, tapper (see TAP v.1 2 c), -weaver; also wire-like adj.
1833. Loudon, Encycl. Archit., § 560. With *wire blinds, the heat and great part of the light might be excluded.
1801. Farmer’s Mag., April, 216. The flour mill … had received a most valuable addition of a *wire boulter.
1860. Ure’s Dict. Arts, II. 113. The Atlantic telegraph cable … is a single *wire cable.
1772. T. Simpson, Vermin-Killer, 5. Let the wire-maker make a *wire cage.
1858. Greener, Gunnery, Advt. 14. [In the wire cartridge] the shot is packed within a wire cage.
1871. G. Macdonald, Roadside Poems, A Manchester Poem, xiv. 17. The dark bird … which hangs *wire-caged.
1798. *Wire Cloth [see CLOTH sb. 9 b].
1833. [see 9].
1885. Encycl. Brit., XVIII. 224/2. This [mould] consists of a framework of fine wirecloth with a ‘deckle’ or movable frame of wood all round it.
1832. W. S. Gilpin, Landscape Gard., vi. 209. I have lately seen … a *wire fence, which appears to me likely to reconcile the contending objects of beauty and expense.
1854. Poultry Chron., I. 540. Patent *Wire Fencing, strong enough to keep out Sheep, &c., and close enough for Dogs, Rabbits, Poultry, &c.
1833. Holland, Manuf. Metal, II. xiv. 327. Stub’s *wire gauges.
1888. Lockwood’s Dict. Terms Mech. Engin., Wire Gauge, a notched plate having a series of gauged slots, numbered according to the sizes of wire and sheet metal manufactured.
1816. Sir H. Davy, in Phil. Trans., CVI. 23. A lighted lamp or candle screwed into a ring soldered to a cylinder of *wire gauze.
1877. Raymond, Statist. Mines & Mining, 430. The ore-bed, formed of wire-gauze tubes, which are set in a frame a short distance apart, thus allowing the ore to descend between them.
1819. Rees, Cycl., *Wire-Grates,… contrivances formed of fine wire-work, and used for keeping various kinds of large insects out of vineries,… and such places.
1841. Lytton, Nt. & Morn., V. xii. Just looking into the parlour … to convince herself that … the *wire-guard was on the fire.
1907. H. Wyndham, Flare of Footlights, vi. *Wire-guarded gas brackets.
1856. H. H. Dixon, Post & Paddock, ii. 38. That springy *wire-hung action, which … distinguishes the stock of the great ‘Rawcliffe Horse.’
1726. Swift, Gulliver, II. viii. He … observed my Windows, and *wire Lettices that defended them.
1787. Withering, Brit. Plants (1796), II. 857. Branches reddish, and *wire-like at the base.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 349. The *wire manufactory … situated at L’Aigle,… is one of the most considerable in France.
1818. Mathews’s Bristol Directory, 67. *Wire manufacturer.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Wire-mattress, one having a web of wire-cloth or chain stretched in a frame for supporting a bed.
1891. Scribner’s Mag., Sept., 318/1. A padlock with a *wire-mended chain and a staple lock it when locking is desired.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 346. Three of these machines … are, in general, employed in a *wire-mill.
1479. in H. Stewart, Co. Gold & Silver Wyre-drawers (1891), 16. The petition of the Wyre-drawers, and Chape-makers that they may be made into one Company, and called *Wyre-mongers.
1871. Man. Field Fortif., § 177. Gabions of galvanized iron *wire net.
1919. Daily Chron., 11 March, 6/4. Then why could not the coverts be *wire-netted from March to October?
1854. Poultry Chron., I. 468. Ordinary *Wire Netting, from 21/2d. per yard, 2 feet wide.
1843. Penny Cycl., XXVII. 478/2. *Wire net-work formerly employed for screens.
1890. W. J. Gordon, Foundry, 12. We see a *wire railway to the left, or rather—for the wires are invisible—the trucks go floating through the air like rectangular balloons.
1844. Stephens, Bk. Farm, II. 281. A barley *wire-riddle answers for beans.
1883. Man. Seamanship for Boys, 111. In turning a dead-eye, in *wire rigging, what seizings do you use?
1841. Penny Cycl., XX. 156/2. Iron is the material usually employed for wire ropes.
1859. R. Hunt, Guide Mus. Pract. Geol. (ed. 2), 273. A flat Wire Rope Pulley.
c. 1824. L. Hunt, World of Bks., My Bks. (1899), 20. With books all in Museum order, especially *wire-safed.
1888. Jacobi, Printers’ Vocab., *Wire sewn, books sewn with wire instead of thread.
1869. Browning, Ring & Bk., IX. 1207. For the warm arms, were wont enfold thy flesh, Let *wire-shirt plough, and whip-cord discipline.
1665–76. J. Rea, Flora, 126. The earth being first sifted through a *wyer seive.
1833. Loudon, Encycl. Archit., § 665. *Wire Springs for stuffing are nothing more than spiral coils of wire.
1884. ‘Edna Lyall,’ We Two, v. Tom … says I am made on wire springs like a twelfth-cake butterfly.
1667. Phil. Trans., II. 440. A long *Wire-staple.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 171. Which Strings we call False, being bigger in one Place than in another; And therefore *Wire-strings are neuer False.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, 20 Nov. 1679. The viol d’amore of 5 wyre-strings plaied on with a bow.
1887. Sci. Amer., 19 Feb., 121/1. It [the zither] consists of a trapezoidal sounding board, provided with bridges, and having 24 wire strings.
1894. Columbus (Ohio) Disp., 5 Jan. An attempt to tap the wires and ‘work’ the bookmakers … has been foiled…. The *wire tappers escaped.
1768. Pennant, Brit. Zool., I. 105. One that was seduced into a *wire-trap, by placing its brood in it.
1818. Mathews’s Bristol Directory, 52. Coulsting John, *Wire-weaver and Worker.
1840. Penny Cycl., XVII. 209/1. The *wire-web moves forward with a motion so regulated, as … to determine the thickness of the paper.
1909. Westm. Gaz., 9 Feb., 4/2. The Humber detachable wire wheel … is said to be 50 per cent. stronger than wood.
a. 1627. H. Shirley, Mart. Souldier, III. ii. (1638), E 3. *Wyer-whips shall drive you.
16. Special comb.: wire bar, a bar of copper cast into a suitable form for drawing into wire; † wire-bell, a metal bar or rod used for producing a bell-like sound when struck; wire-bird, a Ringed Plover, Ægialitis sanctæ-helenæ, found only on the wire-grass plains of St. Helena; wire bridge (a) a suspension bridge supported by wires; (b) a kind of electric bridge furnished with a wire and a graduated scale; † wire candle, = wired candle (see WIRED ppl. a. 1, quot. 1413); wire-cartridge (see quot. 1858); wire-cut (brick), a machine-made brick cut by means of a steam power wire-cutter; wire-cutter, (a) nippers or pliers for cutting wire; also, a man employed to cut a wire or wires, e.g., in war operations; (b) an appliance for cutting bricks with wire in brick-making; so wire-cutting (also attrib.); † wire-dancer, one who dances or performs acrobatic feats on a wire rope; so † wire-dancing; wire edge, the turned-over strip of metal produced on the edge of a cutting tool by faulty grinding or honing; also fig.; wire-edged a., having a wire edge; also applied to a class of picotees having a line of deeper color round the edge of the petals; wire entanglement Mil., an abatis of (barbed) wire stretched over the ground in order to impede the advance of an enemy; wire-feed, -feeding, used attrib. in the names of machines with apparatus for maintaining a ‘feed’ or continuous supply of wire; wire-finder, an instrument for testing the insulation of electric wires; wire-glass, sheet glass in which wire netting is embedded; wire ground (see quot.); wire grub = WIREWORM; wire gun, a wire-wound gun; wire-hair, short for ‘wire-haired terrier’; wire-haired a., having a rough coat of a hard and wiry texture, esp. designating a kind of fox-terrier as distinguished from the smooth-haired variety; wire heel, contracted quarters of the heel, a defect incident to the feet of horses and cattle; wire instrument, † (a) a musical instrument with wire strings; (b) see quot. 1884; wire iron, rod iron for the manufacture of wire; wire line = wire-mark (a); wire-mark Paper-making, (a) pl., the faint lines made by the impression of the wires of the mold in the substance of laid paper; (b) = WATER-MARK 5; wire micrometer, one with horizontal and vertical wires across the field; wire money Numism. (see quot.); wire nail, a nail circular in section, not tapering but pointed, and having a thin circular swaged head; wire-nailing (see quot.); wire pliers, pliers for shaping wire into curves and loops (see quot.); wire puzzle, a toy consisting of two or more wire patterns joined together in such a way as to puzzle one’s ingenuity in disentangling them; wire saw, a kind of saw of which the cutting part is made of wire; wire silver, native silver found in wire-shaped pieces; wire-tailed a., having wire-shafted tail-quills; wire-twist, a composition of iron and steel welded together and rolled into rods, used for gun-barrels; wire-walker, an acrobat who performs feats on a wire rope; so wire-walking; wire-wound a., wound or encircled with wire.
1868. Joynson, Metals, 99. The copper, when at the proper state of refining, is cast into ‘ingots,’ ‘tiles,’ or *‘wire bars.’
1668. [Stedman], Tintinnalogia (1671), 3. Let him learn on some Instrument, or *Wyer-Bells, to know a Third, Fifth, and Eighth, which are the principal Concords.
1873. J. E. Harting, in Ibis, July, 260. The St.-Helena bird, popularly known in the island as the *‘Wire-bird,’ is at present without a scientific appellation; and I propose therefore to name it Ægialitis sanctæ-helenæ.
1816. Portfolio (Philad.), June, 521. The *wire bridge near Philadelphia … is supported by six wires each 3–8ths of an inch in diameter.
3. 1842. Penny Cycl., XXIII. 334/1. Another wire bridge … was built in 1817, across the Tweed.
1891. Cent. Dict., s.v. Wire, Wire bridge, in elect., a kind of Wheatstone bridge in which two adjacent resistances are formed by a wire.
1419. Churchwardens’ Acc. St. Michael’s Church, Oxford (MS.). *Wyrecandel ante crucem ad Lux Fulgebit.
1858. Greener’s Gunnery, Advt. 14. The advantages to be derived from the use of the *Wire Cartridge, in the pursuit of … game…. The shot is packed within a wire cage, which is constructed so as to allow them to escape from it gradually while the charge is in motion.
1892. Labour Commission, Gloss., *Wire-cut Brick.
1910. Encycl. Brit., IV. 519/2. In all cases bricks thus made are known as ‘wire-cuts.’
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Wire-cutter, a nippers for cutting off wire.
1905. H. G. Wells, Kipps, I. vi. § 4. Pearce, the dog! had a wire-cutter in his pocket-knife.
1922. Encycl. Brit., XXXII. 919/1. Detachments of wire-cutters, and pioneers, about 50 strong.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Wire-Cutting Plyers.
1875. Westm. Gaz., 24 Jan., 5/2. The Tramway Strike at Brooklyn…. The militia are now using searchlights to detect wire-cutting.
1728. Baker, Biogr. Dram. (1782), I. 88. Mr. Maddox, the celebrated *wire-dancer.
1768. Tucker, Lt. Nat. (1834), II. 362. The application of the pick-pocket, the wire-dancer, and the balance-master, to become expert in their several arts.
1801. Strutt, Sports & Past., II. v. § 22. 175. *Wire-dancing … consists rather of various feats of balancing … upon the wire.
[1698. Phil. Trans., XX. 418. The Edge being whet away to a *Wire, as they term it.]
1846. Holtzapffel, Turning, II. 496. Lastly, the flat face of the [plane-] iron is laid quite flat on the oilstone, to remove the wire edge.
1847. Brownson, Two Brothers, Wks. VI. 246. Time had hardly worn off the wire-edge of his grief.
1861. Campin, Pract. Hand-turning, ii. 41. The tool … should … be so held that the grindstone is driven from the edge towards the handle … otherwise it will discover a great liability to become *wire-edged.
1898. Gardener’s Mag., 3 Sept., 571/2. Time was when there was a distinct section of wire-edged yellow-ground picotees.
1876. Voyle & Stevenson, Milit. Dict. (ed. 3), 470/2. *Wire Entanglement.
1879. Hensman, Afghan War (1881), 215. Wire entanglements, made with telegraph wire and tent-pegs.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Wire-feed Screw-machine, a machine for making screws from a continuous length of wire. Ibid. (1884), Suppl. 950/1. A screw machine…. It has an adjustable chuck and *wire-feeding apparatus.
1877. Jrnl. Soc. Telegr. Engineers, VI. 522, heading. A new *wire-finder.
1900. Engineering Mag., XIX. 761/1. Mr. Murphy proposes … to have a section of the roof made of *wire-glass.
1882. Caulfeild & Saward, Dict. Needlework, *Wire ground … is sometimes used in Brussels Lace; it is made of silk, with its net-patterned meshes partly raised and arched, and is worked separately from the design.
a. 1846. Loudon (Worc.), *Wire grub.
1895. Daily News, 1 Feb., 3/1. The Majestic will probably be the first ship to be fitted with the new 12-inch *wire guns.
1884. Live Stock Jrnl., 5 Sept., 227/2. Heather, another *wire-hair, came second.
1801. Sporting Mag., XVIII. 85. The rough *wire-haired hound. Ibid. (1818), (N.S.), I. 157. Scotch terriers, rough, wire-haired, with long backs and short legs.
1881. V. Shaw, Bk. Dog, 299. Some excellent wire-haired Fox-terriers.
1819. Rees, Cycl., *Wire-Heels.
1654. Wood, Life (O.H.S.), I. 190. John Trap of Trinity, [who played] on the citerne; and Georg Mason … on another *wyer instrument.
1884. Knight, Dict. Mech., Suppl., Wire Instruments … for manipulating wire in surgical practice.
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, *Wire-iron, black rod iron made in South Staffordshire, and used for drawing out into wire.
1858. Sotheby’s Principia Typogr., III. 105. Owing to the leaves having been backed, the *wire-lines could not be traced.
1815. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, II. 697. The kind of paper most proper … is … yellow wove, as the *wire-marks which are in the other sort, are an impediment to the point of the pencil.
1840. Penny Cycl., XVII. 209/2. Various wire-marks, or water-marks, as they are called.
1813. D. Brewster, New Philos. Instrum., 5. The *wire micrometer.
1853. H. N. Humphreys, Coin-coll. Man., II. 492. A small issue of shillings, sixpences, and Maundy money, took place in 1797 and 1798…. They are known among collectors as the *wire money, from the very slender numerals on the Maundy pieces.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Wire-nail. Ibid., *Wire-nailing Machine, a machine for closing shoes with wire.
1888. Lockwood’s Dict. Terms Mech. Engin., *Wire Pliers, pliers in which a pair of smooth jaws, circular in section and tapered lengthways, are substituted for the ordinary flat and roughened jaws.
1898. ‘H. S. Merriman,’ Roden’s Corner, vii. 69. It happened to be a *wire-puzzle winter, and Cornish had the best collection of rings on impossible wire mazes.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, 501. *Wyer Saw.
1901. Nature, 28 Nov., 84/2. The helicoidal wire saw has been employed for quarrying marble in Belgium and in Italy for some years.
1882. Rep. Prec. Metals U.S., 177. Well-defined veins, carrying ruby silver, black sulphuret,… and *wire silver.
1823. Latham, Gen. Hist. Birds, VII. 309. *Wire-tailed Swallow…. Inhabits India.
1835. Greener, Gun, ii. 14. Damascus being a variety or mixture, made from the composition named *wire-twist iron. Ibid. The making of wire-twist barrels.
1762. Goldsm., Cit. W., lxxxv. Stage-players, fire-eaters, singing women, dancing dogs, wild beasts, and *wire-walkers.
1895. Pall Mall Gaz., 1 Feb., 4/2. Miss Virginia Aragon is the most finished wire-walker that we can remember.
1894. Westm. Gaz., 22 Jan., 4/3. These *wire-wound guns have been approved of, and are supposed to be nearly 40 per cent. stronger than the present type of heavy ordnance.
1910. H. M. Hobart, Dict. Electr. Engin., I. 32/1. Wire-wound Armature, the armature of an electric generator or motor which is wound with wire, in contradistinction to one of which the winding consists of bars.
b. In the names of various plants with slender wiry stems (see quots. and WIRE-GRASS).
1756. P. Browne, Jamaica, 126. The small Wire-rush. The larger Wire-rush. Both these little plants are very frequent in the swamps of Jamaica.
1797. J. Bailey & Culley, View Agric. Northumbld., 127. Nardus stricta. Wirebent.
1827. in Bischoff, Van Diemen’s Land (1832), 167. We were several hours struggling through thick scrub and wireweed.
a. 1850. Bromfield, Flora Vect. (1856), 434. Polygonum aviculare … Wire-weed.
1866. Treas. Bot., Wire-bent.
¶ From the 15th to the 17th century examples of wire occur app. with the sense ‘iron,’ ? by confusion with the old form ire. (Cf. WIRY ¶.)
1406. York Wills (Surtees), I. 343. Lego Roberto Brid j wyrebatt cum j Carlele ax.
1455. in Archæologia, XVI. 126. A Wyre hatt garnysshed ye bordour Serkyll.
1567. Aldeburgh Rec., in N. & Q., 12th Ser. VII. 142/2. Makynge wheire gudgyons.
1582. N. Lichefield, trans. Castanheda’s Conq. E. Ind., 42. A wether cock, made likewise of wier [orig. di bronzo].
1630. Maldon (Essex) Docts., Bundle 217. No. 22 (MS.). iiii. Wyer candlesticks, 8d.
1682. in H. More, Contn. Remark. Stories, 63. That a Wier-Candlestick might be turned into Brass.
