Meaning of wire In English

• 0 a piece of thin metal thread that can be bent, used for fastening things and for making particular types of objects that are strong but can bend:

  • a wire fence

  • Someone had cut the phone wires.

  • Don't touch those wires whatever you do.

  • The undercover police officer was wearing a wire during the meeting.

  • During the war he spent three years behind the wire (= in prison).

• 1 a telegram

• 2 to fasten two things together using wire:

  • She had her jaws wired together so that she wouldn't be able to eat.

  • The stereo wasn't working because it hadn't been wired up correctly.

  • Nearly one home in ten across the country is wired up to receive TV via cable.

• 3 to send money using an electrical communication system:

  • The insurance company wired millions of dollars to its accounts to cover the payments.

  • [ + two objects ] Luckily my father wired me two hundred bucks.

  • Janet wired me to say she'd be here a day later than planned.

• 4 thin metal that can be bent, used in a stiff form in fences and in a form more easily shaped for fastening things or for carrying electric currents:

  • [ C ] telephone wires

  • [ U ] There was a six-foot high wire fence around the playground.

• 5 a telegram

• 6 to send a message or money by telegraph:

  • My father wired me $300.

• 7 to connect or fasten by wire:

  • Our building is wired for cable TV.

  • Wired by the FBI, he began recording meetings with Chicago officials.

• 8 a piece of long thin metal that can be bent or used to hold things together:

  • Thin strands of copper wire are wrapped around the connection and soldered.

• 9 a piece of long thin metal that can carry signals or electricity:

  • electrical/telephone wire

  • The wires had been cut, leaving the building in darkness.

• 10 an electronic system for sending money from one bank account to another:

  • by wire Amounts over $1,000 can be transferred to your bank account by wire or by check.

• 11 a piece of electronic equipment that someone wears so that other people can secretly listen to their conversation, especially when trying to trick someone:

  • He agreed to wear a wire to the meeting as part of the FBI investigation.

• 12 if something is down to the wire, it is not clear or decided until the last possible moment:

  • go/come down to the wire It was likely the leadership contest would go down to the wire.

  • Contract negotiations with two unions that represent more than 100,000 employees are expected to go right down to the wire.

• 13 if people get their wires crossed, they have a different understanding of the same situation:

  • We must have got our wires crossed, because I thought the meeting was next week.

• 14 to send money from one bank account to another using an electronic system:

  • The insurance company wired the payment directly to our account.

• 15 in the past, to send someone a telegram (= message sent over electrical wires and printed out)