down to the wire

down to the wire
Wire Wire (w[imac]r), n. [OE. wir, AS. wir; akin to Icel. v[=i]rr, Dan. vire, LG. wir, wire; cf. OHG. wiara fine gold; perhaps akin to E. withy. [root]141.] [1913 Webster] 1. A thread or slender rod of metal; a metallic substance formed to an even thread by being passed between grooved rollers, or drawn through holes in a plate of steel. [1913 Webster]

Note: Wire is made of any desired form, as round, square, triangular, etc., by giving this shape to the hole in the drawplate, or between the rollers. [1913 Webster]

2. A telegraph wire or cable; hence, an electric telegraph; as, to send a message by wire. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]

3. Chiefly in pl. The system of wires used to operate the puppets in a puppet show; hence (Chiefly Political Slang), the network of hidden influences controlling the action of a person or organization; as, to pull the wires for office; -- in this sense, synonymous with {strings}. [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]

4. One who picks women's pockets. [Thieves' Slang] [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

5. A knitting needle. [Scot.] [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

6. A wire stretching across over a race track at the judges' stand, to mark the line at which the races end. [Racing Cant] [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

{Wire bed}, {Wire mattress}, an elastic bed bottom or mattress made of wires interwoven or looped together in various ways.

{Wire bridge}, a bridge suspended from wires, or cables made of wire.

{Wire cartridge}, a shot cartridge having the shot inclosed in a wire cage.

{Wire cloth}, a coarse cloth made of woven metallic wire, -- used for strainers, and for various other purposes.

{Wire edge}, the thin, wirelike thread of metal sometimes formed on the edge of a tool by the stone in sharpening it.

{Wire fence}, a fence consisting of posts with strained horizontal wires, wire netting, or other wirework, between.

{Wire gauge} or {Wire gage}. (a) A gauge for measuring the diameter of wire, thickness of sheet metal, etc., often consisting of a metal plate with a series of notches of various widths in its edge. (b) A standard series of sizes arbitrarily indicated, as by numbers, to which the diameter of wire or the thickness of sheet metal in usually made, and which is used in describing the size or thickness. There are many different standards for wire gauges, as in different countries, or for different kinds of metal, the Birmingham wire gauges and the American wire gauge being often used and designated by the abbreviations B. W. G. and A. W. G. respectively.

{Wire gauze}, a texture of finely interwoven wire, resembling gauze.

{Wire grass} (Bot.), either of the two common grasses {Eleusine Indica}, valuable for hay and pasture, and {Poa compressa}, or blue grass. See {Blue grass}.

{Wire grub} (Zo["o]l.), a wireworm.

{Wire iron}, wire rods of iron.

{Wire lathing}, wire cloth or wire netting applied in the place of wooden lathing for holding plastering.

{Wire mattress}. See {Wire bed}, above.

{Wire micrometer}, a micrometer having spider lines, or fine wires, across the field of the instrument.

{Wire nail}, a nail formed of a piece of wire which is headed and pointed.

{Wire netting}, a texture of woven wire coarser than ordinary wire gauze.

{Wire rod}, a metal rod from which wire is formed by drawing.

{Wire rope}, a rope formed wholly, or in great part, of wires.

{down to the wire}, up to the last moment, as in a race or competition; as, the two front runners were neck-and-neck down to the wire. From {wire[6]}.

{under the wire}, just in time; shortly before the deadline; as, to file an application just under the wire. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • down to the wire — ► 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… …   Financial and business terms

  • down to the wire — (informal) As far as the finishing post, up to the very last moment • • • Main Entry: ↑wire * * * informal used to denote a situation whose outcome is not decided until the very last minute it was probable that the test of nerves would go down to …   Useful english dictionary

  • down to the wire — (USA) If something goes down to the wire, like a competition, then it goes to the very last moment before it is clear who has won …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • down to the wire — ► down to the wire informal until the very last minute. Main Entry: ↑wire …   English terms dictionary

  • down to the wire — (USA)    If something goes down to the wire, like a competition, then it goes to the very last moment before it is clear who has won.   (Dorking School Dictionary)    ***    If something such as project or a match goes down to the wire, the… …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • down to the wire — 1. adjective At the very end of a process or project, especially one with a fast approaching deadline. He was almost done with the paper, but tomorrows due date meant it would be down to the wire. 2. adverb At the very end of a process or project …   Wiktionary

  • down to the wire — American & Australian until the very last moment that it is possible to do something. If both teams are playing at their best, the game will go down to the wire (= it will be won at the last moment). The Democrats struggled down to the wire to… …   New idioms dictionary

  • down to the wire — mod. until the very last minute. □ It came down to the wire before I turned the proposal in. □ We went right down to the wire on that one …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • down to the wire — {adj.}, {slang} 1. Running out of time, nearing a deadline. * /Bob is down to the wire on his project./ 2. Being financially almost broke, being very low on cash or other funds. * /We can t afford going to a restaurant tonight we re really down… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • down to the wire — {adj.}, {slang} 1. Running out of time, nearing a deadline. * /Bob is down to the wire on his project./ 2. Being financially almost broke, being very low on cash or other funds. * /We can t afford going to a restaurant tonight we re really down… …   Dictionary of American idioms

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