wire

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
wire/ˈwʌɪə(r)/

▶noun

• 1 metal drawn out into a thin flexible thread or rod.

  ■ a length or quantity of wire used for fencing, to carry an electric current, etc.

  ■ (usu. the wire) N. Amer. Horse Racing a wire stretched across and above the start and finish of a racecourse.

• 2 a concealed electronic listening device.

• 3 informal, chiefly N. Amer. a telegram or cablegram.

▶verb

• 1 install electric circuits or wires in.

• 2 provide, fasten, or reinforce with wire.

• 3 informal, chiefly N. Amer. send a telegram or cablegram to.

  ■ send (money) to (someone) by such means.

• 4 snare with wire.

• 5 Croquet obstruct (a ball, shot, or player) by a hoop.

– phrases
by wire by telegraph.
down to the wire informal until the very last minute.
under the wire N. Amer. informal just in time.
wire-to-wire N. Amer. informal from start to finish.

– derivatives
wirer noun.

– origin OE wīr; of Gmc origin, prob. from the base of L. viere ‘plait, weave’.