wire (redirected from wirable)

*down-to-the-wire

Fig. waiting until the very last moment; right up to the deadline. (*Typically: be ~; get ~.) It came down-to-the-wire before I turned the proposal in. We went right down-to-the-wire on that one.

have one's wires crossed

Fig. to have one's mental processes in disarray; to be confused. You don't know what you are talking about. You've really got your wires crossed! Joan got her wires crossed about who arrived first. It was Bob, not Gary.

See also: crosse, have

Hold the phone. 

1. and Hold the wire(, please).; Hold, please.; Hold the line(, please).; Hold the phone(, please).; Please hold. Fig. Please wait on the telephone and do not hang up. (A phrase in use before telephone "hold" circuitry was in wide use.) Bill: Hold the wire, please. (Turning to Tom) Tom, the phone's for you. Tom: Be right there. Rachel: Do you wish to speak to Mr. Jones or Mr. Franklin? Henry: Jones. Rachel: Thank you. Hold the line, please. Sue: Good afternoon, Acme Motors, hold please. Bill (hanging up): That makes me so mad!

2. Fig. Wait just a minute.; Don't rush into something. Hold the phone! Let's think about it a little longer. Hold the phone. I just had another idea.

See also: hold, phone

under the wire

Fig. just barely in time or on time. I turned in my report just under the wire. Bill was the last person to get in the door. He got in under the wire.

wire someone or something for something

to send a telegram to someone or something requesting something. I wired my father for some money. I'm sure he'll send it, officer. Sarah wired the supplier for a replacement part.

wire something back to someone

to send something, such as a reply or money, back to someone by telegram. Please wire your answer back to me by tomorrow. The reply wasn't wired back in time.

See also: back

wire something in

to send something into a central point by telegram. I can't mail my story to my editor in time, so I will have to wire it in. I've got to wire in this story.

wire something together

to bind the pieces of something together with wire; to bind things together with wire. I wired the car's exhaust pipe together, hoping to get a few more miles out of it. I will wire it together to keep it from dragging on the roadway.

See also: together

wire something up 

1. to repair or reattach something with wire, especially something electrical. I will wire this light fixture up and it will work like new. As soon as I wire up this again, it will work very well.

2. . to attach something to a high place with wire. We wired the satellite dish up to the side of the chimney. We wired up the antenna to the chimney.

See also: up

wire ahead (for something)

to send a telegram to one's destination, requesting something to be available upon one's arrival. I wired ahead for a room. I hope that they still have one by the time we get to the hotel. We wired ahead for reservations.

See also: ahead

wire for something

to send for something by telegram. I wired for money, but it hasn't come yet. I will have to wire for further advice.

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a live wire

someone who is very quick and active, both mentally and physically I hadn't met Rory before - he's a real live wire.

See also: live

down to the wire  (American & Australian)

until the very last moment that it is possible to do something

Usage notes: In a horse race, the wire is a metal thread that marks the finishing line.

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 choose their candidate.

get your lines/wires crossed

if two people get their lines crossed, they do not understand each other correctly

Usage notes: When telephone lines get crossed, a mistake is made and you are connected to the wrong person.

Somehow we got our lines crossed because I'd got the 23rd written down in my diary and Jenny had the 16th.

See also: crosse, get, line

under the wire  (American)

if someone does something under the wire, they do it at the last possible moment They got in under the wire just before the entry requirements for the training program changed.

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down to the wire

until the last possible moment The election was so close, it went down to the wire and was decided by a court. We had very little time to get the place decorated for the party, which meant that everyone worked right down to the wire.

Etymology: based on the racing meaning of wire (a thread that marks where a race ends)