down to the wire

down to the wire

Until the last possible second. Negotiations went down to the wire, but we did in fact agree on a new contract by the deadline.

See also: down, to, wire

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

*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.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

down to the wire

To the last minute; to the very end. For example, We're just about down to the wire with this project. This term comes from horseracing, where it was long the practice to stretch a wire across and above the track at the finish line. It was extended to figurative use about 1900.

See also: down, to, wire

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

down to the wire

COMMON If you do something down to the wire, you continue doing it until the last possible moment. Sutton claims the race for the championship will go right down to the wire. Negotiations are likely to go down to the wire. Note: The `wire' here is a an imaginary one which the horses pass under at the end of a race.

See also: down, to, wire

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

down to the wire

used to denote a situation whose outcome is not decided until the very last minute. informal

This expression comes from horse racing and originated in North America, where a wire is stretched across and above the finishing line on a racecourse.

See also: down, to, wire

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

down to the wire

mod. until the very last minute. We went right down to the wire on that one.

See also: down, to, wire

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

down to the wire

Informal

To the very end, as in a race or contest.

See also: down, to, wire

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

down to the wire

At the very last minute; at the end. The term, an Americanism dating from the late nineteenth century, alludes to the practice of stretching a wire across and above the track at the start and finish of a racecourse. Here “down to” actually means the same as “up to,” that is, all the way to the finishing line. It began to be transferred to occasions other than horse races about 1900, and appears in print in Down the Line (1901) by H. McHugh (pseudonym for George Vere Hobart): “Swift often told himself he could . . . beat him down to the wire.”

See also: down, to, wire

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer