: full of suspense
especially : unsettled until the very end

Examples of down-to-the-wire in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The last great, down-to-the-wire race for the scoring crown came in 2014-15, when Jamie Benn edged out John Tavares by one point and Sidney Crosby by three. Corey Masisak, The Denver Post, 4 Feb. 2024 The Detroit Lions hit ratings gold with their down-to-the-wire 24-23 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night on NBC and Peacock. Amy Huschka, Detroit Free Press, 17 Jan. 2024 As the country participated in the gratuitous orgy of capitalism otherwise known as Super Bowl LVIII, the real ones know that even though the Chiefs came out on top in a down-to-the-wire overtime win over the 49ers, the bona-fide highlights of every Super Bowl Sunday are those super spots. Rob Ledonne, Rolling Stone, 12 Feb. 2024 The Chiefs and Lions advanced with tough, down-to-the-wire victories on Sunday. Rob Maaddi, USA TODAY, 22 Jan. 2024 For Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles fans — and any football lover, really — last year’s Super Bowl LVII was a thrilling, down-to-the-wire classic. Eric Renner Brown, Billboard, 9 Feb. 2024 Jacobs is notorious for down-to-the-wire decisions, and the beauty for his 40th anniversary show was no exception. Arden Fanning Andrews, Vogue, 3 Feb. 2024 The Cougars received seven first-place votes and were second, while the Jayhawks had the other two first-place votes but fell a spot to third after their down-to-the-wire win over TCU. Kathy Laughlin, Sun Sentinel, 8 Jan. 2024 On Monday, Mikayla Renfrow, an understudy for Jasmine in Aladdin on Broadway, posted a TikTok detailing her down-to-the-wire return to the Great White Way after receiving a last-minute call to play the Disney princess onstage. Sam Burros, Peoplemag, 21 Sep. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'down-to-the-wire.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1930, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of down-to-the-wire was in 1930

Dictionary Entries Near down-to-the-wire

Cite this Entry

“Down-to-the-wire.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/down-to-the-wire. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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