baling wire

noun

: wire originally designed to bind bales of hay or straw : haywire

… were secured … by baling wire twisted through the padlock hasps.

—Robert A. Caro

—often used figuratively

Injury-riddled Michigan State might be considered a powerhouse, except its team is being held together with chewing gum and baling wire.

—Lynn Zinse

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Coach Frank Reich better find some bubble gum and baling wire in the coming weeks if his team is to survive its forbidding early season schedule. —Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 12 Aug. 2021

Rod Marinelli, the MacGyver of football coaches, needed only gum and baling wire to fortify the Cowboys’ defensive front. —Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 16 Mar. 2021

There’s not enough chewing gum and baling wire to hold Tiger Woods together for his charge at Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus won 18 majors. —Scott Ostler, SFChronicle.com, 7 Aug. 2020

Forget about bungee cords, nylon straps and baling wire. —John Goodspeed, ExpressNews.com, 12 Sep. 2019

The Brewers held together a depleted rotation with spit and baling wire, relied heavily on the bullpen and tried to eke out enough runs from an offense that was too reliant on home runs to score. —Tom Haudricourt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7 Oct. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined above