the wire
noun
US
: a thin piece of string that the winner of a race breaks through at the end of the race
The marathon ended in a sprint to the wire by the two top runners.
—often used figurativelyThe election went/came (right) down to the wire.
Examples of the wire in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
At the other end of the five-furlong sprint on the dirt, My Love Caroline beat Jasmina (Kyle Frey) by a head bob at the wire.
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Bill Center, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Aug. 2025
Sunny worked the night shift at the Associated Press, where he had been employed straight out of his graduate program at Columbia University, in an entry-level position, learning the rules of the A.P. Stylebook, editing and sending out on the wire the news that came winging in at all hours.
—Kiran Desai, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2025
South Korea slipped in under the wire before the president's Friday deadline.
—Zev Fima, CNBC, 2 Aug. 2025
And besides, the picture of that lone photographer beyond the wire is credited to Út in the AP archive, in which case Út couldn’t be in the photograph.
—Gary Knight, Rolling Stone, 1 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for the wire
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Bill Center, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Aug. 2025
Sunny worked the night shift at the Associated Press, where he had been employed straight out of his graduate program at Columbia University, in an entry-level position, learning the rules of the A.P. Stylebook, editing and sending out on the wire the news that came winging in at all hours.
—Kiran Desai, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2025
South Korea slipped in under the wire before the president's Friday deadline.
—Zev Fima, CNBC, 2 Aug. 2025
And besides, the picture of that lone photographer beyond the wire is credited to Út in the AP archive, in which case Út couldn’t be in the photograph.
—Gary Knight, Rolling Stone, 1 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for the wire
Cite this Entry
“The wire.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20wire. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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