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
The Bruins barely escaped Iowa with a two-point win and went down to the wire with Michigan State in between their losses to USC, and there’s no easy path in the Big Ten with four other top-25 squads in the tournament bracket.
—
Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 5 Mar. 2025
That accurately suggests an overabundance of good choices, which helps explain why the race seemed to go down to the wire.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2025
However, what ends up going into effect could significantly change down to the wire.
—Elisabeth Buchwald and Matt Egan, CNN, 3 Mar. 2025
Young’s Hawks, however, are 15-15 in games that come down to the wire, and Maxey’s dumpster-fire 76ers — marred by injury all season long — are 11-12 in their clutch games.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 27 Feb. 2025
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Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 5 Mar. 2025
That accurately suggests an overabundance of good choices, which helps explain why the race seemed to go down to the wire.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2025
However, what ends up going into effect could significantly change down to the wire.
—Elisabeth Buchwald and Matt Egan, CNN, 3 Mar. 2025
Young’s Hawks, however, are 15-15 in games that come down to the wire, and Maxey’s dumpster-fire 76ers — marred by injury all season long — are 11-12 in their clutch games.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 27 Feb. 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 12 Mar. 2025.
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