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Wire vs Wile - What's the difference?

wire | wile |

As nouns the difference between wire and wile

is that wire is (label) metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die while wile is wila, black tree lichen (edible lichen).

As a verb wire

is to fasten with wire, especially with reference to wine bottles, corks, or fencing.

wire

English

Noun

  • (label) Metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=52, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The new masters and commanders , passage=From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.}}
  • A piece of such material; a thread or slender rod of metal, a cable.
  • A metal conductor that carries electricity.
  • A fence made of usually barbed wire.
  • (label) A finish line of a racetrack.
  • (label) A telecommunication wire or cable
  • (label) An electric telegraph; a telegram.
  • (label) A hidden listening device on the person of an undercover operative for the purposes of obtaining incriminating spoken evidence.
  • (label) A deadline or critical endpoint.
  • (label) A wire strung with beads and hung horizontally above or near the table which is used to keep score.
  • Synonyms

    * (thin thread of metal ): cable, steel wire, thread * (metal conductor that carries electricity ): conducting wire * (fencing made of usually barbed wire ): barbed wire * (informal: telegraph''): ''See telegraph * (informal: message transmitted by telegraph''): ''See telegram * (object used to keep the score in billiards) score string

    Derived terms

    * baling wire * barbed wire, barbed-wire * be on the wire * by wire * chicken wire * down to the wire * earthing wire * get one’s wires crossed]], [[have one's wires crossed, have one’s wires crossed * guy wire/guy-wire * haywire * live wire * piano wire * pull wires * pull the wires * razor wire * trawlwire * trip wire * under the wire * wire broadcasting * wire clippers * wire cutter * wire entanglement * wireform * wireless * wire recorder * wire rope * wire transfer * wiretap * wire wool * woven wire * wiry

    See also

    * filament * hawser * cable

    Verb

    (wir)
  • To fasten with wire, especially with reference to wine bottles, corks, or fencing.
  • * 1934 , edition, ISBN 0553278193, page 222:
  • I could see him in his plane flying low over the river or a reservoir, dropping the club out with a chunk of lead wired to the shaft.
  • To string on a wire.
  • To equip with wires for use with electricity.
  • To add something into an electrical system by means of wiring; to incorporate or include something.
  • I'll just wire your camera to the computer screen.
  • (label) To send a message or a money value to another person through a telecommunications system, formerly predominately by telegraph.
  • To make someone tense or psyched up.
  • (label) To install eavesdropping equipment.
  • To snare by means of a wire or wires.
  • Synonyms

    * (to equip for use with electricity ): electrify * (informal: to send a message or a money value to another person through a telecommunications system ): cable, telegraph

    Antonyms

    * (to fasten with wire ): unwire

    Troponyms

    * (to fasten with wire ): rewire * (to equip for use with electricity ): rewire

    Derived terms

    * wire away * wire in * wire into

    Anagrams

    * weir 1000 English basic words

    wile

    English

    (Webster 1913)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (usually, in the plural) A trick or stratagem practiced for ensnaring or deception; a sly, insidious artifice
  • He was seduced by her wiles .
  • * Milton
  • to frustrate all our plots and wiles

    Synonyms

    * beguilement * allurement

    Verb

    (wil)
  • To entice or lure
  • , "to pass the time".
  • Here's a pleasant way to wile away the hours.

    Usage notes

    The phrase meaning to pass time idly is while away''. We can trace the meaning in an adjectival sense for while back to Old English, hw?len — ''passing, transitory''. We also see it in the whilend — ''temporary, transitory''. But since ''wile away occurs so often, it is now included in many dictionaries.

    References

    * Grammarist.com While away or wile away? * Common Errors in the English Language Wile Away, While Away ----