vdnze 
wunseht, accursed : see xHsh, ».] A curse or 
imprecation. [Scotch.] 
He . . . loot a winze, an" drew a stroke, 
Till skin in blypes cam haurlin' 
Atf 's nieves that night. Burm, Halloween. 
winze* (winz), «. A corrupt form of winch'^. 
E. H. Knight. 
wipel (wip), r. ; pret. and pp. wiped, ppr. wip- 
ing. [< ME. wipen, wypen, < AS. wipiaii, wipe, 
rub, < 'wip, a wisp of straw (= LG. wiep, a wisp 
of straw, a rag to wipe anything with) ; ef. wisj) 
(a prob. extension of *«;i;)).] I. trans. 1. To 
rub or stroke with or on something, especially 
a soft cloth, for cleaning; clean or dry by gen- 
tly rubbing, as with a towel. 
Horn gan his swerd gripe, 
And on his arme tvype. 
Kiwj Horn (E. E. T. S.), p. 18. 
Sche whypyth his face with her kerchy. 
Coventry Mygteries, p. 318. 
The large Fra Angelico in the Academy is as clear and 
keen as if the good old monk were standing there wiping 
his brushes. H. Jatnes, Jr., Trans. Sketches, p. 274. 
2. To remove by or as bj' gently rubbing with 
or on something, especially a cloth; hence, 
with away, off, or out, to remove, efface, or 
obliterate. 
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. 
Rev. Mi. 4. 
Sword, I will Iiallow thee for this thy deed, . . . 
Ne'er shall this blood be wiped from thy point. 
Shai., 2 Hen. VI., iv. 10. 74. 
Why, then, should I now, now when glorious peace 
Triumphs in change of pleasures, be vnp'd of. 
Like a useless moth, from courtly ease? 
Ford, Love's Sacrifice, i. 1. 
Oh, thou has nam'd a word that wipes away 
All thoughts revengeful. 
Beau, and Fl., Maid's Tragedy, ii. 1. 
Yet here hee smoothly seeks to wipe off all the envy 
of his evill Government upon his Substitutes and under 
Officers. MUton, Eikonoklastes, i. 
3. Figuratively, to cleanse, as from evil prac- 
tices or abuses; clear, as of disadvantage or 
superfluity. 
1 will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish. 
2 Ki. ixi. 13. 
4t. To cheat; defraud; trick. 
If they by covin or guile be wiped beside their goods, so 
that no violence be done to their bodies, they ease their 
anger by abstaining from occupying with that nation un- 
til they have made satisfaction. 
Sir T. More, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), ii. 10. 
We are but quit ; you fool us of our moneys 
In every cause, in every quiddit wipe us. 
Fletcher, Spanish Curate, iv. 5. 
5t. To stroke or strike gently; tap. 
Thenne he toke me by the hande frome the grounde and 
wyped my face with a rose and kyssed me. 
Josepli of Ariinathie (E. E. T. S.), p. 30. 
6. To beat; chastise. [Slang.] — 7. In 2>lumh- 
ing, to apply (solder) without the use of a sol- 
dering-iron, by allowing the solder to cool into 
a semi-fluid condition, and then applying it by 
wiping it over the part to be soldered by the use 
of a pad of leather or cloth. See wiping, 2. — 
To wipe another's noset. See no»ei . — To wipe the (or 
one'8)eye. .Seeei/«i. 
H. intrans. To make strokes with a rubbing 
or sweeping motion. 
He comes full ui)on it, seated upright, with its l>ack 
against a tree, wiping at the dogs swarming upon it, right 
and left, with its huge paws. 
W. M. Baker, New Timothy, p. 20.i. 
wipe^ (wip), H. [Early mod. E. also rcype; < 
wipe^, r.] 1. The act orproeess of wiping clean 
or dry ; a sweeping stroke of one thing over an- 
other; a rub; a brush. 
He often said of himself, with a melancholy wipe of his 
sleeve across his brow, that he "didn't know which-a-way 
to turn. " George Eliot, Felix Holt, viii. 
2. A quick or hard stroke ; a blow, literally or 
figuratively ; a cut : now regarded as slang. 
since you were the first that layde hand to weapon, the 
fault is not mine if I haue happened to glue you a wype. 
Guevara, Letters (tr. by Hellowes, 1577), p. 235, 
To statesmen would you give a icipe. 
You print it in Italic type. Surtfl, On Poetry. 
3. The mark of a blow or wound ; a scar ; a 
brand. [Rare.] 
The blemish that will never be forgot ; 
Worse than a slavish unpe, or birth-hour's blot, 
Stiak., Lucrece, 1. fi37. 
4. Something used in wiping; specifieally, a 
handkerchief. [Slang.] 
I'm Inspector Field I 
And this here wannent "s prigged your wipe. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legentis, II. 35.5. 
" And what have you got, my dear ? " saiii Fagin to Char- 
ley Bates. " ITipe*," replied Master Bates, at the same 
time producing lour pocket-handkerchiefs. 
Dickene, Oliver Twist, ix. 
wiper ; i, toe. 
6945 
5. pi. A fence of brushwood. HalUwdl. [Prov. 
Eng.] — 6. Same as wiper, 3. 
As the cam, which is a revolving wheel with twelve or 
fourteen projecting teeth or vHpes, revolves. 
W. H. Greenwood, Stsel and Iron, p. 308. 
wipe^ (wip), n. Same as weep-. 
wiper (wi'p^r), «. [< wipe^ + -eri.] 1. One who 
or that which wipes. 
Another movement [of a soldering-machine] carries the 
can body across the iciper, which removes tlie superfluous 
solder. Sci. Amer., N. S., LXIII. 297. 
2, That on which anything is wiped, as a hand- 
towel or a handkerchief. 
The wipers for their noses. B. Jonson, Masque of Owls. 
3, In mach., a piece projecting generally from a 
horizontal axle, for the purpose 
of raising stampers, pounders, 
or pistons in a vertical direction 
and letting them fall by their 
own weight. Wipers are em- 
ployed in fulling-mills, stamp- 
ing-mills, oil-mills, powder-mills, 
etc. Also wipe. — 4. A steel im- 
plement for cleaning the bore 
of a musket, etc . it has two twisted 
arms, screws on the end of a ramrod, and carries a piece of 
cloth or a bunch of tow. The larger wipers for cleaning 
cannon are attached to a wooden stick, and are tenned 
wonim or iponges. See cut under g^n. 
wiper-wheel (wi'per-hwel), n. A cam-wheel 
serving to lift a trip-hammer, a stamp, or the 
like, allowing it to fall again by its own weight. 
See cam^. 
wiping (wi'ping), 11. 1, The act of one who 
wipes; specifically, a beating; a thrashing; a 
trimming, [Slang.] 
Even in the domestic circle one can have a choice of 
"a towelling," "a basting," "a clouting," ... "a trim- 
ming/' or "a wiping," when occasion requires. 
.V. aridQ., 7th ser., VII. 153. 
2. In plumbing: («) The removal, witha greased 
cloth, of solder which has been poured upon a 
joint to heat it before soldering, (b) The oper- 
ation of shaping with a wooden pad a mass of 
solder applied to foi-m a wiped joint. 
wiping-rod (wi' ping-rod), H. See wiper, 4. 
Wirdt, wirdet, «. obsolete variants of weird. 
Wire^ (wir), n. and a. [< ME. wir, wyr, < AS. 
wir, a wire, a spiral ornament of wire, = MLG. 
wire, LG. wir, wire ; cf. OHG. iciara, MHG. wierCy 
fine-drawn gold, gold ornament, = Icel. virr, 
wire (ef. Sw. vire^ wind, twist); cf. Lith. wela, 
iron wire, L. viriae, armlets (see virole, ferrule).'] 
I. 11. 1. An extremely elongated body of elas- 
tiematerial; specifically, aslenderbarof metal, 
commonly circular in section, from the size 
which can be bent by the hand with some diffi- 
culty down to a fine tliread. Wire was originally 
made by hammering, a sort of groove in the anvil serving 
to determine the size. It is now drawn by powerful ma- 
chinery, and passed through a series of holes constantly 
diminishing in size. Wire of square section, flat like a 
tape, etc., is also made. 
Fetialicli hir fyngres were fretted with golde wyre. 
Piers Ploxcnuxn (BX ii. 11. 
Wyre. Filum, vel ferrifllum . . . (fllum ereum vel fer- 
reuni, P.). Prompt. Parv., p, 530. 
At what period and among what people the art of work- 
ing up pure gold, or gilded silver, into a long, round hair- 
like threacl — Into what may be correctly called wire — be- 
gan, is quite unknown. 
S. K. Handbook Textile Fabrics, p. 22. 
2t. A twisted thread ; a filament. 
Upon a courser, startling as the fyr. 
Men mighte turne him with a litel wi/r, 
Sit Eneas, lyk Phebus to devyse. 
Chaucer, Good Women, 1. 1205. 
3. A quantity of wire used for various pur- 
poses, especially in electric transmission, as in 
case of the telephone, the telegraph, electric 
lighting, etc.; specifically, a telegraph-wire, 
and hence (colloquially) the telegraph system 
itself: as, to send orders by wire. 
It is ridiculous to make love by wire. 
C. D. Warner, Their Pilgrimage, p. 301. 
Faraday's term "electrode," literally a way for electri- 
city to travel along, might be well applied to designate the 
insulated conductor along which the electric messenger 
is despatched. It is, however, more conmionly and fa- 
miliarly called " the ivire " or " the line." 
Encyc. lirit., XXIII. 113. 
4. A metallic string of a musical instrument: 
hence, poetically, the instrument itself. 
Sound Lydian wires, once make a pleasing note 
On nectar streams of your sweet airs to float. 
Marston, Antonio and Mellida, I., v. 1. 
IJstening to what unshorn Apollo sings 
To the touch of golden wires. 
Milton, V'acation Exercise, I. 38. 
With wire and catgut he concludes the day, 
Quav'iing and semiquav'ring care away. 
Couper, Progress of Error, I. 120. 
Wire 
5t, The lash ; the scourge : alluding to the use 
of metallic whips. 
Thou shalt be whipp'd with wire. 
ShaJc., A. and C, ii. 5. 65. 
Lol. You may hear what time of day it is, the chimes of 
Bedlam goes. 
Alib. Peace, peace, or the vnre comes I 
Middleton and Rowley, Changeling, i. 2. 
6. In ornith., one of the extremely long, slender, 
wire-like filaments or shafts of the pluTuage of 
various birds. See wired, wire-tailed^ and cut 
under Videstrelda. — 7, pi. Figuratively, that 
by which any organization or body of persons 
is controlled and directed: now iised chiefly in 
political slang. See wire-pulUmj. 
Now, however, there was a vacancy, and they |the poli- 
ticians] scented their prey afar otf. The usual manipula- 
tion of the wires began, and they were managed with the 
usual skill. The. Nation, XVI. 330. 
8. A pickpocket with long fingers, expert at pick- 
ing women's pockets. Hotten. [Thieves' slang.] 
He was worth 201. a week, he said, as a mre— that is, a 
picker of ladies' pockets. 
Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, I. 410. 
9. A fiber of cobweb, a fine platinum wire, or 
a line upon glass, fixed in the focus of a tele- 
scope, to aid in comparing the positions of ob- 
jects — Barbed, beaded, dead wire. See the adjec- 
tives.— Binding-wire. See fci/idtn(/.— Compound tele- 
graph- Wire, a wire composed of a steel center surrounded 
by a copper tube, the object being to obtain the necessary 
conductivity and strength with less material than is re- 
quired when iron wire is used. — Dovetail Wire, a wire 
havinga wedge-shaped section.— Earth wire. Seeear(A- 
i«re.— Filling the wire, in teleg., putting such a num- 
ber of stations on one wire that It is occupied during the 
whole day.— Gold wire, a wire formed of a core of silver 
covered with gold. It may be drawn out to the fineness of 
thread.— Ground-wire. Same as earth-wire.— "RoWow 
wire, in goldsmithing, small tubes used for making joints. 
as in the cases of watches, etc.— I^atten, live, phantom 
wire. See the qualifying words.— Leadlng-in Wire, the 
wire which makes connection between a telegraph-line 
and a t«Iegraph-oftice.— Open Wires, in teleg., exposed 
or overhead bare wires. Also sometimes used for open 
circuit, — Saddle wire, a telegraph-wire carried on in- 
sulators fixed directly to the tops of the poles.— Taped 
wires, wires covered with tape for insulation or weather- 
protection.— Telodynamic wire, a wire used to transmit 
force or power, as in giving motion to a machine from a 
countershaft or from the driving-pulley of an engine.— To 
puU or work (the) wires. See wire-pulling.— JJndeT' 
takers' wire, a kind of insulated wire the use of which 
was at one time authorized by the fire-insurance under- 
writers for electric-lighting purposes. The name was given 
because of the defective quality or insulation of this wire 
and the consequent danger in its use. [CoUoq.] — Wire- 
covering machine, a machine for covering wire with a 
finer wire or with thread. — Wire of Lapland, a shining 
Blender material made from the sinews of the reindeer, 
soaked in water, beaten, and spun Into a sort of thread of 
great strength. These threads are dipped in melted tin, 
and di-awn through a horn with a hole in it. The Lapland- 
ers use this wire for embroidering their clothes. — Wire- 
twisting machine, a machine or tool for joining ends 
of wire, as sections of fencing- or telegraph-wires, etc., by 
twisting them on each other.— Woven-Wlre lathing. 
See lathing^, 
IL «• Made of wire; consisting of or fitted 
with wires: as, &wire sieve; a wire bird-cage. 
He did him to the tnVe-window, 
As fast as he could gang. 
Fire of Frendraught (Child's Ballads, VI. 180). 
Wire armor. Same as c/iain-THwii. See viail^, 3.— Wire 
belting, belts or straps for machinery, made of wire in- 
stead of leather.— Wire bent. See 6cn(2.— Wire bridge. 
(a) Same as su»pension-bndge. See bridge'^ (with cut), {h) 
In elect., a kind of Wheatstone bridge in which two adja- 
cent resistances are formed by a wire which can be divided 
In any ratio by means of a sliding contact and a gradu- 
ated scale.— Wire cables. See caW^.- Wire cartridge, 
a cartridge for a shotgun, having the charge of siiot in- 
closed in a network of wire to concentrate the discliarge. 
Wire cartridges axe woven wire receptacles in which shot 
are mixed with bone dust. Sportsuian's Gazetteer, p. 568. 
Wire cloth. See doth.—Wire entanglements, in /ort. 
See entanglement. — Wire fence, gauze, guard, gtm. 
See the nouns.— Wire mattress. See mattress.— wire 
rope. See ropei.— Wire-spring coillng-machlne, a 
machine for making spiral metal springs.- Wire stltch. 
See stitch, 9. — Wire Wheel. See wheels. 
Wire^ (wir), v.: pret. and pp. wired, ppr. wirimj. 
{iwire'^,n.\ I, trans. 1. To bind, fit, or other- 
wise provide with wire ; put wire in, on, around, 
through, etc.: as, to wire corks in bottling li- 
quors; to wire beads; to wire o, fence; to wint 
a bird-skin, as in taxidermy; to wire a house 
for electric lighting. 
As bats at the wired window of a dairy, 
They beat their vans. 
Shelley, Witch of Atlas, xvi. 
In 1711 the coats used to be imred to niiilie thuni stick 
out J. Ashton, Social Life in Reign of Queen Anne, 1. 151. 
Many of the houses built during the past two years 
were wired when constructed. 
Electric Rev. (Amer.), XV. 4. 
2. To snare by means of a wire : as, to wire a 
bilHl. 
Donald Caird can wire a maukin, 
Kens the wiles o' dun deer staukin*. 
Scott, Donald Caird's Conic Again. 
