World Book 1997 4.0

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ World Book 1997 4.0 / The World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia v4.00.iso / data / dictdata / wipeout.dic < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1997-04-07 | 11.2 KB | 228 lines

<HTML> <HEAD><TITLE>WIPEOUT</TITLE></HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff"> <A HREF="a.dic">A</A> <A HREF="b.dic">B</A> <A HREF="c.dic">C</A> <A HREF="d.dic">D</A> <A HREF="e.dic">E</A> <A HREF="f.dic">F</A> <A HREF="g.dic">G</A> <A HREF="h.dic">H</A> <A HREF="i.dic">I</A> <A HREF="j.dic">J</A> <A HREF="k.dic">K</A> <A HREF="l.dic">L</A> <A HREF="m.dic">M</A> <A HREF="n.dic">N</A> <A HREF="o.dic">O</A> <A HREF="p.dic">P</A> <A HREF="q.dic">Q</A> <A HREF="r.dic">R</A> <A HREF="s.dic">S</A> <A HREF="t.dic">T</A> <A HREF="u.dic">U</A> <A HREF="v.dic">V</A> <A HREF="w.dic">W</A> <A HREF="x.dic">X</A> <A HREF="y.dic">Y</A> <A HREF="z.dic">Z</A> <A NAME="wipeout"> wipe-out, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. (U.S. Slang.) a fall from an upright position on a surfboard, skis, or motorcycle or other moving vehicle. Ex. Even when elated beginners go too fast and hit a bump, the worst that usually happens is a harmless wipe-out in soft snow (Time). <DD> 2. (Informal.) a wiping out or being wiped out; total destruction or undoing. Ex. the wipe-out of an army, the wipe-out of a business. </DL> <A NAME="wiper"> wiper, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. a person who wipes, especially a member of the crew of a ship who is employed in the engine room to clean and polish machinery and fittings. <DD> 2a. a thing used for wiping. Ex. a windshield wiper. <DD> b. (Slang.) a handkerchief. <DD> 3. (Electricity.) a moving piece that makes contact with the terminals of a device, such as a rheostat. <DD> 4. a projecting piece in a machine fixed on a rotating or oscillating part, and periodically communicating movement by a rubbing action to some other part; a cam, eccentric, or tappet, especially one serving to lift a hammer, stamper, valve rod, or other piece that in the intervals falls by its own weight. </DL> <A NAME="wirable"> wirable, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be wired. </DL> <A NAME="wire"> wire, noun, adjective, verb, wired, wiring.<DL COMPACT><DD>noun 1. metal drawn out into a thin, flexible rod or fine thread. <DD> 2a. such metal as a material, as for fences. <DD> b. a fence made of wire. <DD> 3. a piece, length, or line of such metal used for various purposes, such as a cross hair of an optical instrument. <DD> 4. a long piece of metal drawn out into a thread used for electrical transmission, as in electric lighting, telephones, and telegraphs. <DD> 5. telegraph. Ex. He sent a message by wire. <DD> 6. (Informal.) a telegram. Ex. The news of his arrival came in a wire. <DD> 7. =wire netting. <DD> 8. Often, wires. <DD> a. a metal bar of a cage. <DD> b. (Music.) a metallic string of an instrument. <DD> 9. the finish line of a race course. <DD> 10. a metal snare for hares or rabbits. <DD> 11. a long, wiry, hairlike growth of the plumage of various birds. <DD>adj. made of or consisting of wire. Ex. a wire fence. <DD>v.t. 1. to furnish with a wire or wires. Ex. to wire a house for electricity. <DD> 2. to fasten with a wire or wires. Ex. He wired the two pieces together. <DD> 3. to fence (in) with wire. <DD> 4. to stiffen with wire; place on a wire. <DD> 5. to catch or trap in a wire snare. <DD> 6. (Informal.) to telegraph. Ex. He wired a birthday greeting. <DD> 7. to hit (a ball in croquet) so that it rests behind an arch and thus blocks another ball. <DD>v.i. (Informal.) to send a message by telegraph. expr. down to the wire, to the very last minute; to the end. Ex. The World Series pursued its peculiar pattern down to the wire today (New York Times). expr. pull wires, (Informal.) <DD> a. to use secret influence to accomplish one's purpose. Ex. He pulled wires to get his son a job. <DD> b. to direct the actions of others secretly. Ex. The mayor used his influence to pull wires of local legislators and get votes for his programs. expr. under the wire, just before it is too late. Ex. The Trumbull Terrace, a building for refreshments, came in just under the wire and was ready for the first festival goers (New York Times). expr. wear a wire, to carry a hidden microphone or tape recorder. Ex. He has survived tragedies in his personal relationships; his close friend Jay Emmett's wearing a wire and testifying against [him] (New Yorker). adj. wirelike. noun wirer. </DL> <A NAME="wirebar"> wirebar, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a bar of copper or other refined metal, cast into a suitable form for drawing into wire. </DL> <A NAME="wirebrush"> wire brush,<DL COMPACT><DD> a brush with metal bristles, for cleaning surfaces of rust, paint, or other unwanted coating. </DL> <A NAME="wirecloth"> wire cloth,<DL COMPACT><DD> a fabric woven from wire, used for strainers. adj. wire-cloth. </DL> <A NAME="wirecoat"> wire coat,<DL COMPACT><DD> a coat of rough, wiry hair, as of some dogs. </DL> <A NAME="wirecutter"> wire cutter,<DL COMPACT><DD> a tool for cutting wire. </DL> <A NAME="wired"> wired, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. furnished or equipped with wires or wiring. Ex. wired for cable TV; wired for sound. <DD> 2. fastened, made of, or stiffened with wire. <DD> 3. (Informal.) excited; stimulated. Ex. Rosita can't sleep--she's too wired (New York Magazine). </DL> <A NAME="wiredancer"> wiredancer, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who dances or performs acrobatic stunts on a taut wire high above the ground. </DL> <A NAME="wiredancing"> wiredancing, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the performance or work of a wiredancer. </DL> <A NAME="wiredraw"> wiredraw, transitive verb, -drew, -drawn, -drawing.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. to draw out (metal) into wire. <DD> 2. to draw out (a material thing) to an elongated form; stretch; elongate. <DD> 3. (Figurative.) <DD> a. to protract excessively; spin out. <DD> b. to draw out to an extreme tenuity; attenuate. noun wiredrawer. </DL> <A NAME="wiredrawing"> wiredrawing, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. the art of drawing metal into wire. <DD> 2. (Figurative.) the act of drawing out an argument or a discussion to prolixity. </DL> <A NAME="wiredrawn"> wiredrawn, adjective, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD>adj. 1. drawn out into a wire. <DD> 2. (Figurative.) treated with too much hairsplitting and refinement. <DD>verb the past participle of wiredraw. </DL> <A NAME="wireedge"> wire edge,<DL COMPACT><DD> a thin, wirelike bur or thread of metal often formed at the edge of a cutting tool during the process of sharpening. </DL> <A NAME="wireentanglement"> wire entanglement,<DL COMPACT><DD> an arrangement or system of barbed wire set up to impede enemy troops. </DL> <A NAME="wiregauge"> wire gauge,<DL COMPACT><DD> a device for measuring the diameter of wire, the thickness of metal sheets, or the like, usually a disk with notches of different sizes cut in its edge. </DL> <A NAME="wiregauze"> wire gauze,<DL COMPACT><DD> a fabric of very fine wire. </DL> <A NAME="wireglass"> wire glass,<DL COMPACT><DD> glass in which wire is embedded to strengthen it. </DL> <A NAME="wiregrass"> wire grass,<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various grasses having wiry stems or leaves, especially a slender Old-World meadow grass, naturalized in North America, and the yard grass. </DL> <A NAME="wirehair"> wirehair, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a fox terrier with a rough, wiry coat. </DL> <A NAME="wirehaired"> wire-haired, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having short, coarse, stiff hair. Ex. a wire-haired fox terrier. </DL> <A NAME="wirehairedpointinggriffon"> wire-haired pointing griffon,<DL COMPACT><DD> a medium-sized hunting dog with a rough, stiff coat, used to point and retrieve game. </DL> <A NAME="wirehairedterrier"> wire-haired terrier, =wirehair.</DL> <A NAME="wirehouse"> wire house,<DL COMPACT><DD> a brokerage firm that communicates with its branch offices by private telephone or telegraph. </DL> <A NAME="wireless"> wireless, adjective, noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD>adj. 1. using no wires; transmitting by radio waves instead of by electric wires. <DD> 2. (Especially British.) radio. <DD>noun (Especially British.) 1. a system of transmission by radio waves without the use of wires. <DD> 2a. radio. <DD> b. a message sent by radio; radiogram. <DD>v.t., v.i. (Especially British.) to send or transmit by radio. </DL> <A NAME="wirelesstelegraphy"> wireless telegraphy or telegraph,<DL COMPACT><DD> a system of telegraphy in which no conducting wire is used between the transmitting and receiving stations, the signals or messages being transmitted through space by means of electromagnetic waves. </DL> <A NAME="wirelesstelephone"> wireless telephone, =radiotelephone.</DL> <A NAME="wirelesstelephony"> wireless telephony,<DL COMPACT><DD> a system of telephony in which there are no conducting wires, the messages being transmitted by means of radio. </DL> <A NAME="wireman"> wireman, noun, pl. -men.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. a man who puts electric wires in place and maintains them, as for a telegraph, telephone, electric lighting, or electric power system; lineman. <DD> 2. (Obsolete.) a man who makes or works in wire. </DL> <A NAME="wirenail"> wire nail,<DL COMPACT><DD> a small, thin nail made from iron or steel wire, with a small head produced by compression of the end. </DL> <A NAME="wirenetting"> wire netting,<DL COMPACT><DD> a fabric of woven wire, used for screens for windows and doors. </DL> <A NAME="wirephoto"> Wirephoto, noun, pl. -tos.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Trademark.) <DD> 1. a method for transmitting photographs by reproducing a facsimile through electric signals. <DD> 2. a photograph transmitted by this method. </DL> <A NAME="wirephoto"> wirephoto, transitive verb, -toed, -toing.<DL COMPACT><DD> to transmit by Wirephoto. </DL> <A NAME="wirepull"> wirepull, transitive verb, intransitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) to promote by wirepulling. </DL> <A NAME="wirepuller"> wirepuller, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a person who uses secret influence to accomplish his purposes. (SYN) manipulator. </DL> <A NAME="wirepulling"> wirepulling, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) the use of secret influence to accomplish a purpose. </DL> <A NAME="wirerecorder"> wire recorder,<DL COMPACT><DD> a device for recording and reproducing sound on a magnetized steel wire. The sound impulses from the microphone are magnetically impressed on the wire by an electromagnet. The sounds are reproduced as the magnetized wire moves past a receiver. </DL> <A HREF="wirerope.dic">NEXT</A>