barbed wire

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barbed wire

Twisted strands of fence wire with barbs at regular intervals.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

barbed wire

strong wire with sharply pointed barbs at close intervals. Also called (US): barbwire

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

barbed′ wire′

strands of wire twisted together with small pieces of sharply pointed wire at short intervals, used for fencing. Also called barbwire.

[1860–65]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

barbed wire - strong wire with barbs at regular intervals used to prevent passage

barbwire

barb - the pointed part of barbed wire

concertina - coiled barbed wire used as an obstacle

wire - ligament made of metal and used to fasten things or make cages or fences etc

Translations

أسْلاك شائِكـهسِلْك شَائِك

ostnatý drát

pigtråd

Stacheldraht

συρματόπλεγμα

alambre de espino alambre de púas

piikkilanka

barbelé

bodljikava žica

szögesdrót

gaddavír

filo spinato

有刺鉄線

철조망

ostnatý drôt

bodeča žica

taggtråd

เส้นลวด

dikenli tel

dây thép gai

带刺铁丝网铁丝网

barbed wire

[ˈbɑːbdˌwaɪəʳ] n → filo spinato

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

barb

(baːb) noun

1. a backward-facing point on an arrowhead, fishing-hook etc.

2. a hurtful remark.

barbed adjective

a barbed arrow/remark.

barbed wire wire with sharp points at intervals: I tore my skirt on that barbed wire; adjective (etc) with hyphen

a barbed-wire fence.

barbed wire

→ سِلْك شَائِك ostnatý drát pigtråd Stacheldraht συρματόπλεγμα alambre de espino, alambre de púas piikkilanka barbelé bodljikava žica filo spinato 有刺鉄線 철조망 prikkeldraad piggtråd drut kolczasty arame farpado колючая проволока taggtråd เส้นลวด dikenli tel dây thép gai 铁丝网

barbed wire

n alambre m de púas

References in classic literature ?

Upright pipes, serving as stanchions, were being screwed into the top of the Arangi's rail so that they served to support three strands of barbed wire that ran completely around the vessel, being broken only at the gangway for a narrow space of fifteen inches.

Watching the rigging up of the barbed wire, Jerry's next adventure was an encounter with Lerumie, the return boy from Meringe, who, only that morning, on the beach embarking, had been rolled by Biddy, along with his possessions into the surf.

Jerry, scarcely aware of Lerumie's presence, was trotting past on his way aft to where Borckman, the mate, was superintending the stringing of the barbed wire to the stanchions.

A long, stumbling fall, accelerated by a sudden increase of wind in the sails, ensued, and Lerumie, vainly trying to catch his footing, fetched up against the three strands of barbed wire on the lee rail.

View in context

One morning the two big bulls, Gladstone and Brigham Young, thought spring had come, and they began to tease and butt at each other across the barbed wire that separated them.

View in context

Midway along, where a barbed wire fence was strung high across the mouth of the gulch and weighted down with big rocks, she caught her first glimpse of the tiny beach.

The last of the descent, from the barbed wire fence, was a sliding fall of a dozen feet, and Saxon arrived on the soft dry sand in a sitting posture.

View in context

It might be the assembling of a particularly jolly crowd; a touch of anger against my architect or against a thieving stone-mason working on my barn; the death of my favourite horse in a barbed wire fence; or news of good fortune in the morning mail from my dealings with editors and publishers.

View in context

As the Arla drew in to an anchorage in the midst of mangrove swamps, a double row of barbed wire was stretched around above her rail.

He started for'ard, the fuse sizzling and spluttering at his rear, the natives in his path taking headers over the barbed wire at every jump.

View in context

Fences of barbed wire ten feet high, and inside that they do things.

View in context

At the same instant she saw a bolt of lightning strike a young tree by the roadside, heard the sharp click as it hit and then watched the flash dance about, now on the road, now along the barbed wire fencing.