barbed wire
43
3.4
- noun
- /bɑrbd waɪər/
:
alambre de púas
- For several minutes, they stood in front of the barbed-wire fence surrounding the area.
- a barbed wire fence
- coils of barbed wire
- surrounded by barbed wire
There's fence around it with barbed wire pointing out and pointing in.
- There's fence around it with barbed wire pointing out and pointing in.
- But they have, they set up electric fences and barbed wire around their wagons.
- And you know, you would find things like old barns and barbed wire fences marking off certain areas.
- Who set the barbed wire in no man's land and how?
- So there were all these barbed wire fences that were, you know, a legacy of the farming days.
- And there was this saying that, you know, one of the soldiers sometimes has to put his body on the barbed wire so that others can go through.
- Yeah, yeah, they were thrown into cubic ward, you know, with these obstacles, barbed wire, trenches, ditches, caponiers.
- Are the Texas Rangers going to fight, you know, actively federal forces over this barbed wire?
- Well, we'd take those and put them as a grill on the front because they'll also cut barbed wire fences.
- But then there was the Business School I spoke at, which was in a lovely campus, trees, grass, surrounded by a high wall with barbed wire on top of it.
- You've put barbed wire up to keep them out, not to keep the boys out, but they're friends because there's a electronic gate.
- They'll take the last two strings of barbed wire off so the pronghorns can get underneath, but it still keeps out the larger things.
- I tried to climb the fence, but the barbed wire on the fence was who?
- Like, they went two years of throwing people into barbed wire voluntarily.
Examples
-
I'd cover the villa with barbed wire and board up the windows.
-
On the Swiss side, unlike the French, the barbed wire was very high and totally impassable.
Academic text (2006) -
The boys took off, but one boy got caught in the barbed wire fence.
Academic text (2016) -
In May 1989, came the cutting of the barbed wire border between Hungary and Austria.
Academic text (1991) -
So there were all these barbed wire fences that were, you know, a legacy of the farming days.
-
He penned them in these barbed-wire camps.
-
The place, completed, looks like a fortress: barbed wire, towers, SS guards, and dogs.
Fiction book (1993) -
To my right was a rusty barbed wire fence and a muddy field full of cornstalks.
Fiction book (1992) -
She's caught in an old rusted barbed wire fence, lying almost flat, hidden in the weeds.
Fiction book (1990) -
The boys took off, but one boy got caught in the barbed wire fence.
Synonyms
700
1.0
A thin metal strand used to carry electricity or to fasten things
567
1.0
A structure around land to mark or protect it
23
2.7
Materials like wood or wire used to make a barrier around land
A strong wire with sharp points used in fences to stop people or animals
How Sturdy
20
2.7
5
7.9
43
3.4
- US
- US
1
4.3
23
2.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'barbed' (having sharp barbs) + 'wire' (a metal strand) yields a wire with pointed barbs. This is a literal, cross-linguistically common construction describing physical appearance and function, so a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Barbed wire is a wire with sharp barbs, small points that stick out. These points catch or hurt anyone who tries to get past, so the wire is used to 'prevent passage' by people or animals.