live wire
1
4.1
- noun
- /laɪv waɪər/
- Specialized
:
cable vivo
- Before starting repairs, make sure there are no live wires exposed in the area.
- touching a live wire
So this is my live wire and this is my neutral wire here.
- So this is my live wire and this is my neutral wire here.
Examples
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Such a live wire'll make your hair stick up funny.
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So, And that's why we don't have live wires just yet.
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So we can monitor any activity on live wires.
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I'm a real live wire
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So this is my live wire and this is my neutral wire here.
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So we're gonna have the live wire coming straight down from the plug into a wire nut, I think, Yeah.
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Hey, we've got live wires all over the place here.
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And in another location, some dumb fuck tried to rip out live wires and learned some harsh lessons about current.
Blog text (26) -
We have the generators hooked up, as live wires.
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But would the AFCI pop if say water pour on my live wires and shorted them?
How Electrified
Surface Forms
Morphology
live + wire
The meaning 'an energized electrical conductor' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'live' (energized/charged) with 'wire' (a conductor); a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer this literal sense. Although the phrase also has a metaphorical sense ('an energetic person'), the electrical meaning is compositional and cross-linguistically accessible.
Etymology
Live wire means a live wire that is carrying electricity and can give you a shock if you touch it. So it refers to a wire that is 'carrying electricity' and therefore 'dangerous to touch'.