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Glite Dictionary
piano wire

piano wire

3 5.6
A thin strong steel wire used for piano strings and to make springs
  • noun
  • /ˈpiːənoʊ waɪər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cuerda de piano
  • The artisan chose piano wire because it could withstand tension without stretching.

So for objects, he went to the store that sold piano wire, and he strung piano wire from the ceiling to the floor of the room.

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Examples

  • The musician carefully replaced the broken string with a new piece of piano wire.

  • So for objects, he went to the store that sold piano wire, and he strung piano wire from the ceiling to the floor of the room.

    MIT OpenCourseWare

  • Or a rusty piece of piano wire.

    Masterminds (2016)

  • He is tangled in piano wire.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • To create the frame of the model, he used piano wire for its strength and flexibility.

Synonyms

wire
vspiano wire
700 1.0

A thin metal strand used to carry electricity or to fasten things

is a specialized steel cord meant for instrument use and high tensile strength
string
vspiano wire
76 2.1

A thin, tight cord on a musical instrument or racket

is a thin high-tensile steel cord made for musical use and other strong purposes

How Thick

wire
700 1.0
piano wire
  • Specialized
3 5.6

Surface Forms

piano wire singular
piano wires plural

Morphology

piano + wire

This is a straightforward noun–noun compound: 'piano' restricts the noun 'wire' to the wires used in a piano (i.e., piano strings). The meaning is literal and compositional, and such modifier+head compounds are cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer it.

Etymology

Piano wire comes from the wires used as the 'strings' inside a piano, where each wire is a long, thin piece of steel stretched tight to make sound. So, piano wire now means a very strong, thin steel wire used in pianos and for other precise or strong jobs.