wire glass

1 5.2

Glass with wire mesh inside that holds pieces if it breaks

noun
/ˈwaɪər ɡlæs/

Specialized

: vidrio de alambre

The factory installed wire glass in the windows.

Examples

The hospital installed wire glass in all the hallway doors for added protection.
You can often see wire glass in schools and factories to prevent injuries from broken windows.
Fire doors are frequently fitted with wire glass to comply with safety regulations.
I prefer wire glass for safety in my home.
The school installed wire glass in all the windows to enhance safety during fire drills.
The factory used wire glass in the production area to prevent injuries from glass breakage.
For added security, the greenhouse was fitted with wire glass to protect the plants from vandalism.

Surface Forms

wire glass singular

wire glasses plural

Morphology

wire + glass

The compound is directly compositional: 'wire' (metal strand) + 'glass' (material) yields a type of glass containing wire mesh, so the meaning can be inferred from the parts. This straightforward noun–noun combination follows common cross-linguistic compounding patterns and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

The name wire glass comes from the simple picture of wire woven into glass. The wire helps hold the panes together if they break, so the term means 'glass with wire used for safety'.