down to the wire
14
7.0
- idiom
- Informal
:
hasta el último momento
- The championship match was incredibly close and went down to the wire before the final point was scored.
- comes down to the wire
- goes down to the wire
- right down to the wire
All right, all right, coming down to the wire.
- All right, all right, coming down to the wire.
- We're we're literally editing this thing down to the wire of, of where I have to show it.
- Like you think it's going down to the wire and, and, and I, I, I think I would nowadays you would have to up the pace a bit.
Examples
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In other words, all four races are likely to go down to the wire.
Blog text (29) -
The 2012 election could come down to the wire.
Blog text (18) -
This game is going to go down to the wire!
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This one's coming down to the wire, folks.
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It's gonna come down to the wire.
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It's coming down to the wire.
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We're down to the wire.
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For the fourth time in four games this season, Siena went down to the wire in yet another close game.
Blog text (32) -
Around the Ivies: Football season comes down to the wire.
Blog text (9) -
With two months of football left, the NFL MVP race is going down to the wire.
Blog text (21)
Synonyms
240
1.9
The latest time before something must happen
101
2.5
Happening just before the last possible moment to act
5
5.9
To continue until the last possible moment while the result is not known
5
5.9
Reach a point where the result is not decided until the last moment
3
4.5
The last moment before a deadline when it is almost too late
2
6.2
At the last moment before time runs out
How Last-Minute
101
2.5
- Informal
14
7.0
78
2.0
30
2.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
down + to + the + wire
The meaning 'until the very last moment' rests on a metaphorical link to 'wire' as the racing finish line, so a learner who only knows the basic senses of 'down', 'to', 'the', and 'wire' (as a piece of metal) will usually not infer the idiomatic sense. There is a compositional basis if the learner knows the specialized sporting sense of 'wire', but that cultural/sports knowledge is not guaranteed at B1, making the expression partially but not fully transparent.
Etymology
Down to the wire comes from old horse races where a thin wire marked the finish line and the winner was sometimes not clear until that wire. So it now means 'not decided until the very last moment'.