Rate this phrase:5.0 / 1 vote

down to the wire

At the very end of a process or project, especially one with a fast-approaching deadline.

Etymology:

  • From horse racing: approaching the wire that marks the winning line.
436 Views
“

He was almost done with the paper, but tomorrow's due date meant it would be down to the wire.

Collection   Edit    

Submitted on September 01, 2009

Additional definitions for 'down to the wire':

Down to the WireRight up to the closing date/time, Running out of time;
See them all »

Translation

Find a translation for the down to the wire phrase in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to down to the wire

down to a fine artdown withdown the toiletDown the Hatchdraw downdown the hatchdown to the short strokesdown the khazidress downdressing-downdown the draindown the linedown the roaddrag down

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this down to the wire phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this down to the wire definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "down to the wire." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/down-to-the-wire_3343>.

    Powered by CITE.ME Cite.Me

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    I wouldn't eat that; better safe than _______.
    A hungry
    B worried
    C at risk
    D sorry

    Browse Phrases.com

    #ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ