firewiren.
/ˈfʌɪəˌwʌɪə/, U.S. /ˈfaɪ(ə)rˌwaɪ(ə)r/ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > that which or one who heats > [noun] > a device for heating or warming > devices for heating buildings, rooms, etc. > hearth or fireplace > fender or fire-guard
fender1688
fireguard1785
firewire1805
guard1845
fire screen1849
1805 St. James's Chron. 20 Aug. 4/4 He..ordered a handsome parrot cage, which he left for his servant to fetch away the next day, when he would bring the dimensions for a fire-wire.
2. U.S. A public telephone line connected directly to a local fire station. Now disused.
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society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > [noun] > line > types of
private line1852
outside line1861
firewire1883
party line1893
order wire1912
tie-line1923
open line1941
hotline1954
1883 Second Ann. Message Samuel G. King, Mayor of Philadelphia 933 Also, repaired and extended the fire wire in Germantown, Twenty-second Ward,..to Branchtown.
1921 Steam Aug. 49/1 A new fire alarm system... Four substations $100,000 each; equipment, $500,000; cables necessary to place police and fire wires underground, $1,500,000.
1960 Distribution Age Feb. 261/2 All warehouses are bonded... Sprinkler systems... Regular patrolling... Direct police and fire wires.
3. A wire installed to provide a warning of fire or overheating; spec. (a proprietary name for) a thermal sensing element consisting of a central wire in a temperature-sensitive enclosure; a device incorporating this; often attributive.
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1934 Mod. Hosp. 42 65/1 The former employs either spot thermostats situated at strategic points or, preferably, continuous lengths of fire wire that run around the ceilings where heat first strikes.
1953 Flight 12 June 744/2 The Fire Wire, as it is called, consists of a stainless-steel hollow wire, down the centre of which runs another much thinner wire: between the two is a layer of a special heat-sensitive metal, the resistance of which decreases with increasing temperature.
1979 R. Prest F4 Phantom ii. 11 Occasionally an eagle-eyed aviator notices a crack here, a screw loose there, a wrongly fitted fire wire here.
1986 Mining Mag. (Nexis) May 415 The system utilizes a special ‘Firewire’ sensing element consisting of a stainless steel capillary containing a wire coaxial electrode.
2006 P. Croucher Professional Helicopter Pilot Stud. iii. 77/2 The principle of operation of firewire is positive coefficient of capacitance, negative coefficient of resistance.
4. Computing. Usually in form FireWire. A proprietary name for: an international specification for connecting computers, peripherals, and other devices, used esp. for high-speed data transfer; a connector that conforms to this specification. Often attributive.Formerly widely used, FireWire has now largely been superseded by other standards.
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1993 Future MIDI Protocol? in bit.listserv.emusic-l (Usenet newsgroup) 3 July The ‘firewire’ is highly unlikely to supplant midi because Apple would need near-unanimous approval before making this a viable option.
1999 Daily Tel. 22 Apr. (Connected section) 2/6 The device has firewire connections so that further hard drives can be added to increase capacity.
2003 Amer. Photo July 54/3 The camera has..a FireWire connection that greatly speeds downloading of image files.
2012 PC Magazine.com (Nexis) 24 Sept. Thunderbolt really is a great replacement for FireWire on Macs and PCs.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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