live wire

See also: livewire and live-wire

English

Alternative forms

• live-wire
• livewire

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Noun

live wire (plural live wires)

1. (electricity) An electrical wire through which there is a flow of electrical current.
   • 2006, "Two boys electrocuted," The Hindu (India), 27 Sep. (retrieved 24 Dec. 2008):

     Two boys got electrocuted when a live wire fell on the auto-rickshaw in which they were sitting.

2. (idiomatic) An especially energetic, alert, or vivacious person.
   • 1927, "Will Not Go," Time, 19 Dec.:

     Mr. Black is a kindly, gentle, fine individual, but as a leader, an up-to-date fellow, a go-getter—why he just doesn't know the first thing about it. . . . In a growing community like Douglaston we need a live wire.

   • 2007, Charlaine Harris, Real Murders: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery, →ISBN, p. 95:

     She was irresistible—a laughing, chattering live wire, never at a loss for a word.

Synonyms

• (energetic, alert, or vivacious person): go-getter, life of the party, self-starter

Translations

idiom for a vivacious person

• Maori: kori
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

References

• "live wire" at OneLook® Dictionary Search.