Meanings
- datedidiomaticThe rumour or news going around on the internet, in business, on the street, or in social circles.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Modeled after word on the street once digital communications via the internet entered the daily life of the general public. The phrase might have occurred sporadically earlier, in reference to newswires when wire services were telegraphic (before the internet), but the phrase had no currency before the early consumer-internet era, and it has very little currency since then.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
word on the wire. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/word%20on%20the%20wire
“word on the wire.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/word%20on%20the%20wire. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “word on the wire,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/word%20on%20the%20wire.
Source: word on the wire on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.