String vs. Wire — What's the Difference?
By Fiza Rafique & Maham Liaqat — Updated on April 25, 2024
String is a flexible, thin cord made from fibers, used for tying, while wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand of metal.
Difference Between String and Wire
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
String is typically made from natural or synthetic fibers twisted together to form a lightweight, flexible cord, used in various applications like crafts, packaging, and securing items. Whereas, wire is made from metal such as copper or steel and is used in electrical conductivity, fencing, and structural projects.
Strings can easily be tied into knots and cut with ordinary scissors, making them ideal for household tasks and crafts. On the other hand, wires often require tools like wire cutters for cutting and can carry electrical currents, serving in both functional and industrial capacities.
The flexibility of string makes it suitable for tasks that require softness and pliability, such as tying parcels or as part of clothing. In contrast, wire, while also flexible, tends to hold its shape better and is used in situations requiring strength and durability, like in hangers or fences.
Strings are not suited for carrying electricity due to their material composition and are instead preferred for their versatility in non-electrical applications. Wires, however, are integral to electrical systems and are chosen specifically for their ability to conduct electricity efficiently.
The term "string" also extends metaphorically to areas like computer programming and everyday language ("string of words"), reflecting its nature as a continuous, connected length. Conversely, "wire" can denote telecommunications and connectivity, illustrating its role in transmitting signals and power.
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Comparison Chart
Material Composition
Made of natural or synthetic fibers
Made of metal, such as copper or steel
Primary Use
Tying, crafts, packaging
Electrical wiring, structural support
Properties
Flexible, soft, easily tied in knots
Conductive, strong, retains shape
Tools for Cutting
Scissors
Wire cutters
Example Applications
Clothing, gift wrapping
Electrical circuits, fencing
Compare with Definitions
String
Thin cord of twisted fibers.
She used a piece of string to tie the gift box.
Wire
Term used in various expressions (e.g. "down to the wire," indicating a tense, final moment).
The race came down to the wire.
String
Material used for tying or binding.
The gardener used string to support the growing plants.
Wire
Thin, flexible strand of metal.
He used wire to create the sculpture's frame.
String
Informal term for a group or series (in programming, a sequence of characters).
He concatenated strings to form the complete sentence.
Wire
A tool in telecommunications and electronics.
Data is transmitted through fiber optic wires.
String
A series of items attached in a line.
A string of pearls adorned her neck.
Wire
Used for structural projects requiring strength and durability.
The fence was reinforced with steel wire.
String
Used metaphorically to denote connection or continuity.
They followed a string of clues to solve the mystery.
Wire
Metal filament used for conducting electricity.
The electrician installed new wires in the building.
String
Material made of drawn-out, twisted fiber, used for fastening, tying, or lacing.
Wire
A wire is a single usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads or electricity and telecommunications signals.
String
A strand or cord of such material.
Wire
Metal that has been drawn out into a strand or rod, used chiefly for structural support, as in concrete, and for conducting electricity, when it is usually insulated with a rubber or plastic cladding
Bought some wire at the hardware store.
String
A cord stretched on an instrument and struck, plucked, or bowed to produce tones.
Wire
A strand or rod of such material, or a cable made of such strands twisted together.
String
Strings The section of a band or orchestra composed of stringed instruments, especially violins, violas, cellos, and double basses.
Wire
Fencing made of wire, especially barbed wire.
String
Strings Stringed instruments or their players considered as a group.
Wire
Wires The system of strings employed in manipulating puppets in a show.
String
Something resembling a string or appearing as a long, thin line
Limp strings of hair.
Wire
(Slang) A hidden microphone, as on a person's body or in a building.
String
A plant fiber.
Wire
A telephone or telegraph connection
Who is on the wire?.
String
(Physics) One of the extremely minute objects that form the basis of string theory.
Wire
A telegraph service
Sent the message by wire.
String
A set of objects threaded together or attached on a string
A string of beads.
Wire
A telegram or cablegram
"Mac got a wire from Milly that Uncle Tim was dead" (John Dos Passos).
String
A number of objects arranged in a line
A string of islands.
Wire
A wire service
The news came over the wire.
String
(Computers) A set of consecutive characters.
Wire
A pin in the print head of a computer printer.
String
A series of similar or related acts, events, or items
A string of victories.
Wire
The screen on which sheets of paper are formed in a papermaking machine.
String
A set of animals, especially racehorses, belonging to a single owner; a stable.
Wire
(Sports) The finish line of a racetrack.
String
A scattered group of businesses under a single ownership or management
A string of boutiques.
Wire
(Slang) A pickpocket.
String
A group of players ranked according to ability within a team
He made the second string.
Wire
To equip with a system of electrical wires
Wire a house.
String
A complete game consisting of ten frames in bowling.
Wire
To attach or connect with electrical wire or cable
Is the printer wired to the computer?.
String
A stringboard.
Wire
To attach or fasten with wire
Surgeons wired his shoulder together.
String
A stringcourse.
Wire
(Slang) To install electronic eavesdropping equipment in (a room, for example).
String
(Games) The balk line in billiards.
Wire
To send by telegraph
Wired her congratulations.
String
(Informal) A limiting or hidden condition. Often used in the plural
A gift with no strings attached.
Wire
To send a telegram to (someone).
String
To fit or furnish with strings or a string
String a guitar.
String a tennis racket.
Wire
(Computers) To implement (a capability) through logic circuitry that is permanently connected within a computer or calculator and therefore not subject to change by programming.
String
To stretch out or extend
String a wire across a room.
Wire
To determine genetically; hardwire
"It is plausible that the basic organization of grammar is wired into the child's brain" (Steven Pinker).
String
To thread on a string
String popcorn.
Wire
To send a telegram.
String
To arrange in a line or series
Strung the words into a sentence.
Wire
(uncountable) Metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die.
String
To fasten, tie, or hang with a string or strings
String a hammock between trees.
Wire
A piece of such material; a thread or slender rod of metal, a cable.
String
To strip (vegetables) of fibers.
Wire
A metal conductor that carries electricity.
String
To extend or progress in a string, line, or succession
"We followed the others stringing through the narrow paved paths" (Susan Richards Shreve).
Wire
A fence made of usually barbed wire.
String
(countable) A long, thin and flexible structure made from threads twisted together.
Wire
(sports) A finish line of a racetrack.
String
(uncountable) Such a structure considered as a substance.
Wire
(informal) A telecommunication wire or cable.
String
(countable) A thread
Wire
(by extension) An electric telegraph; a telegram.
String
(countable) Any similar long, thin and flexible object.
Wire
(slang) A hidden listening device on the person of an undercover operative for the purposes of obtaining incriminating spoken evidence.
String
(musical instrument) A segment of wire (typically made of plastic or metal) or other material used as vibrating element on a musical instrument.
A violinstring
A bowstring
Wire
(informal) A deadline or critical endpoint.
This election is going to go right to the wire
String
(sports) A length of nylon or other material on the head of a racquet.
Wire
(billiards) A wire strung with beads and hung horizontally above or near the table which is used to keep score.
String
A thread or cord on which a number of objects or parts are strung or arranged in close and orderly succession; hence, a line or series of things arranged on a thread, or as if so arranged.
A string of shells or beads
A string of sausages
Wire
Any of the system of wires used to operate the puppets in a puppet show; hence, the network of hidden influences controlling the action of a person or organization; strings.
To pull the wires for office
String
(countable) A cohesive substance taking the form of a string.
The string of spittle dangling from his chin was most unattractive
Wire
A pickpocket, especially one who targets women.
String
(countable) A series of items or events.
A string of successes
Wire
(slang) A covert signal sent between people cheating in a card game.
String
(countable) The members of a sports team or squad regarded as most likely to achieve success. (Perhaps metaphorical as the "strings" that hold the squad together.) Often first string, second string etc.
Wire
(Scotland) A knitting needle.
String
(countable) In various games and competitions, a certain number of turns at play, of rounds, etc.
Wire
The slender shaft of the plumage of certain birds.
String
(collective) A drove of horses, or a group of racehorses kept by one owner or at one stable.
Wire
To fasten with wire, especially with reference to wine bottles, corks, or fencing.
We need to wire that hole in the fence.
String
An ordered sequence of text characters stored consecutively in memory and capable of being processed as a single entity.
Wire
To string on a wire.
Wire beads
String
A stringed instrument.
Wire
To equip with wires for use with electricity.
Do you know how to wire a plug?
String
The stringed instruments as a section of an orchestra, especially those played by a bow, or the persons playing those instruments.
Wire
To connect, embed, incorporate, or include (something) into (something else) by or as if by wires:
String
The conditions and limitations in a contract collectively.
No strings attached
Wire
To add (something) into a system (especially an electrical system) by means of wiring.
I'll just wire your camera to the computer screen.
String
The main object of study in string theory, a branch of theoretical physics.
Wire
To add or connect (something) into a system as if with wires (for example, with nerves).
String
(slang) Cannabis or marijuana.
Wire
To connect, involve or embed (something) deeply or intimately into (something else, such as an organization or political scene), so that it is keeping up with current information about (the thing) or has insinuated itself into (the thing).
String
(billiards) Part of the game of billiards, where the order of the play is determined by testing who can get a ball closest to the bottom rail by shooting it onto the end rail.
Wire
To set or predetermine (someone's personality or behaviour, or an organization's culture) in a particular way.
There's no use trying to get Sarah to be less excitable. That's just the way she's wired.
String
The buttons strung on a wire by which the score is kept.
Wire
To send a message or monetary funds to another person through a telecommunications system, formerly predominantly by telegraph.
Urgent: please wire me another 100 pounds sterling.
The detective wired ahead, hoping that the fugitive would be caught at the railway station.
String
The points made in a game of billiards.
Wire
(slang) To make someone tense or psyched up. See also adjective wired.
Coffee late at night wires me good and proper.
String
The line from behind and over which the cue ball must be played after being out of play, as by being pocketed or knocked off the table; also called the string line.
Wire
(slang) To install eavesdropping equipment.
We wired the suspect's house.
String
A strip, as of leather, by which the covers of a book are held together.
Wire
To snare by means of a wire or wires.
String
(archaic) A fibre, as of a plant; a little fibrous root.
Wire
To place (a ball) so that the wire of a wicket prevents a successful shot.
String
(archaic) A nerve or tendon of an animal body.
Wire
A thread or slender rod of metal; a metallic substance formed to an even thread by being passed between grooved rollers, or drawn through holes in a plate of steel.
String
(shipbuilding) An inside range of ceiling planks, corresponding to the sheer strake on the outside and bolted to it.
Wire
A telegraph wire or cable; hence, an electric telegraph; as, to send a message by wire.
String
(botany) The tough fibrous substance that unites the valves of the pericarp of leguminous plants.
The strings of beans
Wire
The system of wires used to operate the puppets in a puppet show;
String
(mining) A small, filamentous ramification of a metallic vein.
Wire
One who picks women's pockets.
String
(architecture) A stringcourse.
Wire
A knitting needle.
String
A hoax; a fake story.
Wire
A wire stretching across over a race track at the judges' stand, to mark the line at which the races end.
String
Synonym of stable
Wire
To bind with wire; to attach with wires; to apply wire to; as, to wire corks in bottling liquors.
String
(oil drilling) A column of drill pipe that transmits drilling fluid (via the mud pumps) and torque (via the kelly drive or top drive) to the drill bit.
Wire
To put upon a wire; as, to wire beads.
String
(transitive) To put (items) on a string.
You can string these beads on to this cord to make a colorful necklace.
Wire
To snare by means of a wire or wires.
String
(transitive) To put strings on (something).
It is difficult to string a tennis racket properly.
Wire
To send (a message) by telegraph.
String
(intransitive) To form into a string or strings, as a substance which is stretched, or people who are moving along, etc.
Wire
To place (a ball) so that the wire of a wicket prevents a successful shot.
String
To drive the ball against the end of the table and back, in order to determine which player is to open the game.
Wire
To equip with a system of wiring, especially for supply of electrical power or communication; as, to wire an office for networking the computers; to wire a building with 220-Volt current.
String
(birdwatching) To deliberately state that a certain bird is present when it is not; to knowingly mislead other birders about the occurrence of a bird, especially a rarity; to misidentify a common bird as a rare species.
Wire
To equip with an electronic system for eavesdropping; to bug; as, to wire the office of a mob boss; to wire an informant so as to record his conversations.
String
A small cord, a line, a twine, or a slender strip of leather, or other substance, used for binding together, fastening, or tying things; a cord, larger than a thread and smaller than a rope; as, a shoe string; a bonnet string; a silken string.
Round Ormond's knee thou tiest the mystic string.
Wire
To pass like a wire; to flow in a wirelike form, or in a tenuous stream.
String
A thread or cord on which a number of objects or parts are strung or arranged in close and orderly succession; hence, a line or series of things arranged on a thread, or as if so arranged; a succession; a concatenation; a chain; as, a string of shells or beads; a string of dried apples; a string of houses; a string of arguments.
Wire
To send a telegraphic message.
String
A strip, as of leather, by which the covers of a book are held together.
Wire
Ligament made of metal and used to fasten things or make cages or fences etc
String
The cord of a musical instrument, as of a piano, harp, or violin; specifically (pl.), the stringed instruments of an orchestra, in distinction from the wind instruments; as, the strings took up the theme.
Me softer airs befit, and softer stringsOf lute, or viol still.
Wire
A metal conductor that carries electricity over a distance
String
The line or cord of a bow.
He twangs the grieving string.
Wire
The finishing line on a racetrack
String
A fiber, as of a plant; a little, fibrous root.
Duckweed putteth forth a little string into the water, from the bottom.
Wire
A message transmitted by telegraph
String
A nerve or tendon of an animal body.
The string of his tongue was loosed.
Wire
Provide with electrical circuits;
Wire the addition to the house
String
An inside range of ceiling planks, corresponding to the sheer strake on the outside and bolted to it.
Wire
Send cables, wires, or telegrams
String
The tough fibrous substance that unites the valves of the pericap of leguminous plants, and which is readily pulled off; as, the strings of beans.
Wire
Fasten with wire;
The columns were wired to the beams for support
String
A small, filamentous ramification of a metallic vein.
Wire
String on a wire;
Wire beads
String
Same as Stringcourse.
Wire
Equip for use with electricity;
Electrify an appliance
String
The points made in a game.
String
In various indoor games, a score or tally, sometimes, as in American billiard games, marked by buttons threaded on a string or wire.
String
The line from behind and over which the cue ball must be played after being out of play as by being pocketed or knocked off the table; - called also string line.
String
A hoax; a trumped-up or "fake" story.
String
A sequence of similar objects or events sufficiently close in time or space to be perceived as a group; a string of accidents; a string of restaurants on a highway.
String
A one-dimensional string-like mathematical object used as a means of representing the properties of fundamental particles in string theory, one theory of particle physics; such hypothetical objects are one-dimensional and very small (10-33 cm) but exist in more than four spatial dimensions, and have various modes of vibration. Considering particles as strings avoids some of the problems of treating particles as points, and allows a unified treatment of gravity along with the other three forces (electromagnetism, the weak force, and the strong force) in a manner consistent with quantum mechanics. See also string theory.
String
To furnish with strings; as, to string a violin.
Has not wise nature strung the legs and feetWith firmest nerves, designed to walk the street?
String
To put in tune the strings of, as a stringed instrument, in order to play upon it.
For here the Muse so oft her harp has strung,That not a mountain rears its head unsung.
String
To put on a string; to file; as, to string beads.
String
To make tense; to strengthen.
Toil strung the nerves, and purified the blood.
String
To hoax; josh; jolly; often used with along; as, we strung him along all day until he realized we were kidding.
String
To form into a string or strings, as a substance which is stretched, or people who are moving along, etc.
String
A lightweight cord
String
Stringed instruments that are played with a bow;
The strings played superlatively well
String
A tightly stretched cord of wire or gut, which makes sound when plucked, struck, or bowed
String
A sequentially ordered set of things or events or ideas in which each successive member is related to the preceding;
A string of islands
Train of mourners
A train of thought
String
A linear sequence of symbols (characters or words or phrases)
String
A tie consisting of a cord that goes through a seam around an opening;
He pulled the drawstring and closed the bag
String
A collection of objects threaded on a single strand
String
A necklace made by a stringing objects together;
A string of beads
A strand of pearls
String
Thread on or as if on a string;
String pearls on a string
The child drew glass beads on a string
Thread dried cranberries
String
Add as if on a string;
String these ideas together
String up these songs and you'll have a musical
String
Move or come along
String
Stretch out or arrange like a string
String
String together; tie or fasten with a string;
String the package
String
Remove the stringy parts of;
String beans
String
Provide with strings;
String my guitar
Common Curiosities
What are some common types of wire?
- Common types include copper (for electricity) and steel (for strength and durability).
Where might one use string instead of wire?
- In applications requiring softness and flexibility without the need for electrical conductivity or extreme strength.
Can wires be used in crafts?
- Yes, wires are often used in crafts, especially in jewelry making and sculpture.
Is wire flexible?
- Yes, wire is generally flexible but retains its shape and offers more strength compared to string.
What is a metaphorical use of the term "string"?
- String can metaphorically represent a series or sequence, such as in "string of events."
How does the use of wire in telecommunications impact connectivity?
- Wire, particularly fiber optic wire, is crucial for high-speed data transmission and connectivity.
How are strings and wires cut?
- Strings can be cut with scissors, while wires often require special wire cutters.
Why choose wire over string in certain applications?
- Wire is chosen for its conductivity and structural integrity, important in electrical and supportive applications.
What are the main differences between string and wire?
- String is made of fibers and suited for tying, while wire is metallic and used mainly for electrical or structural purposes.
Can string conduct electricity?
- No, string cannot conduct electricity as it is made from non-conductive materials.
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Written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Maham Liaqat
