Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

contact wire

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.32 in modern English

Syllables: con-tac-t wire
IPA

18

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

3

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A bare wire conducting electricity, often the lower part of the catenary, which comes into contact with a raised pantograph or other form of current collector.

Example Sentences

"Overhead electric equipment generally stood up well both to the weight of vertically falling snow and to the effects of snow on contact wires; [...]."

Inflected Forms

contact wires (plural)

Questions

What does contact wire mean?: A bare wire conducting electricity, often the lower part of the catenary, which comes into contact with a raised pantograph or other form of current collector.

How to pronounce contact wire

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “contact wire”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “contact wire”.
Repeat and practice — Say “contact wire” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.