Barbed wire

Description

A fencing wire with double-pointed barbs attached at regular intervals. Barbed wire was patented in 1867 and a machine was made for its manufacture in 1873 by Joseph Gidden in De Kalb, Illinois. Barbed wire quickly became important for farmers, ranchers, and military operations. It is made from galvanized steel wire for rust resistance. Some varieties of barbed wire have two or three twisted wire strands for strength.

Synonyms and Related Terms

barb wire; barbwire; barbed-wire; fence wire; razor wire; devil's rope; ostnat drt (Ces.); Stacheldraht (Deut.); fil de fer barbel (Fr.); prikkeldraad (Ned.); piggtrd (Nor.); drut kolczasty (Pol.); taggtrd (Sven.); arame farpado (Port.)

Authority

• G.S.Brady, G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 353

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "Barbed Wire." Encyclopdia Britannica. 4 Sept. 2004 .

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbed_wire (accessed Mar. 24, 2006) for non-English terms

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998