concertina wire

[ kon-ser-tee-nuh wahyuhr ]

noun

1. wire with razor-sharp edges or projections, placed in coils as a barrier along the tops of fences or walls, as at a prison, or on the ground to impede advancing enemy troops.

Word History and Origins

Origin of concertina wire¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

What Texas Gov. Abbott was doing was communicating: This immigration enforcement is actually our way of engaging in war, because building that concertina wire, that’s our protection against this invasion.

From Slate

May’s next film, “The Heartbreak Kid,” adapted from a Neil Simon hit and co-starring her daughter Jeannie Berlin, is a beautifully calibrated and funny social critique wrapped in concertina wire.

From Los Angeles Times

After weeks of desperation, migrants pass a toddler under a tangle of concertina wire strung across the edge of U.S. soil.

From Seattle Times

Abbott has deployed the Texas National Guard to the border, placed concertina wire along parts of the Rio Grande in defiance of U.S.

From Seattle Times

They were headed, about 150 of them, for the demilitarized zone: the narrow buffer strip between North and South Korea that is heavily guarded by concertina wire and rifle-toting soldiers.

From Los Angeles Times