piano wire

noun

1. a very thin steel wire of high tensile strength.

Word History and Origins

Origin of piano wire¹

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

Crumb’s aggressively nontraditional scores — a vitrine of which were displayed outside the Coolidge Auditorium on Saturday — and his unorthodox approach to the instrument rubbed Rorem like steel wool on piano wire.

From Washington Post

She also looked as tight as piano wire, struggling to let her natural power flow and missing swing volleys and approach shots by the bunch while laboring to move laterally.

From Seattle Times

Running a bow, strung with piano wire, through a serrated cutout produces a dark, metallic moan.

From New York Times

They are contests as tight as piano wire, if a good deal less harmonious.

From BBC

She’s a tabula rasa, taut as piano wire as she tosses out withering rejoinders like beads at Mardi Gras.

From New York Times