Down to the wire

Posted by Bob on November 07, 2000

In Reply to: Down to the wire posted by mathieu on November 07, 2000

: What is the origin of "down to the wire"?

Horse racing. A wire is stretched above the finish line so that a camera above can take a picture at the moment the first horse crosses to settle the order of finish even in a close race ... the metaphor is extended to many kinds of contest, including elections where one can win by a nose, get nosed out, finish out of the money, be an also-ran, and any of a number of race-related terms.