Wiredrawer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A worker or machine that pulls heated or cold metal through a series of dies to reduce it into thin wire
2. Someone who makes wire by drawing metal rods through progressively smaller holes in a steel plate
3. A tradesman or device that stretches metal stock into fine threads of wire using a die or drawplate

Etymology: A wiredrawer is, quite literally, someone who draws wire. The trade depends on a simple mechanical idea: metal is pulled through a series of progressively smaller holes in a hardened plate called a draw plate, each pass thinning and lengthening the metal until it reaches the required gauge. The "draw" in the compound refers to that pulling action, the same sense found in "drawbench" and in "drawing" as a term for shaping metal. The word is formed from two plain English parts, "wire" and "drawer," the latter an agent noun built from the verb "draw." Nothing about the compound is disguised: a drawer of wire is simply the person who performs that work. Its modern use is largely technical and historical, tied to the metalworking trades that produced wire for everything from needles and pins to rope and cable.