behind the wire

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   In a prison camp or refugee camp.

   • Some were to find themselves behind the wire for virtually the entire war.
   • The Archive has over two hundred of them — men, women and children who spent years behind the wire and yet lived to tell us their stories . . . and the stories of those people they do not want forgotten.
   • Nevertheless, even camps near "perfection," as the Red Cross described them, could not prevent battles from erupting behind the wire.
2. 2

   In prison.

   • Hutton, as engineer of the train which brought the mob, was one of the first ones detained and he remained behind the wire for several days until he could prove that he had acted as he did only because of the gun at his head.
   • Remain strong until the walls come crashing down. You're in my thoughts, and the fine work each of you do. Later, brothers behind the wire.
   • Section Three takes readers behind the wire and tells them what to expect if they ever get sentenced to time.

The neighborhood