hard-wired

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

1.(Computers) Contained within the circuitry of a computer or computer peripheral device, and not changeable by programming; -- of functions; as, error correction is hard-wired into the circuit of the disk drive, so it proceeds very rapidly. [PJC]

2.Connected by a continuous electrical wire, rather than through a switch; as, the air-conditioner was hard-wired into the wall circuit, so moving it would require an electrician. [PJC]

3.(Metaph.) Performed by an inborn pattern of neural circuits; instinctive; not learned; as, many bird songs are hard-wired, but some are learned. [PJC]

People, as the cybernetic metaphor now has it, are "hard wired" to do good in order to enhance their own happiness. --Andrew Delbanco (New York Times Magazine, May 7, 2000; p. 46). [PJC]

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing

1.<electronics> An aspect of an electronic circuit which is determined by the wiring of the hardware, as opposed to being programmable in software or controlled by a switch.

2.<software, jargon> In software, a synonym for hard-coded.

3.By extension, anything that is not modifiable, especially in the sense of customisable to one's particular needs or tastes. [Jargon File]

(1999-10-18)