A new adhesive receding contact model is presented in this paper for a nanowire in a three-point bending test. Because of its flexability, the nanowire in such a test, may lift-off or separate from its supporting elastic medium; this can dramatically change the nanowire boundary conditions and deformations. The changes of the nanowire boundary conditions and deformations, have a significant impact on the interpretation of the experimental data of the nanowire material properties. Through the model developed here, some explanations are offered for the different and contradicting observations of the nanowire material properties and the nanowire boundary conditions, found in recent experiments. (C) Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2011