hot mic

Or hot mike

[hot mahyk]

noun

Informal.

1. a microphone that is actively recording or broadcasting, especially if it captures a comment or conversation that the speaker or speakers believed to be private (often used attributively): The reporter was suspended after her profanity was caught on a hot mic.

   The techs should limit the number of hot mics to reduce acoustic feedback.

   The reporter was suspended after her profanity was caught on a hot mic.

   Their hot mic scheming confirmed the conspiracy theories.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hot mic¹

1930–35; hot (in the sense “actively conducting an electric current”) + mic “microphone”

Example Sentences

But the president’s personal business and his government role intersected this week when he was heard on a hot mic arranging a meeting between his son Eric, who runs the family company, and Indonesia’s leader.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“I’m never hosting it the same way so Hot Mic being live across 131 countries every month puts the pressure on me to always bring new, fresh material to the table and sometimes the material is not even really necessarily ready to be put out, but it’s also fun for the audience to see a comedian brave enough to create on the spot in a way that makes them feel included in the process.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

On a recent night at the Hollywood Improv for the monthly show Hot Mic, presented by Kevin Hart’s LOL Radio, the late-night audience piles into the dimly lighted main room at 9:30 where CP wakes them up with his punchy, Detroit-bred delivery that cuts through murmurs and side chatter with a voice like a gas-powered chain saw.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A big part of why the comic — who’s become a headliner on national tours while writing, producing and acting on TV — is excited about Hot Mic is the chance to boost the signal of other L.A. comics on the rise.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Putin suggested even eternal life could be achievable as a result of innovations in biotechnology, according to a translation of remarks caught on a hot mic.

Read more on BBC