hot pepper

American  

noun

1. any of variously shaped pungent peppers of the genus Capsicum, containing large amounts of capsaicin and usually having thin walls.

2. a plant bearing such a pepper.

---

hot pepper British  

noun

1. any of several varieties of the pepper Capsicum frutescens, esp chilli pepper

2. the pungent usually small fruit of any of these plants

---

Etymology

Origin of hot pepper

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

Fancy cocktail napkins are a big seller, as are specialty jellies in flavors like hot pepper and cinnamon pear.

From The Wall Street Journal

Short remembered how Beckstrom loved cooking, baking and gardening, canning hot peppers, and eating deviled eggs.

From The Wall Street Journal

On the runway, tomatoes joined eggplants, zucchinis, hot peppers and Farfalle pasta as big, bold prints in Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring 2012 Ready-to-Wear Collection.

From Salon

Its annual Pepperzania begins in April at the store, with more than 150 varieties of peppers, and in May it offers the hottest of the hot peppers during its Ultimate Pepper Plant Sale.

From Los Angeles Times

The chip, dusted with two very hot peppers, the Carolina Reaper and the Naga Viper, had a label on the box that read, “One Chip Challenge” and carried a warning — “Inside: One Extremely Hot Chip.”

From New York Times

Related Words

• chili pepper
• jalapeno
• red pepper