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hot-rod

[hot-rod]Slang.
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verb (used without object), hot-rod·ded, hot-rod·ding.
  1. to drive a hot rod.
  2. to drive very fast.
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verb (used with object), hot-rod·ded, hot-rod·ding.
  1. to drive (a vehicle) very fast.
  2. to adapt (a vehicle or its engine) for increased speed.
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Origin of hot-rod

First recorded in 1945–50

hot rod

noun Slang.
  1. an automobile specially built or altered for fast acceleration and increased speed.
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Origin of hot rod

An Americanism dating back to 1940–45
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

racerspeedster

Examples from the Web for hot-rod

Historical Examples

  • There was no pity in Mike but would his pride let him hot-rod an eighteen-year-old?

    The Man from Time

    Frank Belknap Long

British Dictionary definitions for hot-rod

hot rod

noun
  1. a car with an engine that has been radically modified to produce increased power
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hot-rod

n.

also hot rod, 1945, American English, from hot + rod, apparently in a sense of "hunk of metal" (the cars also were called hot iron).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with hot-rod

hot rod

An automobile modified to increase its speed and acceleration, as in Kids love to tinker with cars and try to convert them into hot rods. [Mid-1900s] Also see hopped up.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.