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definitions

hot-rod

[hot-rod]Slang.
See more synonyms for hot-rod on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object), hot-rod·ded, hot-rod·ding.
  1. to drive a hot rod.
  2. to drive very fast.
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.

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.

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 for hot-rod

racer, speedster

Examples from the Web for hot-rod

Historical Examples of hot-rod

  • 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
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).

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.

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