Synonyms

hot-wire

American

[hot-wahyuhr, hot-wahy^uhr] / ˈhɒtˈwaɪər, ˈhɒtˌwaɪər /

verb (used with object)

hot-wired, hot-wiring

Slang. to start the engine of (a motor vehicle) by short-circuiting the ignition.

adjective

Electricity, Engineering. depending for its operation on the lengthening or increasing resistance of a wire when it is heated.

hot-wire anemometer; hot-wire microphone.

hot-wire British

verb

slang (tr) to start the engine of (a motor vehicle) by bypassing the ignition switch

"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

Etymology

Origin of hot-wire

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“He also told me of the struggles they were having with their equipment — having to hot-wire vehicles just to get from one part of the airport to the other,” Mr. Lopez said.

From Washington Times

Some Taliban fighters stood hunched over the engines or tried to hot-wire every vehicle they saw.

From Los Angeles Times

The men had to hot-wire it, break the ignition and jumpstart the car before it was ready to hit the road back to their hotel in Granby, Colorado.

From Washington Times

But the world my son is entering is already a blinking bazaar of distractions, engineered to hot-wire our attention.

From New York Times

Every instinct told him to run out of school, hot-wire the El Camino, and chase them across the entire state of North Carolina if he had to.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023