hot-wire

[ verb hot-wahyuhr; adjective hot-wahyuhr ]

/ verb ˈhɒtˈwaɪər; adjective ˈhɒtˌwaɪər /

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verb (used with object), hot-wired, hot-wir·ing.

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.

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Origin of hot-wire

First recorded in 1950–55

Words nearby hot-wire

hot war, hot water, hot-water bag, hot-water bottle, hot well, hot-wire, hot-wire anemometer, hot-work, hot yoga, hot zone, houbara

How to use hot-wire in a sentence

The instructors taught me how to pick locks, hot-wire cars and get over barbed wire fences.
Will This Book Save Your Life?|Maura Kelly|March 2, 2009|DAILY BEAST
The thin screaming came again, like a hot wire drawn down the gelid morning.
The Jewels of Aptor|Samuel R. Delany
This is made from a deer skin prepared to resemble parchment, stretched on a hoop and perforated full of holes with a hot wire.
A New Guide for Emigrants to the West|J. M. Peck
It was as if every nerve in their bodies had turned into white-hot wire, and was searing through their flesh.
Astounding Stories, July, 1931|Various

At one time eight men burned spots on their faces and hands with hot wire, and then sprinkled the spots with black pepper.
Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 118, August, 1887|Various
These were made of deer skins in the state of parchment, stretched over a hoop and perforated with a hot wire.
Life & Times of Col. Daniel Boone|Cecil B. Hartley

British Dictionary definitions for hot-wire

hot-wire

verb

(tr) slang 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

hot-wire

Origin of hot-wire

Words nearby hot-wire

Words related to hot-wire

How to use hot-wire in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hot-wire