hotline

American  

[hot-lahyn] / ˈhɒtˌlaɪn /

noun

1. Also hot line a direct telecommunications link enabling immediate communication between heads of state in an international crisis.

   the hotline between Washington and Moscow.

2. Also hot line a telephone service enabling people to talk confidentially with someone about a personal problem or crisis.

   The protective services system is anchored by a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week emergency hotline.

3. Also hot line a telephone line providing customers or clients with direct access to a company or professional service.

   If you need assistance, feel free to chat with us through our online auto parts website or give our hotline a call.

4. Chiefly Canadian. a radio program to which listeners can phone in comments or questions.

   The radio hotline features advice and insight from a range of bank spokespeople during tax season.

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adjective

1. Chiefly Canadian. of or relating to a radio program to which listeners can phone in comments or questions.

hotline British  

/ ˈhɒtˌlaɪn /

noun

1. a direct telephone, teletype, or other communications link between heads of government, for emergency use

2. any such direct line kept for urgent use

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Etymology

Origin of hotline

First recorded in 1950–55; hot + line ¹

Example Sentences

A hotline has also been set up for the relatives of those who were on the plane.

From BBC

Hotline numbers are provided to report suspicious activity.

From The Wall Street Journal

If you’ve eaten a foraged mushroom and start to exhibit any adverse symptoms, call California’s poison control hotline at 1-800-222-1222 for free, confidential expert advice in multiple languages.

From Los Angeles Times

The Theodore Payne Foundation’s Wild Flower Hotline is a good way to keep track of where flowers are blooming, but it won’t start up until March 1.

From Los Angeles Times

Another caller to the hotline claimed that, in September 2024, Busfield asked a parent to wait outside and took a minor — one of the alleged victims in the New Mexico case — behind closed doors for an audition at the Cinelease Studios office in Albuquerque, according to the motion.

From Los Angeles Times