hotline
Americannoun
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Also hot line a direct telecommunications link enabling immediate communication between heads of state in an international crisis.
the hotline between Washington and Moscow.
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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.
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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.
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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.
adjective
noun
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a direct telephone, teletype, or other communications link between heads of government, for emergency use
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any such direct line kept for urgent use
Etymology
Origin of hotline
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.
The issue is acute enough that local Moscow-installed authorities have had to launch a special hotline to assist them.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
The Justice Department also maintains an elder-fraud hotline.
From MarketWatch • May 22, 2026
Shifts in 988 hotline volunteer behavior can have a major impact for autistic callers, a population more likely to experience suicidal crisis.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
NPR recently reported that the Center on Conscience and War, which helps run the hotline, has 80 new clients in the month of March alone.
From Salon • May 3, 2026
And if he didn’t want to believe me, he should have trusted the teachers who called the hotline so many times.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
