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hotline

[ hot-lahyn ]
/ ˈhɒtˌlaɪn /
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noun
Also hot line . a direct telecommunications link enabling immediate communication between heads of state in an international crisis: the hotline between Washington and Moscow.
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.
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.
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
Chiefly Canadian. of or relating to a radio program to which listeners can phone in comments or questions.
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Origin of hotline

First recorded in 1950–55; hot + line1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hotline in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hotline

hotline
/ (ˈhɒtˌlaɪn) /

noun
a direct telephone, teletype, or other communications link between heads of government, for emergency use
any such direct line kept for urgent use
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

Other Idioms and Phrases with hotline

hot line

A telephone line that gives quick and direct access to a source of information or help. For example, Our state has an AIDS hot line in every county. This term was originally (and is still) used for a direct link between heads of government for use during a crisis, but was quickly extended to wider applications. [1950s]

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