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in the hot seat

In an uncomfortable or embarrassing situation, usually by being subjected to severe criticism: “When the settlement talks broke down, he was in the hot seat with both management and labor.” The phrase is an extension of “hot seat,” slang for the electric chair.

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Idioms and Phrases with in the hot seat

in the hot seat

see hot seat.

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