HOTLINE Definition & Meaning

hotline

[ hot-lahyn ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

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.

hotline

/ ˈ��ɒ��ˌ��ɪ�� /

noun

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

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of hotline¹

First recorded in 1950–55; hot + line ¹

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

She wrote about wildflower blooms for the Theodore Payne Foundation’s Wild Flower Hotline and volunteered to help renovate UCLA’s extraordinary Mathias Botanical Garden, a project that was completed in 2024.

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When Veronica Sanchez called a Social Security hotline Thursday, she waited two hours before her call was abruptly disconnected.

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He also highlighted the launch of the 988 hotline that provides round-the-clock suicide and crisis counseling as well as providing more than 300 million people access to healthcare, with 46 million Americans getting health insurance coverage because of the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.

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He carries a piece of paper with the number for a 24-hour hotline faculty set up for students detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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At UCLA, members of Faculty for Justice in Palestine recently circulated advice to international students: “Don’t say anything to ICE. Don’t sign anything. Tell them to speak to your attorney,” it said alongside a hotline number.

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