hot

[[t]hɒ̱t[/t]]

♦♦

hotter, hottest, hots, hotting, hotted

1) ADJ-GRADED Something that is hot has a high temperature.

When the oil is hot, add the sliced onion...

What he needed was a hot bath and a good sleep...

Metal-handled pans can get really hot and burn you.

Ant:

cold, cool

2) ADJ-GRADED Hot is used to describe the weather or the air in a room or building when the temperature is high.

It was too hot even for a gentle stroll...

It was a hot, humid summer day...

My small greenhouse gets very hot when the sun is shining.

Ant:

chilly, cold

3) ADJ-GRADED: usu v-link ADJ If you are hot, you feel as if your body is at an unpleasantly high temperature.

I was too hot and tired to eat more than a few mouthfuls...

My head was reeling. I felt hot all over.

Ant:

cold

4) ADJ-GRADED: how ADJ, as ADJ as, ADJ-compar than You use hot to talk or ask about how high the temperature of something is.

They are called incandescent lights, and their colour depends on how hot they are...

Remember that the top of the oven will be hotter than the bottom.

5) ADJ: ADJ n Hot food is intended to be eaten as soon as it is cooked, as opposed to food that you eat when it has cooled or that you do not cook at all.

If you live alone, you might not want to cook a hot meal every day.

Ant:

cold

6) ADJ-GRADED You can say that food is hot when it has a strong, burning taste caused by chillies, pepper, or ginger.

...hot curries.

...a dish that's spicy but not too hot.

Syn:

spicy

Ant:

mild

7) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n A hot issue or topic is one that is very important at the present time and is receiving a lot of publicity. [JOURNALISM]

The role of women in war has been a hot topic of debate in America since the Gulf conflict.

8) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n Hot news is new, recent, and fresh. [INFORMAL]

Well, if you hear any hot news from Yugoslavia, you'll let us know, won't you.

9) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n You can use hot to describe something that is very exciting and that many people want to see, use, obtain, or become involved with. [INFORMAL]

When I was in Chicago in 1990 a friend got me a ticket for the hottest show in town: the Monet Exhibition at the Art Institute...

When I was last there, the hot place was the Royal Bachelors' Club.

10) ADJ-GRADED: usu v-link ADJ You can use hot to describe something that no one wants to deal with, often because it has been illegally obtained and is very valuable or famous. [INFORMAL]

If too much publicity is given to the theft of important works, the works will become too hot to handle and be destroyed.

11) ADJ-GRADED: usu v-link ADJ You can describe a situation that is created by a person's behaviour or attitude as hot when it is unpleasant and difficult to deal with. [INFORMAL]

When the streets get too hot for them, they head south in one stolen car after another.

12) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n A hot contest is one that is intense and involves a great deal of activity and determination. [INFORMAL]

It took hot competition from abroad, however, to show us just how good Scottish cashmere really is.

Syn:

fierce

13) ADJ-GRADED: ADJ n If a person or team is the hot favourite, people think that they are the one most likely to win a race or competition.

Atlantic City is the hot favourite to stage the fight.

14) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n Someone who has a hot temper gets angry very quickly and easily.

→ See also hot-tempered

His hot temper was making it increasingly difficult for others to work with him.

15) PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR on/over/about n If someone blows hot and cold, they keep changing their attitude towards something, sometimes being very enthusiastic and at other times expressing no interest at all.

The media, meanwhile, has blown hot and cold on the affair.

16) PHRASE: v-link PHR, oft PHR about n If you are hot and bothered, you are so worried and anxious that you cannot think clearly or behave sensibly.

Ray was getting very hot and bothered about the idea.

Syn:

in a flap

17) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that one person has the hots for another, you mean that they feel a strong sexual attraction to that person. [INFORMAL]

I've had the hots for him ever since he came to college.

Phrasal Verbs:

- hot up