8 ADJ You can describe someone as hot if you think they are sexually attractive. [INFORMAL ] □ This girl is incredibly hot.
9 ADJ [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, the works will become too hot to handle and be destroyed.
10 ADJ [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.
11 ADJ [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.
12 ADJ [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.
13 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Someone who has a hot temper gets angry very quickly and easily. □ His hot temper was making it increasingly difficult for others to work with him.
14 → see also hot-tempered
15 PHRASE 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. □ [+ on/over/about ] The media, meanwhile, has blown hot and cold on the affair.
16 PHRASE If you are hot and bothered , you are so worried and anxious that you cannot think clearly or behave sensibly. □ [+ about ] Ray was getting very hot and bothered about the idea.
17 PHRASE 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.
▸ hot up PHRASAL VERB When something hots up , it becomes more active or exciting. [BRIT ] □ [V P ] The bars rarely hot up before 1am.
ho t ai r N‑UNCOUNT If you say that someone's claims or promises are just hot air , you are criticizing them because they are made mainly to impress people and have no real value or meaning. [INFORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ] □ His justification for the merger was just hot air.
ho t-ai r balloon (hot-air balloons ) N‑COUNT A hot-air balloon is a large balloon with a basket underneath in which people can travel. The balloon is filled with hot air in order to make it float in the air.
hot|bed /hɒ tbed/ (hotbeds ) N‑COUNT If you say that somewhere is a hotbed of an undesirable activity, you are emphasizing that a lot of the activity is going on there or being started there. [EMPHASIS ] □ [+ of ] …a state now known worldwide as a hotbed of racial intolerance.
ho t-bloo ded ADJ [usu ADJ n] If you describe someone as hot-blooded , you mean that they are very quick to express their emotions, especially anger and love. □ As a hot-headed, hot-blooded youth, he still had much to learn.
ho t bu t|ton (hot buttons ) N‑COUNT [oft N n] A hot button is a subject or problem that people have very strong feelings about. [mainly AM , JOURNALISM ] □ Abortion is still one of the hot button issues of U.S. life.
hotch-potch /hɒ tʃ pɒtʃ/ also hotchpotch N‑SING A hotch-potch is an untidy mixture of different types of things. [BRIT ] □ [+ of ] The palace is a complete hotch-potch of architectural styles. in AM, use hodgepodge
ho t-de sk (hot-desks , hot-desking , hot-desked ) VERB If employees hot-desk , they are not assigned particular desks and work at any desk that is available. [BUSINESS ] □ [V ] Some ministers will have to hot-desk until more accommodation can be found. ● hot-desking N‑UNCOUNT □ I think that very few employees prefer hot-desking to having a fixed desk.
ho t dog (hot dogs ) N‑COUNT A hot dog is a long bread roll with a hot sausage inside it.
ho|tel ◆◆◇ /hoʊte l/ (hotels ) N‑COUNT A hotel is a building where people stay, for example on holiday, paying for their rooms and meals. COLLOCATIONS hotel NOUN 1
noun + hotel : boutique, budget, country house, luxury; airport, resort
adjective + hotel : exclusive, expensive, luxurious, posh; five-star, four-star, three-star
verb + hotel : book; run
ho|tel|ier /hoʊte liə r , [AM ] oʊtelje I / (hoteliers ) N‑COUNT A hotelier is a person who owns or manages a hotel.
ho t fla sh (hot flashes ) N‑COUNT A hot flash is the same as a hot flush . [AM ]
ho t flu sh (hot flushes ) N‑COUNT A hot flush is a sudden hot feeling in the skin which women often experience at the time of their menopause. [mainly BRIT ] in AM, use hot flash
ho t-foo t (hot-foots , hot-footing , hot-footed ) also hotfoot VERB If you hot-foot it somewhere, you go there in a hurry. [INFORMAL ] □ …a group of actors hot-footing it for the bar.
hot|head /hɒ thed/ (hotheads ) N‑COUNT If you refer to someone as a hothead , you are criticizing them for acting too quickly, without thinking of the consequences. [DISAPPROVAL ]
ho t-hea ded ADJ If you describe someone as hot-headed , you are criticizing them for acting too quickly, without thinking of the consequences. [DISAPPROVAL ]
hot|house /hɒ thaʊs/ (hothouses )
1 N‑COUNT A hothouse is a heated building, usually made of glass, in which plants and flowers can be grown.
2 N‑COUNT [oft N n] You can refer to a situation or place as a hothouse when there is intense activity, especially intellectual or emotional activity. □ …the reputation of the College as a hothouse of novel ideas.