variants
or less commonly hot line
plural hotlines also hot lines
1
: a usually toll-free telephone service available to the public or to a group of people for some specific purpose
a suicide prevention hotline
His take reached a total of more than $10,000, but the scam was undone when an alert co-worker noticed it and phoned an employee-theft hotline to report it.—
David J. Solomon
David J. Solomon2
: a direct telephone line in constant operational readiness so as to facilitate immediate communication
John Sullivan told the independent news outlet Novaya Gazeta that an emergency hotline between Washington and Moscow, set up in the Cold War … , was still in existence.—Reuters.com
Reuters.comWhen the Milwaukee Bucks made the emotional decision not to take the court for Game 5 of the playoffs, there was a hotline between the locker room and the NBPA [National Basketball Players Association], with [NBPA head Michele] Roberts counselling the players on the other end of that line.—Don Riddell
Don RiddellExamples of hotline in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
There is a reward of up to $25,000 for information submitted anonymously to the TIPS hotline.
—Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 12 June 2025
People are also encouraged to call the hotline to report ICE sightings in their neighborhood.
—Fortesa Latifi, Rolling Stone, 11 June 2025
Federal agents captured some two hundred immigrants in two days, according to the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, which helps to run a hotline and legal-services network.
—E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 9 June 2025
Anyone who sees a Burmese python is encouraged to call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s exotic species hotline.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for hotline
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Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 12 June 2025
People are also encouraged to call the hotline to report ICE sightings in their neighborhood.
—Fortesa Latifi, Rolling Stone, 11 June 2025
Federal agents captured some two hundred immigrants in two days, according to the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, which helps to run a hotline and legal-services network.
—E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 9 June 2025
Anyone who sees a Burmese python is encouraged to call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s exotic species hotline.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for hotline
Cite this Entry
“Hotline.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hotline. Accessed 16 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
hotline
noun
hot·line
ˈhät-ˌlīn 
: a telephone line for direct emergency use (as between heads of governments or to a counseling service)
Medical Definition
hotline
noun
hot·line
variants
also hot line
: a usually toll-free telephone service available to the public for some specific purpose (as to receive advice or information about a particular subject or to talk confidentially about personal problems to a sympathetic listener)
a poison control hotline
suicide prevention hotlines
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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