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
The Wisconsin Elections Commission operates a toll-free information hotline at 1-866-VOTE-WIS.
—Hope Karnopp, Journal Sentinel, 5 Nov. 2024
The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
—Samira Asma-Sadeque, People.com, 5 Nov. 2024
Ohio and Florida, on the other hand, have their own state-specific hotlines (OHIO-VOTE (866-644-6868) and 833-868-3331 respectively) where voters can call and inquire about the status of their provisional ballot.
—Rebecca Schneid, TIME, 3 Nov. 2024
Fraudsters were able to access the information (☆) using the Practitioner Priority Service (PPS), a hotline set up for tax professionals.
—Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes, 2 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hotline 
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illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of
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Hope Karnopp, Journal Sentinel, 5 Nov. 2024
The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
—Samira Asma-Sadeque, People.com, 5 Nov. 2024
Ohio and Florida, on the other hand, have their own state-specific hotlines (OHIO-VOTE (866-644-6868) and 833-868-3331 respectively) where voters can call and inquire about the status of their provisional ballot.
—Rebecca Schneid, TIME, 3 Nov. 2024
Fraudsters were able to access the information (☆) using the Practitioner Priority Service (PPS), a hotline set up for tax professionals.
—Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes, 2 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hotline
Dictionary Entries Near hotline
Cite this Entry
“Hotline.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hotline. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.
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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