Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. Informal To start the engine of (an automobile, for example) without a key, as by short-circuiting the ignition system.
Wiktionary
- v. slang To start an automobile engine by bypassing the ignition key wiring
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. to start (a car) by using a wire instead of a key, as when stealing the car; the wire is connected to points in the ignition circuit that bypass the key.
WordNet 3.0
- v. start (a car engine) without a key by bypassing the ignition interlock
Etymologies
- hot (referring to electrical current) + wire (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Heavy traffic can make it difficult to hear his dogs, and during our first day in the field someone tried to hot-wire an ATV Bolen had left at the truck.”
“An ambitious, multibillion-dollar project to hot-wire the new Southwest border fence with high-tech radar, cameras and satellite signals has been plagued with serious system failures and repeated delays and will probably not be completed for another seven years — if it is finished at all.”
“Growing vegetables is useful; but so is learning how to shoot a gun, hot-wire a car, and manipulate our way into a bomb shelter.”
The Huffington Post: Peg Aloi: Tough Gals: Do They Still Exist?
“It takes him eighteen seconds to jimmy the door, another thirty to hot-wire it “fruits of a misspent youth”, and he drives it away and hides it in a strip mall parking lot in SJC, where Ben picks him up.”
“Her dad had taught her a lot about old trucks, like how to hot-wire the ignition.”
“I learned how to pick locks, how to hot-wire cars.”
“The list of equipment is pretty extensive, too, and new items are arriving frequently (like a new hot-wire foam cutter).”
“Hearing his name mentioned, Obatma honked the horn of the Capitol Police cruiser that he was trying to hot-wire and raised his fist outside the car.”
“Just as I was about to bash my head against the wall I noticed the pickup in front of the boat, anybody could hot-wire that!”
“If only I knew how to hot-wire a car, I could go get help.”
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