Dictionary

hot-wire en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From hot + wire, with hot referring to electrical current.

Meanings

1. (informal, transitive) To wire, especially to a power supply, using a makeshift electrical connection.
   • I bypassed the switch and hot-wired the circuit board to the power supply.
2. (informal, transitive) In particular, to start (an automobile engine) by bypassing the ignition key wiring, especially in order to steal the vehicle.
   • Never broke into a car, never hotwired a car. Never broke into a truck. 'I shall not cause harm to any vehicle nor the personal contents thereof, nor through inaction let the personal contents thereof come to harm' It's what I call the Repo Code, kid! 1984, Alex Cox, Repo Man, spoken by Bud (Harry Dean Stanton):
   • His attitude grew worse and his crimes escalated: he broke into garages in his neighborhood, he hot-wired cars, and his punches grew harder. 2021, Zara Stone, Killer Looks: The Forgotten History of Plastic Surgery in Prisons, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 148:

Forms

Translations (10)

de kurzschließen (hot-wire) · pl zapalić na kabel (hot-wire) · es puentear (hot-wire) · es hacer puente (hot-wire) · es hacer un puente (hot-wire) · no koble (hot-wire) · es arrancar haciendo puente (hot-wire) · sv tjuvkoppla (hot-wire) · es arrancar puenteando (hot-wire) · pl zapalać na kabel (hot-wire)