Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Started without a key, as by short-circuiting the ignition.
  • adjective Emotionally exciting; thrilling.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective of a vehicle that has been hot-wired; stolen.
  • verb Past and past participle of "hot-wire;" to steal a vehicle by bypassing the ignition key's security.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The company set up war rooms in Washington, D.C., and Mountain View, with computers hot-wired to the FCC auction site.

    In the Plex Steven Levy 2011

  • Or maybe you hot-wired your brain into an electronic dictionary or something sexy like that!

    Peter Sumaruck II 2010

  • As if Armstrong, Aldrin and Michael Collins were three juvenile delinquents who'd hot-wired that rocket ship when nobody was looking and taken a $355 million joy ride to the moon.

    Charlie Carillo: Brooklyn, We Have a Problem Charlie Carillo 2011

  • Later, he and his father hauled the Vanagon out of the brush, hot-wired it and got it running with a jump-start.

    Wash. bird watcher sees strange sight in woods: his stolen van 2011

  • She says her younger daughter, now 10 and already "hot-wired" for depression, recently asked her what it was like when she was feeling anxious as a child.

    Helping Kids Beat Depression... by Treating Mom Melinda Beck 2011

  • As if Armstrong, Aldrin and Michael Collins were three juvenile delinquents who'd hot-wired that rocket ship when nobody was looking and taken a $355 million joy ride to the moon.

    Charlie Carillo: Brooklyn, We Have a Problem Charlie Carillo 2011

  • Coming full-circle, back to Sachs' original cobbled-together hot-wired artifacts he's best known for, is his new series of beautiful foam core bricolage that imitates the highly coveted 18th c. porcelain collections produced by a factory in Sevres, founded by Madame de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV c.

    Kisa Lala: Keeping Time With Tom Sachs: An Interview With the Artist Kisa Lala 2011

  • The company set up war rooms in Washington, D.C., and Mountain View, with computers hot-wired to the FCC auction site.

    In the Plex Steven Levy 2011

  • Coming full-circle, back to Sachs' original cobbled-together hot-wired artifacts he's best known for, is his new series of beautiful foam core bricolage that imitates the highly coveted 18th c. porcelain collections produced by a factory in Sevres, founded by Madame de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV c.

    Kisa Lala: Keeping Time With Tom Sachs: An Interview With the Artist Kisa Lala 2011

  • Maybe Mitch Daniels, a tortoise among hot-wired hares, knows something about crossing the finish line first.

    Obama's Digital-Age Advantage Daniel Henninger 2011

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