hotlinen.
/ˈhɒtlʌɪn/, U.S. /ˈhɑtˌlaɪn/ 1.
a. A direct telephone line set up for a specific purpose, esp. for use in emergencies or for communication between heads of government.
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society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > [noun] > line > types of
private line1852
outside line1861
firewire1883
party line1893
order wire1912
tie-line1923
open line1941
hotline1954
1954 J. Anderson & F. Blumenthal in Washington Post 23 May (Parade Mag.) 7/1 If the Russians ever trespass too far, the Air Force will act. A code word, spoken over the ‘hot line’ from the Command Post in Washington to the Strategic Air Command in Omaha, will light the fuse under Moscow.
1955 N.Y. Times Mag. 7 Aug. 10/1 To hold this breakthrough to a minimum is ‘ConAd's’ job. It has twelve air divisions, tied in by ‘hot line’ communications with one another and with the Army, Navy and Civil Defense Administration.
1963 Daily Tel. 21 June 16 Hot line. At Geneva yesterday the United States and Russia signed an agreement to set up a direct link between the Kremlin, the Pentagon and, presumably, the White House.
1970 Daily Tel. 17 Mar. 13/2 ‘Hot lines’ are becoming de rigueur these days—Washington–London–Moscow, to say nothing of London–Canberra.
1990 Sci. Amer. Dec. 24/1 Improvements in the ‘hot line’ (first put in place in 1963) would reduce risks of misperception related to unintended launches, reassembly of missiles and warheads, and other apparently hostile acts.
2005 U.S. News & World Rep. 24 Oct. 52/2 [Thomas] Schelling applied abstract game theory to persuade John F. Kennedy to install a hotline to the Kremlin.
b. A dedicated channel of communication (usually by telephone) for the public to use in order to make rapid commercial transactions, obtain emergency help, contribute opinions, etc.
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1963 Daily Tel. 6 Sept. 23/4 The British Overseas Airways Corporation yesterday opened its own ‘hot line’. It is an instantaneous electronic reservations system between London and New York.
1966 Maclean's 17 Sept. 3 About 20 orators arose, one after another, to espouse everything from (predictably enough) free university tuition to local night shopping and radio hot lines.
1971 Daily Tel. 26 July 3/3 On five days during the Moon mission, ITN will have a ‘hot line’ over which viewers can put questions to a panel of experts.
1984 Marysville (Ohio) Jrnl.-Tribune 2 Mar. 4/5 Calling the hotline can really help someone who might not seek assistance through a face-to-face contact.
2005 Time Out N.Y. 24 Mar. 97/2 The Trevor Project—which runs a suicide-prevention hotline aimed at LGBT youth.
2. figurative. A specialized or privileged channel of communication, esp. a spiritual one.
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1965 New Statesman 17 Sept. 390/2 The hand [of the Pope] hesitates to reach for the hot-line to the Holy Ghost.
1971 U. K. Le Guin Lathe of Heaven (1973) vii. 104 Maybe your dreams are just a new way for evolution to act, sort of. A hot line.
1995 Independent 24 Nov. ii. 3/4 I don't have a hotline to God, it's just what I believe.
2005 FHM Jan. 133/1 The small area behind the ear has a hotline to the visceral nerves via the vagus.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1954