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 hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
—Amedy Dewey, People.com, 18 July 2025
Drivers who encounter potholes can call the TDOT hotline at 833-836-8349.
—Craig Shoup, Nashville Tennessean, 17 July 2025
Centerstone also continues to work to intervene to prevent suicides, helping lobby for the national 988 crisis hotline.
—Beth Warren, The Tennessean, 17 July 2025
This is a column chart showing the number of 988 calls routed to the LGBTQ+ hotline each month from October 2022 to May 2025.
—Jo Yurcaba, NBC news, 17 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for hotline
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Amedy Dewey, People.com, 18 July 2025
Drivers who encounter potholes can call the TDOT hotline at 833-836-8349.
—Craig Shoup, Nashville Tennessean, 17 July 2025
Centerstone also continues to work to intervene to prevent suicides, helping lobby for the national 988 crisis hotline.
—Beth Warren, The Tennessean, 17 July 2025
This is a column chart showing the number of 988 calls routed to the LGBTQ+ hotline each month from October 2022 to May 2025.
—Jo Yurcaba, NBC news, 17 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for hotline
Cite this Entry
“Hotline.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hotline. Accessed 23 Jul. 2025.
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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