hot potato

noun
1.
Informal. a situation or issue that is difficult, unpleasant, or risky to deal with.
2.
British Informal. a baked potato.
Origin:
1840–50

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
hot potato
 
—n
slang an awkward or delicate matter

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Hot Potato is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
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Slang Dictionary

hot potato definition


  1. n.
    a difficult problem. : I sure don't want to have to deal with that hot potato.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

hot potato

A problem so controversial and sensitive that it is risky to deal with. For example, Gun control is a political hot potato. This term, dating from the mid-1800s, alludes to the only slightly older expression drop like a hot potato, meaning "to abandon something or someone quickly" (lest one be burned). The idiom alludes to the fact that cooked potatoes retain considerable heat because they contain a lot of water.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Example sentences
All involved parties had access to the proper information in this absurd game
  of hot potato.
Exactly what either concept means when applied to university students is set to
  become a political hot potato.
Electricity is a political hot potato and it's becoming more of a problem.
Hot potato latkes steam on a counter as the gloom of a frigid dawn lifts
  outside.
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