| 1. | a country or region where dangerous or difficult political situations exist or may erupt, esp. where a war, revolution, or a belligerent attitude toward other countries exists or may develop: In the 1960s, Vietnam became a hot spot. |
| 2. | Informal. any area or place of known danger, intrigue, dissension, or instability. |
| 3. | Informal. a nightclub. |
| 4. | Photography. an area of a negative or print revealing excessive light on that part of the subject. |
| 5. | a section of forest or woods where fires frequently occur. |
| 6. | an area hotter than the surrounding surface, as on the shell of a furnace. |
| 7. | Physics. an area of abnormally high radioactivity. |
| 8. | Geology. a region of molten rock below and within the lithosphere that persists long enough to leave a record of uplift and volcanic activity at the earth's surface. Compare plume (def. 10). |
| 9. | Genetics. a chromosome site or a section of DNA having a high frequency of mutation or recombination. |
| 10. | Veterinary Pathology. a moist, raw sore on the skin of a dog or cat caused by constant licking of an irritation from an allergic reaction, tangled coat, fleas, etc. |
[hot-spot] 
| to stop (a forest fire) at a hot spot. |
| hot spot also hot·spot (hŏt'spŏt') n.
|
A place deep within the Earth where hot magma rises to just underneath the surface, creating a bulge and volcanic activity (see volcano). The chain of Hawaiian Islands (see Hawaii) is thought to have been created by the movement of a tectonic plate over a hot spot.
hot spot n.
A region in a gene in which there is a high rate of mutation. Its existence depends on the size of the region concerned, the readiness with which the mutation can be detected, and the possibility that selection against mutants at that point is less than that against mutants elsewhere.
