hot spot

or hot·spot

[ hot-spot ]
See synonyms for hot spot on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a country or region where dangerous or difficult political situations exist or may erupt, especially 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.

  1. Informal. a nightclub.

  2. Photography. an area of a negative or print revealing excessive light on that part of the subject.

  3. a section of forest or woods where fires frequently occur.

  4. an area hotter than the surrounding surface, as on the shell of a furnace.

  5. Digital Technology. a place where users of portable computers or mobile devices can get wireless broadband access to the internet or another network: how to find free Wi-Fi hot spots.

  6. Physics. an area of abnormally high radioactivity.

  7. 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).

  8. Genetics. a chromosome site or a section of DNA having a high frequency of mutation or recombination.

  9. 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.

Origin of hot spot

1
An Americanism dating back to 1925–30

Other definitions for hot-spot (2 of 2)

hot-spot
[ hot-spot ]

verb (used with object),hot-spot·ted, hot-spot·ting.
  1. to stop (a forest fire) at a hot spot.

Origin of hot-spot

2
First recorded in 1950–55; v. use of hot spot

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hot spot in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hot spot

hot spot

noun
  1. an area of potential violence or political unrest

  2. a lively nightclub or other place of entertainment

  1. an area of great activity of a specific type: the world's economic hot spots

    • any local area of high temperature in a part of an engine, etc

    • part of the inlet manifold of a paraffin engine that is heated by exhaust gases to vaporize the fuel

  2. computing a place where wireless internet, esp broadband, services are provided to users of portable computers through a wireless local area network, such as in an airport, railway station, or library

  3. med

    • a small area on the surface of or within a body with an exceptionally high concentration of radioactivity or of some chemical or mineral considered harmful

    • a similar area that generates an abnormal amount of heat, as revealed by thermography

  4. genetics a part of a chromosome that has a tendency for mutation or recombination

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for hot spot

hot spot

  1. A volcanic area that forms as a tectonic plate moves over a point heated from deep within the Earth's mantle. The source of the heat is thought to be the decay of radioactive elements. The Hawaiian Islands formed as a series of hot spots. See more at tectonic boundary.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for hot spot

hot spot

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.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.