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red-hot, a. (and n.)
(Now usually written with hyphen, rarely redhot: in predicative use still occas. red hot.)
1. a. Heated to redness.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xlv. (Christina) 242 He ane oyne gert be mad red het. c1460Play Sacram. 682 To make an ovyn as redd hott as euer yt can be made wt fere. 1595Shakes. John iv. i. 61 The Iron of it selfe, though heate red hot [etc.]. 1665Manley Grotius, Low C. Warres 707 To prevent fire, which they greatly fear'd from the Red hot Bullets shot into it. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 25 Stones..glowing hot, and when broken exactly resembling red-hot iron. 1819Shelley Cyclops 384 He..placed upon the fire A brazen pot to boil, and made red hot The points of spits. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 189 This crack then serves for the passage of steam and other vapours, with showers of red-hot ashes.
b. absol. as n. Red-hot metal. Also fig.
1832Babbage Econ. Manuf. ii. (ed. 3) 21 It is usual to set the engine at work a short time before the red-hot is ready to be removed from the furnace to the rollers. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xxi. v. VI. 545 A stratum of red-hot kindling in Ziethen too.
2. fig.
a. Of persons: Highly inflamed or excited; fiery; violently enthusiastic, extreme (in some view or principle). Also, outstanding, uninhibited, lively, sexy, passionate; esp. in phr. red-hot momma, (a) a woman who sings in a particular earthy style; (b) a girlfriend, lover. Hence transf. in jazz; cf. hot a. 8 g. Occas. as n. (quot. 1835).
1608Middleton Fam. Love iii. iii, I shall expect my wife anon, red-hot with zeal. 1610Shakes. Temp. iv. i. 171, I told you Sir, they were red-hot with drinking. 1758Wesley Wks. (1872) II. 464 A red-hot Predestinarian, talking of God's ‘blowing whole worlds to hell’. 1835C. Brontë in Mrs. Gaskell Life viii. (1858) 107 The opposition is divided, Red-hots, and Luke-warms. 1845P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 255 It has..ridded Keyhaven of a redhot young gunner. 1870Dickens E. Drood viii, Edwin's coolness, so far from being infectious, makes him red-hot. 1888J. Runciman Chequers 116 You take the fellows in town that make their living after dark... There's some red-hot ones up—you know where—in Piccadilly. 1926Whiteman & McBride Jazz viii. 169 A red hot mama song. 1934S. R. Nelson All about Jazz ii. 58 Dorsey is a red-hot stylist and technician [on the saxophone]. 1934C. Lambert Music Ho! iii. 210 The negro associations of jazz, the weary traveller, the comforting old mammy, the red-hot baby, have become a formula of expression only, as empty and convenient as the harlequin and columbine of the nineteenth century. 1935Time 21 Jan. 58 Sophie Tucker, famed as ‘the last of the red hot mamas’. 1936Wodehouse Laughing Gas ii. 24 The bride-to-be is probably some frightful red-hot mamma. 1940O. Nash Face is Familiar 87 Affection..leads to breach of promise If you go round lavishing it on red-hot momise. 1942Z. N. Hurston in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 223/2 A red hot pimp like you say you is, ain't got no business in the barrel. 1950A. Lomax Mister Jelly Roll 69 A red-hot bass player, seventy-nine years old, a proud Creole. 1957R. Hoggart Uses of Literacy v. 132, I first heard ‘Paper Doll’ sung in the ‘red-hot’ fashion by an American star crooner. 1976in D. Villiers Next Year in Jerusalem 204 (caption) ‘The Last of the Red Hot Mommas’, Sophie Tucker. 1977J. Wainwright Do Nothin' xi. 183 It was jive and blues; either red-hot or smoochy.
b. Of things, actions, etc.: Burning, scorching, urgent, violent, furious, etc. Also, sensational, lively, exciting, intense.
1647Ward Simp. Cobler (1843) 38, I will..leave the red-hot question to them that dare handle it. c1790Wolcott (P. Pindar) Lousiad v. Wks. 1812 I. 236 Then quick he aim'd, of red-hot anger full, His nails of vengeance. 1852Motley Corr. (1889) I. v. 142 Some singeing, scorching, red-hot review. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xviii. xiii. (1872) VIII. 37 Of Fermor's redhot savagery on Cüstrin, it is lamentably necessary we should say something. 1879E. K. Bates Egypt. Bonds II. viii. 207 Oscar strikes up a red-hot flirtation with some..country beauty. 1887Lantern 19 Feb. 6/1 A red-hot newsy journal. 1891‘Mark Twain’ in Harper's Mag. Dec. 97 Suddenly a red-hot new idea came whistling down into my camp. 1904J. C. Lincoln Cap'n Eri xi. 205 ‘‘Fightin' Fred Starlight, the Boy Rover of the Pacific’,’ he read aloud. ‘Humph! Is it good?’ ‘Bet your life! It's a red-hot story.’ 1915Wodehouse Psmith Journalist v. 33 My idea is that Cosy Moments should become red-hot stuff. I could wish its tone to be such that the public will wonder why we do not print it on asbestos. 1955Times 16 May 3/3 Local propaganda on the virtues of nationalization has resembled rather the cooing of lethargic doves than the strident militancy of red hot Socialism. 1969John Edwards Mem. Foundation Q. V. ii. 60 An urban audience more accustomed to ‘red hot’ fox trots than to barn dances. 1977Belfast Tel. 24 Jan. 18/6 The clinching of these red-hot finals must be hailed as another major breakthrough for the sport.
c. Very warm (as the favourite for a race).
1882Daily Tel. 30 Jan., The first-named won three races..and was each time a ‘red hot’ favourite.
d. Austral. slang. Unfair, unreasonable.
1896H. Lawson While Billy Boils 281 When..she paused for breath, he drew a long one, gave a short whistle, and, said: ‘Well, it's red-hot!’ 1907A. Wright Keane of Kalgoorlie 107 ‘It's red 'ot,’ put in Dave, ‘th'way these 'ere owners makes er pore man give 'em a lump in th' sweep.’ 1941Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 59 A red hot price.
3. red-hot poker, a tall perennial herb of the genus Kniphofia (formerly Tritoma), esp. K. uvaria, belonging to the family Liliaceæ, native to southern or tropical Africa, and bearing spikes of red, yellow, or white flowers.
1887‘F. Anstey’ Talking Horse (1892) 216 The dahlias and ‘red-hot pokers’ and gladioli..burnt with a sinister glow. 1897Westm. Gaz. 22 Nov. 2/1 Red Hot Poker. 1916M. Hampden Flower Culture xvii. 206 Red-hot pokers are not over [in November]. 1934G. A. R. Phillips Aristocrats of Flower Border xiii. 191 Far more descriptive of its vivid beauty are the common names of torch lily and red hot poker. 1971H. Evans How to cheat at Gardening xi. 168 The Red Hot Poker..looks marvellous mixed with Sea Holly.
4. as n. A frankfurter; a hot dog. U.S. slang.
1892Chicago Figaro vi. 157/2 The appetizing savors of ‘red hots’. 1934J. T. Farrell Calico Shoes 46 Don leaned against the thrown-together red hot stand, munching at a hot-dog sandwich. 1971B. Malamud Tenants 143, I got this redhot with mustard on it I'm gonna eat my meat. |