hot line

hotline

1. A telecommunications link, especially a telephone line, that provides fast, direct access to a source of information, confidential assistance, or emergency aid. We've set up a hotline for any potential witnesses to come forward with information about the incident.
2. A direct and immediate line of communication between the heads of different governments, used especially for or during an international crisis. The hotline between the U.S. and Canada has been in constant use after the terrorist attack at the border of the two countries.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

hot line

A telephone line that gives quick and direct access to a source of information or help. For example, Our state has an AIDS hot line in every county. This term was originally (and is still) used for a direct link between heads of government for use during a crisis, but was quickly extended to wider applications. [1950s]
See also: hot, line
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
See also:
  • a hot line
  • hotline
  • a helping hand
  • Can you keep a secret?
  • Could you keep a secret?
  • swift and sure
  • outed
  • link farm
  • bird of (one's) own brain
  • link up
References in periodicals archive
* designing a poster that highlighted the anonymous hot line number, reinforced the company's new business values and showed how the new values supported ethics
McCabe added: ''The hot line was only a small part of the healthy living campaign.
The ''120'' emergency hot line, which provides SARS assistance and counseling to people, including those who fear they or others close to them have been infected, has been receiving more than 1,000 calls daily since an upsurge in inquiries began at the beginning of May.
Besides the 23 prefectures, including Kagoshima and Hokkaido, where the hot line will be set up, four prefectures -- Ishikawa, Nara, Okayama and Saga -- will set up a similar hot line from Friday through June 15.
There is little objection to the hot line or the background checks, even though the latter would be costly, but the fine increases will cut into the money available to improve care in many facilities.
In an emergency, you can call 911 or the Child Abuse Hot Line at 800-422-4453 or National Domestic Violence Hot Line at 800-799-SAFE.
In the United States and Canada, UltraCare Service includes a toll-free hot line available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to request on-site service.
When information-seeking is a desired outcome, mass media campaigns include a hot line for people to call for additional information.
Kuromiya, who published an AIDS newsletter and ran a 24-hour information hot line, also helped start the Philadelphia chapter of ACT UP.
"Some people who call our hot line have problems with the cost of insurance.
One of Japan's biggest railway companies Wednesday opened a trial hot line for people in distress, hoping to reduce the number of people committing suicide by diving in front of its trains, a major cause of delays on its network.
In fact, not just Washton's hot line, but drug and crisis hot lines all over the country were getting distress calls from about 1980 in which people reported extreme mood swings, social withdrawal, and paranoid ideation and behavior in their cocaine-using friends and relatives.
The ground-level narrative in Massing's book tells the story of Raphael Flores, proprietor of Hot Line Cares, a perpetually broke drug treatment office Flores founded in 1970.
Where Will seems capable of exiting his daunting narcissism only by calling the Fidelity hot line to check his swelling balances, Joel convenes with the world around him through a semiotically revisionist empathy.
The beer site includes information on beer education, history, recipes for cooking with beer, a glossary of beer terms and styles and a Samuel Adams merchandise hot line. According to the company, the website is "dedicated to beer enthusiasts who know a little or a lot about craft beers and the art of brewing; the Samuel Adams site serves as a comprehensive reference source, a fun and dynamic way to learn about beer and brewing and a boundless Samuel Adams compendium for thirsty beer lovers."