hot-wire

• hotwire

From hot +‎ wire, with hot referring to electrical current.

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hot-wire (third-person singular simple present hot-wires, present participle hot-wiring, simple past and past participle hot-wired)

1. (transitive, slang) To start an automobile engine by bypassing the ignition key wiring.
2. (transitive, slang) To steal a vehicle by bypassing the ignition key's security.
   • 1984, Alex Cox, Repo Man, spoken by Bud (Harry Dean Stanton):

     Never broke into a car, never hotwired a car. Never broke into a truck. 'I shall not cause harm to any vehicle nor the personal contents thereof, nor through inaction let the personal contents thereof come to harm' It's what I call the Repo Code, kid!

   • 2021, Zara Stone, Killer Looks: The Forgotten History of Plastic Surgery in Prisons, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 148:

     His attitude grew worse and his crimes escalated: he broke into garages in his neighborhood, he hot-wired cars, and his punches grew harder.

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