hot-wire
verbEtymology From hot + wire, with hot referring to electrical current.
1
Slang To start an automobile engine by bypassing the ignition key wiring.
2
Slang To steal a vehicle by bypassing the ignition key's security.
- 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!1984, Alex Cox, Repo Man, spoken by Bud (Harry Dean Stanton):
- His attitude grew worse and his crimes escalated: he broke into garages in his neighborhood, he hot-wired cars, and his punches grew harder.2021, Zara Stone, Killer Looks: The Forgotten History of Plastic Surgery in Prisons, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 148: