Synonyms

hot water

American

noun

Informal.

trouble; a predicament.

His skipping classes will get him into real hot water when exam time comes.

hot water Idioms

Trouble or difficulty, as in She's deep in political hot water, or We got in hot water over the car deal, or He's finally paid his tuition and is out of hot water with the school. This metaphoric term alludes to water hot enough to burn one. [First half of 1500s] Also see in trouble with.

Etymology

Origin of hot water

First recorded in 1530–40

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

We’d apparently run out of hot water while I sat on the floor staring at that message, and I inhaled hard as icy water jolted me out of my preoccupied fog.

From Literature

Bodies are wrapped in a shroud of biodegradable material such as silk or wool before being placed in a pressurised chamber with hot water and chemicals, speeding up decomposition.

From BBC

She has been filling plastic bottles with hot water to keep warm.

From Barron's

The UK's first geothermal power plant is set to go live, providing a completely new type of renewable electricity using hot water from underground.

From BBC

Balthilda poured hot water in the tub and held out soap and a brush to scrub myself.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023