English

Noun

hot seat ‎(plural hot seats)

1. (slang) the electric chair
   • 1955, Rex Stout, "The Next Witness", in Three Witnesses, October 1994 Bantam edition, ISBN 0553249592, page 10:

     With deep creases slanting across the jowls of his dark bony face from the corners of his wide full mouth, and his sunken dark eyes, he was certainly a prime subject for the artists who sketch candidates for the hot seat for the tabloids, and for three days they had been making the most of it.

2. (by extension) any stressful situation

Derived terms

• in the hot seat