Hot Wheels

English

Alternative forms

• hot wheels

Etymology

From Hot Wheels, an American brand of scale model cars invented and coined by Elliot Handler and introduced by his company Mattel on 18 May 1968; likely from hot rod (“a passenger vehicle modified to run and/or accelerate faster”) +‎ wheels (“an automobile or other vehicle”), as the company was made to produce fantasy hot rods, but also proposed to be from hot (“very good, remarkable, exciting; nice”) +‎ wheels due to the uniqueness of the cars.

Noun

Hot Wheels pl (plural only, attributive Hot Wheel)

1. (informal) A scale model car created by Hot Wheels.
   • 1969 December 18, Howard McCoy, quotee, “Letters to Santa Claus”, in The Herald, page 21:

     I would like you to bring me a G. I. Joe, a hot wheels,^[sic] Movie^[sic] projector, bike and Spirograph.^[sic]

   • 1989 October 30, Jenny Labalme, “Donaldson's car is 'one-of-a-kind'”, in The Anniston Star, page 5A:

     But what is this contraption Greg Donaldson finished a month ago? That, says Donaldson, is the first question most people ask when they spot the red object that looks like a cross between a Hot Wheels and a Star Wars spaceship.

   • 2000, Herb Childress, Landscapes of Betrayal, Landscapes of Joy: Curtisville in the Lives of Its Teenagers, State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 205:

     Becky glanced briefly at her hand, more interested in the Dirty Dancing soundtrack on the CD player than in poker. Besides, she always brought junk to bet with—her mom was a dental hygienist, and Becky had once again showed up with a bag of Colgate samples and old magazines. "I'll match with a dental floss, and raise you a Hot Wheels and a condom."

   • 2022, Paco Jenkins, Walking Towards God, Dorrance Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 11:

     One night my brother and I had an argument over a Hot Wheels and I remember going to bed wishing I was bigger and stronger so I could beat the tar out of him, I was angry and furious.