hot under the collar
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Black And Blue is BBC1's ‘ controversial’ 90-minute drama (Sun 27 Sept, 9.25pm) guaranteed to get the law and order brigade hot under the collar.
No - one cares unless there is a score, and that's when everyone gets hot under the collar about it’.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “hot under the collar” mean?
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Is “hot under the collar” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.