Meanings
nounhot check (plural hot checks)
plural hot checks
- TexasUSA check with non-sufficient funds (not enough money in the bank to back it up), written fraudulently.
And you don’t go writing hot checks down in Mississippi,
1978, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, “There Ain’t No Good Chain Gang”, in I Would Like to See You Again, Columbia Records
Origin
From sense hot (“illegal, stolen”) – compare hot property (“stolen goods”).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
hot check. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hot%20check
MLA
“hot check.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hot%20check. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hot check,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hot%20check.
Source: hot check on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.