Meaning & use
hotboxing a cigarette
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Meaning
phrasefixed phraseslanginformal
the act of smoking a cigarette in a small closed space so that the smoke fills the area.
Grammar: Used as a noun phrase; the verb form is 'hotbox a cigarette'.
Patterns
- hotbox a cigarette
- hotboxing a cigarette in a car
They were hotboxing a cigarette in the car with the windows up.
Hotboxing a cigarette in a small room makes the smoke very thick.
He got a headache after hotboxing a cigarette in the bathroom.
Common combinations
- hotbox a cigarette
- They decided to hotbox a cigarette in the shed.
- hotboxing in a car
- Hotboxing in a car leaves a strong smell.
- with the windows up
- They were hotboxing a cigarette with the windows up.
Synonyms and how they differ
- chain-smoking
- Chain-smoking means smoking one cigarette after another; hotboxing is about the enclosed space, not the number of cigarettes.
Commonly confused: hotboxing a cigarette or hotboxing a room?
hotboxing a cigarette vs hotboxing a room
The same idea can apply to rooms or cars, but 'hotboxing a cigarette' specifically names the cigarette being smoked.
Practice
What does 'hotboxing a cigarette' mean?
Choose one answer.
Hotboxing means smoking in an enclosed space so the smoke fills it. Option An is a literal but wrong reading of 'hot', and option C describes stubbing out a cigarette.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hotboxing a cigarette”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.