heater
n.— «Bernie Murray, head of the Felony Trial Division in the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, said that though the office handles more sexual assaults in economically depressed areas of the city, he understands when some cases become “heaters.” “In deference to (the media), if there’s a neighborhood where there is not a lot of crime, and then you have a situation where there’s a serial rapist in the area, that’s news,” Murray said.» —“Rapes in poor areas rarely get spotlight” by David Heinzmann, Jeff Coen Chicago Tribune Jan. 4, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Advice about college essays from the winner of a top prize for children’s literature: Kelly Barnhill encourages teens to write about experiences that are uniquely their own, from a point of view that is theirs and no one else’s. Plus, why do we say...
While compiling the Oxford English Dictionary, lexicographer James Murray exchanged hundreds of letters a week with authors, advisors, and volunteer researchers. A new collection online lets you eavesdrop on discussions about which words should be...