A hot dog is a cooked sausage served in a long, soft bun. The sausage itself, usually made from beef or pork, is called a frankfurter or wiener. People top hot dogs with mustard, ketchup, relish, onions, or whatever else sounds good. Hot dogs are classic American food at baseball games, cookouts, and summer picnics.

Hot dogs became wildly popular because they're cheap, tasty, and easy to eat with one hand while watching a game or walking around a fair. Nathan's Famous, a hot dog stand that opened at Coney Island in 1916, helped make them an American icon. Today, Americans eat about 20 billion hot dogs per year.

As a noun, the term hot dog can also mean someone who shows off, especially an athlete doing flashy, unnecessary moves. As a verb, to hot dog (or hotdog) means to show off in that way. If a skateboarder lands a trick and then does an extra spin just to look cool, someone might call them a hot dog or say they're hotdogging.