Green’s Dictionary of Slang

hot dog v.2

[hot dog n.2 ]

1. to show off.

L. Schecter Polo Grounds 49: [H]e began to hot-dog it, making the easy plays look hard.
[US]J. Wambaugh Glitter Dome (1982) 134: They grooved and jived and danced through the others, hot-dogging at speeds that would have produced maiming or death if they had collided.
[US]H. Rawson Dict. of Invective (1991) 202: hot dog. A show-off or, as a verb, to show off.
[US]Detroit Free Press (MI) 31 Jan. 36/1: A group of young men caught up in all the hoopla and hype [...] hotdogging it, trash-talking and acting as if they were above it all.
[US](con. 1975–6) E. Little Steel Toes 111: When anyone shows up drivin’ into the compound — ’specially hotdoggin’ in a Cuda — they will be met by a sawed-off shotgun.
[US]Chicago Trib. 18 Feb. 1/2: Some would call it show-boating, hot-dogging or just plain stupid.

2. to chase, to harass, to pursue.

[US]S. King Dead Zone (1980) 291: We have plenty of crazy politicians around [...] we’ve got Stillson who wants to hot dog his way into the House of Representatives.

3. (US) to perform very well.

[US]D. Burke Street Talk 2 68: He’s really hot doggin’ it out there.