Describes an electronic interface that allows one device to be connected or disconnected from another while both devices are powered on. For example, to connect a scanner or disk drive to a computer via USB, one can simply plug it into the USB port and work with it straight away, without having to turn the computer off, restart, or otherwise interrupt your work.

Another example is Firewire, while an example of an interface that is not hot-pluggable is SCSI.

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