What would be some characteristics of a cold war as opposed to a hot war?

One main characteristic is that a cold war is carried out by the government where the main goal is to defeat each other on the political stage not on the battle field. A hot war is an actual war between to countries army. This can result in many lives lost and lots of destruction.

Hope this helps!  

theodore roosevelt challenged william to a duel, whoever won, got their policy sent to congress. it ended up in a stalemate, and both men were injured and sent to the hospital.