heat up

phrasal verb

heated up; heating up; heats up

1

: to become warm or hot

The morning started out cold but it heated up quickly.

2

: to become more active, intense, or angry

Their conversation started to heat up.

Competition between the two companies is heating up.

3

heat (something) up or heat up (something) : to cause (something) to become warm or hot

Could you heat up the vegetables, please?

Examples of heat up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Big Dance heats up on Saturday night with Elite Eight matchups between Texas Tech (3) and Florida (1) and Alabama (2) and Duke (1). —Ron Estes, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Mar. 2025

The moisturizing strip heats up, providing soothing warmth, much in the same way a hot towel softens the skin. —Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 2025

The update comes as OpenAI sets new priorities for its C-suite and as competition heats up in generative AI. 5. —Sara Salinas, CNBC, 27 Mar. 2025

Last year there were 85 aviation incidents recorded related to electronic devices heating up, and in 2025, there have been 6 incidents so far, per the FAA. —Kimberlee Speakman, People.com, 25 Mar. 2025

Rhymes for heat up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup