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

According to a recent Redfin report, 17.9 percent of pending home sales in Miami fell through in March, when spring homebuying season started to heat up, up from 16.1 percent a year earlier. —Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Apr. 2025

The market later slowed, though real estate agents are still seeing a surge of interest from out-of-staters with deep pockets — especially as the spring homebuying season heats up. —Nick Rosenberger, Idaho Statesman, 21 Apr. 2025

As the music festival season heats up, star acts like Green Day, Metallica, Lady Gaga and Fall Out Boy will take the stage. —Andrea Zarczynski, Forbes.com, 21 Apr. 2025

Temperatures in the Baltimore area are expected to heat up this weekend, according to the National Weather Service. —Todd Karpovich, Baltimore Sun, 18 Apr. 2025

Rhymes for heat up

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