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

While the aging population has been an enduring investment theme over the past decade, the thesis is now heating up, analyst Ryan Daniels said in a note published Wednesday. —Michelle Fox, CNBC, 26 May 2025

Christopher Briney will be heating up our TVs when the Prime Video show’s final season premieres on July 16. —Ana Calderone, People.com, 25 May 2025

The former probably won’t have any problems using an iron that takes a while to heat up. —Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 23 May 2025

However, as current increases, transmission lines heat up and sag due to thermal expansion. —Erik Kobayashi-Solomon, Forbes.com, 22 May 2025

Rhymes for heat up

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