heat up

phrasal verb

heated up; heating up; heats up

: to become warm or hot

The morning started out cold but it heated up quickly.

: to become more active, intense, or angry

Their conversation started to heat up.

Competition between the two companies is heating up.

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 For one, the solar wind continued to heat up after leaving the hot corona without explanation. —

Yeimy J. Rivera, Discover Magazine, 6 Sep. 2024 The reunion rumors started heating up when Juvenile revealed in May that the former group consisting of himself, Lil Wayne, B.G. and Young Turk were going to perform at Essence Fest and were working on a new album. —

Angel Diaz, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2024 As a result, the top few inches of soil or rock heat up rapidly over the course of a day, and in turn warm the overlying air. —

Ned Kleiner, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2024 As Congress moves slowly, local action is likely to heat up. —

Maria Curi, Axios, 14 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for heat up

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'heat up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.