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

Now that Utah has gone through the door first, don’t be surprised to see those discussions heat up. —Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 11 Dec. 2025

Continue reading … BALLOT BRAWL – Democrats split over Crockett’s Senate bid as Texas primary race heats up. —FOXNews.com, 11 Dec. 2025

The race to the playoffs is heating up with just four more weeks for teams to work their way into position! —Jim Reineking, USA Today, 11 Dec. 2025

Dust devils on Mars form when air near the warm surface heats up and rises through cooler surrounding air, causing nearby air to rush in and start rotating. —Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 10 Dec. 2025

Rhymes for heat up

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