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 competition to deliver robotaxi services is heating up.
—
David Ingram, NBC news, 12 Nov. 2025
Things are heating up again in Utah.
—Lisa Respers France, CNN Money, 11 Nov. 2025
These two conflicts heat up very quickly, with Dale plunging his elbow into the soup and then getting in Ron’s face, telling him to kiss it.
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2025
Part of that gas gets slingshotted away, while the rest spirals into the black hole, heating up and glowing extremely bright.
—Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 9 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for heat up
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David Ingram, NBC news, 12 Nov. 2025
Things are heating up again in Utah.
—Lisa Respers France, CNN Money, 11 Nov. 2025
These two conflicts heat up very quickly, with Dale plunging his elbow into the soup and then getting in Ron’s face, telling him to kiss it.
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2025
Part of that gas gets slingshotted away, while the rest spirals into the black hole, heating up and glowing extremely bright.
—Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 9 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for heat up
Cite this Entry
“Heat up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heat%20up. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.
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