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 battle for robotaxi dominance is heating up, with Canadian self-driving truck startup Waabi joining the fray.
—
Danielle Chemtob, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
One trick for longer-lasting curl on your eyelashes is to heat up your eyelash curler using a blow dryer.
—Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 29 Jan. 2026
Interest in credit cards is expected to heat up in 2026.
—Natalie Wu
valentina Duarte, CNBC, 29 Jan. 2026
As water circulates through the equipment, the equipment cools, and the water heats up.
—Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 29 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for heat up
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Danielle Chemtob, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
One trick for longer-lasting curl on your eyelashes is to heat up your eyelash curler using a blow dryer.
—Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 29 Jan. 2026
Interest in credit cards is expected to heat up in 2026.
—Natalie Wu
valentina Duarte, CNBC, 29 Jan. 2026
As water circulates through the equipment, the equipment cools, and the water heats up.
—Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 29 Jan. 2026
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 31 Jan. 2026.
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