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

Finally, its now-inert core contracts down to form a white dwarf, while the prior ejecta get heated up and ionized, creating a planetary nebula. —Big Think, 20 Feb. 2026

The New York trip announcement comes as Texas’ financial scene is heating up, with Dallas at the heart of it. —Dallas Morning News, 19 Feb. 2026

With Styles and Delane going right before Dallas, trade talks heated up. —The Athletic Nfl Staff, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2026

In the 1960s, King convened with Freedom Riders in the private dining room upstairs to plan and strategize as the movement heated up. —Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 17 Feb. 2026

Rhymes for heat up

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