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

Five-star reviewers love that the lightweight, compact device charges their phones quickly without heating up. —Isabel Garcia, PEOPLE, 31 Oct. 2025

Shortly after things heat up, an earthquake hits. —Ben Travers, IndieWire, 30 Oct. 2025

Check out these Sacramento bars as this football season continues to heat up. —Marcus Smith, Sacbee.com, 30 Oct. 2025

As global bond markets heated up in April, for example, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent began to call for de-escalation in order to stabilize them, even as Beijing indicated its willingness to stand firm. —Mira Rapp-Hooper, Foreign Affairs, 29 Oct. 2025

Rhymes for heat up

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