heat up

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

There was some pink smoke at the start of the match from pyrotechnics, but the air eventually cleared as the action heated up and players from both teams shook off the rust from the long layoff. — Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 23 July 2026

The pricing war in AI is heating up as demand soars for open-source models, largely out of China. — Samantha Subin,mackenzie Sigalos,jonathan Vanian,jordan Novet, CNBC, 22 July 2026

This dispute surrounding the 2030 World Cup will heat up in the coming months. — Clemente Lisi, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026

Taylor Seely The race to become Arizona's next governor already has heated up. — Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 21 July 2026

Rhymes for heat up

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