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

Here's a look at some of the races: Taylor race for mayor, council heats up over towing contract In Taylor, Downriver's largest city, Mayor Tim Woolley is facing three challengers: Timothy Long, David Mortensen, and Herman 'Butch' Ramik. —Niraj Warikoo, Freep.com, 7 Aug. 2025

The process of seasoning involves heating up unsaturated fats, often high-heat oils like grape-seed oil or canola oil, atop a porous metal like carbon steel or cast iron. —Matthew Korfhage, Wired News, 6 Aug. 2025

The Middle East beauty scene is heating up as Ulta Beauty also prepares to launch there via a licensing agreement with Alshaya Group. —Kathryn Hopkins, Footwear News, 6 Aug. 2025

Should jobs creation rebound from its early summer slump or inflation heat up, then a cut might become less probable. —Simon Moore, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025

Rhymes for heat up

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