steam up

verb

steamed up; steaming up; steams up

transitive verb

: to make angry or excited : arouse

Examples of steam up in a Sentence

finding yet another mistaken charge on his hospital bill really steamed him up
Recent Examples on the Web On April 25, 1915, when British, French, and Australian and New Zealand troops landed on the strategic Gallipoli Peninsula, their objective was to knock out Ottoman defenses and make way for Allied navies to steam up the Dardanelles strait toward Istanbul. Steven A. Cook, Foreign Affairs, 23 Apr. 2015 The warm air from the vent is blowing around my head, trapped in the car, steaming up the windshield, obscuring the gloom outside. Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, The New Yorker, 12 June 2023 Place the bowl in the microwave and turn it on high power for several minutes until the mixture boils and the window steams up. Amanda Garrity, Good Housekeeping, 31 May 2023 As the Valencia steamed up the coast, the weather worsened. Longreads, 4 May 2023 Netflix’s passionate drama is returning with a second season to steam up your small screens. Erin Jensen, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2023 Feel free to steam up some broccoli and sprinkle it with some cheese, but maybe steer clear of the frozen broccoli and cheese concoction that might seem more convenient, but bumps your salt intake. Melissa Matthews, Men's Health, 19 Dec. 2022 Emma Corrin and Jack O’Connell steam up the screen as kindred spirits ignited by carnal passion in Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s sharp and sensuous adaptation of the D.H. Lawrence novel about an upper-class woman’s affair with a working-class man. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Sep. 2022 Wait for a roller to steam up, take it to a section of hair, clip it, and repeat all over your head. ELLE, 17 Mar. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'steam up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of steam up was in 1922

Dictionary Entries Near steam up

Cite this Entry

“Steam up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/steam%20up. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

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