as in prelude
a performance, activity, or event that precedes and sets the stage for the main event
the couple's initial exchange of insults proved to be only a warm-up for their booze-fueled fight later that night
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Recent Examples of warm (up)
Frank Digiacomo, Billboard, 15 Aug. 2025
The vegetable bins contained sodas, which warm-up comedian Michael Burger would give out to the audience.
—Erin Clements, People.com, 14 Aug. 2025
And then further up to its conference lineup, heady warm-up shows, and its seven main stages, each with its own unique character and lighting design that uses (or totally blocks) the sunlight of this (mostly) daytime festival to a subtle but enriching effect.
—Jeremy D. Larson, Pitchfork, 14 Aug. 2025
Novak Djokovic will enter the U.S. Open later this month without having played a hardcourt warm-up tournament.
—Adam Zagoria, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for warm (up)
Verb
The performance was a warm-up for his two-night return to the Garden on Aug. 15 and 16 — his first appearances there since the Trump rally.
—Frank Digiacomo, Billboard, 15 Aug. 2025
The vegetable bins contained sodas, which warm-up comedian Michael Burger would give out to the audience.
—Erin Clements, People.com, 14 Aug. 2025
And then further up to its conference lineup, heady warm-up shows, and its seven main stages, each with its own unique character and lighting design that uses (or totally blocks) the sunlight of this (mostly) daytime festival to a subtle but enriching effect.
—Jeremy D. Larson, Pitchfork, 14 Aug. 2025
Novak Djokovic will enter the U.S. Open later this month without having played a hardcourt warm-up tournament.
—Adam Zagoria, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for warm (up)
Recent Examples of Synonyms for warm (up)
Noun
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All of this was merely a prelude to the end game: Starfactory.—
Eric Berger,
ArsTechnica,
21 Aug. 2025
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The day will be a tremendous prelude to the Ryder Cup, which will be played in September at Bethpage Black, just over 200 miles northeast of Caves Valley Golf Club.—
Julio Cesar Valdera Morales,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Fiber connections provide fast and reliable service, often preferred for households with many devices or heavy streaming and gaming use.—
Kara McGinley,
USA Today,
19 Aug. 2025
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In law, a trade secret is a type of information that provides a competitive business advantage, is not known or shared with the public and reflects meaningful efforts designed to keep this information secret.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
18 Aug. 2025
Noun
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That’s a far cry from the 2023 election cycle, which didn’t include a preliminary for the City Council-at-Large race, due to there being only eight candidates.—
Gayla Cawley,
Boston Herald,
5 May 2025
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Today's listen Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The Scripps National Spelling Bee is celebrating its 100th anniversary this week, with preliminaries kicking off last night.—
Brittney Melton,
NPR,
28 May 2025
Verb
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Last week its drones struck the Druzhba pipeline that supplies Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia – two EU countries whose governments remain on good terms with Moscow.—
Tim Lister,
CNN Money,
23 Aug. 2025
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For personal listening on a phone or digital audio player, V-MODA also supplies a straight 1.5-meter cable.—
Mark Sparrow,
Forbes.com,
23 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Present information directly, furnished with verifiable facts and figures and structured clearly with heading tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.).—
Vaibhav Kakkar,
Forbes.com,
15 Aug. 2025
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The money furnished lavish lifestyles for call center operators.—
Michael Loria,
USA Today,
13 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Our adobe house was equipped with nothing but electricity—no plumbing, no running water—so a fair amount of physical labor was necessary to get through each day.—
Vivian Gornick,
New Yorker,
16 Aug. 2025
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The group’s divisions include a virtual production facility called V Studio, equipped with LED wall technology, and krADR, which runs ADR recording stages used by international studios.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The suspects, including one who was armed with an AR-style rifle, attempted to access the truck but were unable to due to the vehicle's security locking system, according to the station.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
14 Aug. 2025
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But around midnight on Aug. 3, a 41-year-old Maryland man named Kevin Moses Walker broke into the home of Holly and Michael Hatcher, 62 and 65, armed with a knife.—
Michael Ruiz,
FOXNews.com,
13 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The general public must be educated about what to do in a disaster.—
Chloe Demrovsky,
Forbes.com,
22 Aug. 2025
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That is why Alliance for Secure AI continuously works towards educating the regulators.—
William Jones,
USA Today,
22 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Warm (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/warm%20%28up%29. Accessed 29 Aug. 2025.
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