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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of warm (up)
Nancy Gibbs, Time, 17 Oct. 2025
But Steinman lacked the meticulous attention to detail they had been conditioned to demand by Lange, going so far as to accept an out-of-tune warm-up take.
—Todd Longwell, Variety, 9 Oct. 2025
After a few warm-up throws, Tua Tagovailoa flexed his left hand.
—Miami Herald, 9 Oct. 2025
End your warm-up session with a light jog.
—J'ne Day-Lucore, Outside, 7 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for warm (up)
Noun
Meanwhile warm-up demonstrations in Portland feature protestors in inflatable animal costumes—lots of frogs, along with unicorns, chickens, dinosaurs dancing in the streets, providing an alternative visual to the menace of masked enforcement agents.
—Nancy Gibbs, Time, 17 Oct. 2025
But Steinman lacked the meticulous attention to detail they had been conditioned to demand by Lange, going so far as to accept an out-of-tune warm-up take.
—Todd Longwell, Variety, 9 Oct. 2025
After a few warm-up throws, Tua Tagovailoa flexed his left hand.
—Miami Herald, 9 Oct. 2025
End your warm-up session with a light jog.
—J'ne Day-Lucore, Outside, 7 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for warm (up)
Recent Examples of Synonyms for warm (up)
Verb
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Contractors working on the project recently completed pouring the foundation for what will provide smaller housing units meant to make quarantining detainees with communicable illnesses safer and easier.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
3 Nov. 2025
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Casting directors Cindy Tolan, Lucy Bevan and Patricia Vasconcelos provided a masterclass and held a series of casting sessions with Portuguese actors in the build-up to Passaporte Lisboa, a casting festival that runs in November.—
Martin Dale,
Variety,
2 Nov. 2025
Noun
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In Danis Tanovic’s underseen drama, Farrell plays an Irish war photographer who gets separated from his best friend and colleague in Iraqi Kurdistan in the prelude to Saddam Hussein’s 1988 extermination campaign against the Kurds.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
30 Oct. 2025
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At first, the scene feels like an engrossing, elevating prelude.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The peaches were used to make the salsas produced by both manufacturers and supplied to Kroger locations.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
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Companies used the standpipe to bring water to the Rio Verde Foothills housing development after Scottsdale stopped supplying that community with water for several months in 2023.—
Austin Corona,
AZCentral.com,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Santana finished a weak fourth in the preliminary.—
Joe Battenfeld,
Boston Herald,
21 Oct. 2025
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In 1988: Greg Louganis won the gold medal in the 3-meter springboard at the Seoul Olympics one day after hitting his head on the diving board during the preliminaries.—
Arizona Republic,
AZCentral.com,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Tables and playing pieces are furnished.—
Kris Slugg,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
3 Nov. 2025
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In addition, organizations would likely struggle to fund the start-up costs of building or furnishing a new building meant to house homeless veterans, plus provide all of the resources offered in Green Bay and Chippewa Falls previously.—
Laura Schulte,
jsonline.com,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force and Navy both operate advanced jamming aircraft, such as the J-16D, equipped with pods that can disrupt radar, GPS, and datalinks across wide areas.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Nov. 2025
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The American automaker says that models equipped with larger battery packs are capable of over 300 miles of driving range.—
Charles Singh,
USA Today,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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While each of these submarines is designed to carry up to 16 nuclear missiles, France only possesses 48 ballistic missiles—enough to arm three submarines, as the remaining vessel is always undergoing routine maintenance, the Nuclear Information Project said.—
Ryan Chan,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
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Gripen fighters have the reputation of being relatively cheap and easy to maintain and arm, and able to operate in austere conditions – using roads or even dirt roads for runways.—
Brad Lendon,
CNN Money,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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San Diego police’s Homeless Outreach Team has educated homeless people about the safe parking lot program and how to avoid tickets for oversized vehicles, and has helped them get connected with services like housing help.—
Kristen Taketa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Nov. 2025
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His five-year goal is to continue educating people on the practical uses of AI through his dedication to lifelong learning and helping others succeed in the evolving technological world.—
K. H. Koehler,
USA Today,
4 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Warm (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/warm%20%28up%29. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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