warmer-upper

[wawr-mer-uhp-er]

noun

Informal.

1. something that provides one with invigorating warmth.

   Hot soup is a good warmer-upper after skiing.

2. something that serves to warm up an audience or group of participants before a main event.

   Radio stations played martial music as a warmer-upper before the prime minister's speech.

Word History and Origins

Origin of warmer-upper¹

1940–45; warm up + -er ¹, applied pleonastically to both v. and particle