heat up


Become acute or intense, as in If inflation heats up, the interest rate will surely rise, or The debate over the budget was heating up. [Early 1200s]

Words Nearby heat up

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use heat up in a sentence

  • For the next seven minutes I "thickened the heat up" by adding iron oxide to the bath.

    The Iron Puddler | James J. Davis
  • The molecular beams are instantly irresistible, while the heat beams take time to heat up the target.

    Islands of Space | John W Campbell
  • The relux plate, subject now to eddy currents, since there was no other path for the energy to take, began to heat up rapidly.

    Islands of Space | John W Campbell
  • The peas were turned out of the can, drained, seasoned and made ready to heat up quickly.

    Living on a Little | Caroline French Benton
  • Without these safeguards, the overloaded electric line will heat up and may start a fire.