Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - heat up

1. When you heat something up, especially food which has already been cooked and allowed to go cold, you make it hot. Freda heated up a pie for me. = warm up PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron) 2. When a situation heats up, things start to happen much more quickly and with increased interest and excitement among the people involved. Then in the last couple of years, the movement for democracy began to heat up. = hot up ? cool off PHRASAL VERB: V P 3. When something heats up, it gradually becomes hotter. In the summer her mobile home heats up like an oven. ? cool down PHRASAL VERB: V P HEATED 1. A heated discussion or quarrel is one where the people involved are angry and excited. It was a very heated argument and they were shouting at each other... ? calm ADJ 2. If someone gets heated about something, they get angry and excited about it. You will understand that people get a bit heated about issues such as these... ADJ: v-link ADJ about/over n • heatedly The crowd continued to argue heatedly about the best way to tackle the problem. ADV: ADV with v