to hot up
1
7.7
- phrasal verb
- /hɒt ʌp/
- UK
:
intensificarse
- Things began to hot up when the debate turned to controversial topics.
Examples
-
The dance floor is hotting up!
-
"The male-female war is hotting up," Weldon wrote in her first novel (FW, 98).
Fiction book (1993) -
The competition is really hotting up as more teams join the tournament.
-
As the party continued into the night, the atmosphere started to hot up with more laughter and music.
Synonyms
220
5.5
To become larger, more serious, or more intense
74
3.4
Make something greater in amount, speed or strength
70
4.1
Make people feel excited and ready to act
66
3.9
To make or become more active and interesting
64
2.7
To make something more active, alert or interested
57
3.4
To become more intense or make a situation more intense
47
4.1
To increase something, especially its amount or speed
39
3.8
To increase the level or strength of something, for example volume, production
28
4.1
Make someone feel excited and full of energy
26
4.2
Make a situation more urgent to force someone to act
25
4.1
Rise quickly to a much higher level
23
3.9
To make something more interesting or exciting
20
4.2
Become angry or excited during a discussion
16
3.1
Become more lively and cheerful after feeling tired or sad
14
4.1
To make people feel very excited and want to act
6
4.1
Make something more active and interesting
4
4.8
To make people feel excited and ready to act
4
4.9
To make someone or something more lively
3
4.1
Make someone or something more lively and interesting
3
5.6
To make someone feel very excited about something
2
4.4
Increase very quickly to a much higher level
2
5.1
Make something more interesting and lively, like a room or outfit
2
5.1
To make a feeling or desire stronger
1
5.4
To add fuel to a fire or make energy and excitement stronger
1
4.6
To suddenly start burning strongly or become much more intense
1
4.6
To make something faster or more active
Becoming stronger or more intense
To make feelings like anger or excitement stronger
Become angry or excited in a discussion
To work much harder and faster to get something done
To make food quickly or to cause strong excitement
Make people more interested and eager about something
Make an event like a party more lively and exciting
To make something more lively or exciting
Get more lively and active
Antonyms
How Intense
220
5.5
110
4.0
57
3.4
- UK
1
7.7
- Informal
66
3.9
- Informal
16
3.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The particle 'up' signals increase and 'hot' conveys higher intensity, so a learner could infer a general sense of making something more powerful or intense. However, the specific mechanical sense of tuning or modifying parts to improve an engine is metaphorical/specialized (and could be confused with 'heat up'), so the meaning is only partly predictable from the constituents.
Etymology
Hot up uses the idea of rising heat as a picture: when a meeting, argument, or event gets more heated it feels like a room getting warmer. So hot up means 'to become more intense or exciting'.