I. warm up phrasal verb ( see also ↑ warm )
1 . MAKE WARM to become warm, or to make someone or something warm:
With the fire on, the room should soon warm up.
Once the weather warms up, you can move the plants outdoors.
warm something ↔ up
I turned on the grill to warm it up.
warm somebody up
Come inside and have a drink. It’ll warm you up.
2 . FOOD to heat food, especially food that has already been cooked, so that it is hot enough to eat, or to become hot enough to eat
warm something ↔ up
I’ll put the lasagne in the oven to warm it up.
3 . DO EXERCISES to do gentle physical exercises to prepare your body for dancing, sport etc:
The runners began warming up.
⇨ ↑ warm-up 1 (1), ↑ warm-up 2 (2)
4 . MACHINE/ENGINE if a machine or engine warms up, or if you warm it up, it becomes ready to work properly after being switched on:
He waited for the photocopier to warm up.
warm something ↔ up
He started to warm up the aircraft’s engines.
5 . EVENT if a party, election etc warms up, it starts to become enjoyable or interesting, especially because more is happening:
The race for governor is beginning to warm up.
6 . PRACTISE if musicians, singers, or performers warm up, they practise just before a performance:
The band had little time to warm up before going on stage.
7 . PERFORM/SPEAK FIRST to perform or speak first at an event, so that the people listening are relaxed or excited before the main singer, speaker etc comes on
warm somebody ↔ up
He warmed up the audience by telling them a few jokes.
warm up for
They warmed up for U2 on one of their early tours.
⇨ look/feel like death warmed up/over at ↑ death (8)
II. warm 2 BrE AmE ( also warm up ) verb [intransitive and transitive]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ warmth , the warm, ↑ warmer , ↑ warming ; adverb : ↑ warmly , ↑ warm ; adjective : ↑ warm , ↑ warming ; verb : ↑ warm ]
to make someone or something warm or warmer, or to become warm or warmer:
They gathered round the fire to warm their hands.
warm yourself
Warm yourself by the fire.
warm to somebody/something ( also warm up to somebody/something American English ) phrasal verb
1 . to begin to like someone you have just met:
Bruce didn’t warm to him as he had to Casey.
2 . to become more eager, interested, or excited about something
warm to a theme/subject/topic etc
The more she spoke, the more she warmed to her subject.
Voters are starting to warm up to the idea.
warm up phrasal verb
1 . MAKE WARM to become warm, or to make someone or something warm:
With the fire on, the room should soon warm up.
Once the weather warms up, you can move the plants outdoors.
warm something ↔ up
I turned on the grill to warm it up.
warm somebody up
Come inside and have a drink. It’ll warm you up.
2 . FOOD to heat food, especially food that has already been cooked, so that it is hot enough to eat, or to become hot enough to eat
warm something ↔ up
I’ll put the lasagne in the oven to warm it up.
3 . DO EXERCISES to do gentle physical exercises to prepare your body for dancing, sport etc:
The runners began warming up.
⇨ ↑ warm-up 1 (1), ↑ warm-up 2 (2)
4 . MACHINE/ENGINE if a machine or engine warms up, or if you warm it up, it becomes ready to work properly after being switched on:
He waited for the photocopier to warm up.
warm something ↔ up
He started to warm up the aircraft’s engines.
5 . EVENT if a party, election etc warms up, it starts to become enjoyable or interesting, especially because more is happening:
The race for governor is beginning to warm up.
6 . PRACTISE if musicians, singers, or performers warm up, they practise just before a performance:
The band had little time to warm up before going on stage.
7 . PERFORM/SPEAK FIRST to perform or speak first at an event, so that the people listening are relaxed or excited before the main singer, speaker etc comes on
warm somebody ↔ up
He warmed up the audience by telling them a few jokes.
warm up for
They warmed up for U2 on one of their early tours.
⇨ look/feel like death warmed up/over at ↑ death (8)