steam up
English
[edit]Verb
[edit]steam up (third-person singular simple present steams up, present participle steaming up, simple past and past participle steamed up)
- To become steamy.
- To become coated with condensation.
- Synonym: fog up
- The bathroom mirror steamed up when he opened the shower door.
- 1953 July, Allen Rowley, “First Impressions of American Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 493:
- The large plateglass window, from which I had an excellent view of the countryside the following day, was prevented from steaming up by a de-misting device.
- (transitive) To bring (a steam boiler) up to working steam pressure: to build up a head of steam inside (a boiler).
- It takes about an hour to steam up the locomotive.
- (intransitive) to build up a head of steam.
- Engine 99 had been steaming up since 21:00.
- 1919, Joseph Conrad, Typhoon, page 8:
- "The master of the Nan-Shan [...] desired Mr. Rout to have steam up to-morrow afternoon at one o'clock sharp."
- (transitive) To cook by steaming.
- I'll steam up a bunch of dumplings.
Related terms
[edit]- steaming up (noun)