turn up the heat

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Definition

Verb (phrasal verb): - To apply great or increased pressure: To intensify efforts, demands, or scrutiny on someone or something, often to force a specific action or outcome.

Usage

This phrasal verb is used to describe the act of making a situation more intense, urgent, or difficult for someone by increasing pressure. It is often used in contexts involving competition, negotiation, politics, or investigation.

Examples
  • Verb:
    • The prosecution plans to turn up the heat on the key witness during cross-examination.
    • Management turned up the heat on the project team to meet the impossible deadline.
    • To secure a better deal, we need to turn up the heat during the final negotiations.
Advanced Usage
  • "to turn up the heat on [someone/something]": This is the standard construction, specifying the target of the increased pressure.
    • The activist group is turning up the heat on corporations to adopt sustainable practices.
  • Used figuratively; it does not refer to literal temperature but to metaphorical pressure or intensity.
Variants and Related Words
  • Turn up the pressure: A direct synonym with identical meaning.
    • Investors turned up the pressure for a leadership change.
  • Turn the heat up: A grammatically flexible variant with the same meaning.
    • It's time to turn the heat up on this investigation.
  • Heat (n): In this context, "heat" metaphorically means pressure, criticism, or intense scrutiny.
    • He couldn't handle the heat from the media and resigned.
Synonyms
  • Intensify pressure: To increase the force or urgency of demands.
  • Press hard: To urge or push someone strongly.
  • Crank up the pressure: (Informal) To significantly increase demands or intensity.
Related Phrasal Verbs
  • Heat up: To become more intense or active. (Note: This is a related but distinct phrasal verb meaning "to intensify," often used for situations, not specifically for applying pressure to a target).
    • The debate over the policy is heating up.
Related Idioms
  • Put the screws on (someone): (Idiomatic) To pressure someone forcefully.
    • The creditors are putting the screws on the company to repay its debts.
  • Turn up the volume: (Idiomatic, analogous) To increase the intensity or level of something, often related to sound or effort.
    • We need to turn up the volume on our marketing campaign.
Verb
  1. apply great or increased pressure
    • The Democrats turned up the heat on their candidate to concede the election

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