heaten

English

Etymology

From heat +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -iːtən

Verb

heaten (third-person singular simple present heatens, present participle heatening, simple past and past participle heatened)

1. (transitive, intransitive, literal, figurative) To increase in heat; make or become hotter
   • 1993, James A. Michener, Alaska:

     In 1958, when the debate heatened, an elderly gentleman of excellent reputation stepped regally into a Senate hearing room in Washington prepared to testify against statehood for Alaska.

   • 2007, David Russell, Dreality: A Story about Returning Home, page 353:

     Feeling it, the man's cheeks heatened like those of the accosted youngster amidst the hanging coats and paired-up galoshes.

Anagrams

• ethane