the heat
noun
: pressure to do something
The administration is putting the heat on legislators to approve the tax bill.
She's at her best when the heat is on with tight deadlines.
The company has turned up the heat on its employees to finish the job quickly.
Note: The expression if you can't stand/take the heat, get out of the kitchen means that you should not try to do a difficult job if you cannot deal with the pressure and problems that are part of the job.
Examples of the heat in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
To try to alleviate the situation, a startup is working on cutting the heat produced in computation by making computing reversible.
—
Dina Genkina, IEEE Spectrum, 25 Dec. 2025
The flames of the forge exacerbated the heat, leading the younger Penn to collapse, according to Arngrim.
—Daysia Tolentino, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Dec. 2025
Increase the heat to high and add the carrots, coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce and 3 cups of the stock.
—Karla Walsh, CNN Money, 23 Dec. 2025
Turn off the heat and add the cold half-and-half into the mix, which should help stop the cooking.
—Caroline C. Boyle, USA Today, 23 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for the heat
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Dina Genkina, IEEE Spectrum, 25 Dec. 2025
The flames of the forge exacerbated the heat, leading the younger Penn to collapse, according to Arngrim.
—Daysia Tolentino, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Dec. 2025
Increase the heat to high and add the carrots, coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce and 3 cups of the stock.
—Karla Walsh, CNN Money, 23 Dec. 2025
Turn off the heat and add the cold half-and-half into the mix, which should help stop the cooking.
—Caroline C. Boyle, USA Today, 23 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for the heat
Cite this Entry
“The heat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20heat. Accessed 1 Jan. 2026.
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