Definitions

to warm sth up

Etymology phono-semantic

fire

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

A phono-semantic compound, has the fire radical (huǒ) on the left, anchoring it to concepts of heat and fire, while (wú) on the right functions as the phonetic component, supplying the pronunciation. Its core meaning is to warm something up by placing it near a heat source or using body heat to remove the cold. It describes everyday gentle heating: warming hands over a stove, keeping something warm under blankets, or using a hot water bottle, as opposed to burning or large-scale combustion.