turn up the heat

• turn on the heat (UK)

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turn up the heat (third-person singular simple present turns up the heat, present participle turning up the heat, simple past and past participle turned up the heat)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see turn up,‎ heat.
2. (idiomatic) To increase the intensity of activity or discomfort.

   The discovery of a third batch of unsecured documents in a third location is turning up the heat on the White House.

   • 2011 May 5, James Barron, Colin Moynihan, “Obama Visits Firehouse in Midtown Manhattan”, in New York Times‎^[1], retrieved 24 November 2011:

     For Firefighter Joseph Ceravolo, President Obama turned up the heat, so to speak, even before he sat down to an early lunch on Thursday.