reheat

Meanings

1. 1verbtransitive

   To warm food again after it has already been cooked and has cooled down.

   Grammar: Takes an object: reheat the soup. The object is usually food or a drink.

   Patterns

   • reheat something
   • reheat something in something
   • reheat something for a time

   I'll reheat the leftovers for lunch.

   Reheat the rice in the microwave for two minutes.

   She reheated the soup on the stove and added more salt.

2. 2verbtransitivetechnical

   To heat something again in an industrial or technical process, such as air or metal.

   Grammar: Takes an object; common in technical writing about engines, furnaces and air systems.

   Patterns

   • reheat something
   • reheated air

   The furnace reheats the air before it enters the room.

   In some jet engines, the exhaust gases are reheated to produce extra thrust.

Word forms

Common combinations

reheat leftovers

We reheated the leftovers from Sunday dinner.

reheat in the microwave

Just reheat it in the microwave for a minute.

gently reheat

Gently reheat the sauce so it doesn't burn.

reheat thoroughly

Make sure you reheat the chicken thoroughly.

reheat on the stove

You can reheat the stew on the stove.

Synonyms and how they differ

warm up

More informal and general; you can warm up a room or your hands, but you reheat food that was already cooked.

heat up

Very close in everyday use, though it can also mean 'to become hot' without an object, which reheat cannot.

microwave

Names one specific way of reheating; reheat does not say how you do it.

Opposites

Word family

reheating noun

The act of warming something again, often in technical contexts.

preheat verb

To heat an oven before putting food in it.

heat verb

To make something warm or hot, whether or not it was hot before.

Commonly confused: reheat or preheat?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “reheat”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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