get steamed up —(coll.) become excited, angry or very annoyed:
- You can buy another copy of the book you’ve lost, so there’s no need to get steamed up.
Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase steam up—(of a transparent or reflective surface) become clouded by steam:
- My glasses steamed up so much that I had to take them off to find the car.
get up steam—
1. (coll., also: put on steam) build up strength or energy; become more active:
- It was hard for us to get up enough steam to finish the work in one day.
2. = get steamed up:
- It’s no use talking further—we should only get up steam.