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fog up

B1 neutral separable both
In simple words

Get covered in mist or steam so you can't see through it — like glasses or a car windscreen.

Literal meaning: To become covered in fog or a fog-like substance — fully transparent.

Meanings

1 B1 neutral

Of a glass surface, to become covered in condensation so that it is difficult or impossible to see through.

"My glasses fogged up the moment I walked into the warm kitchen from the cold."

Grammar: inseparable
2 B1 neutral

To cause a surface to become obscured with condensation or mist.

"The hot shower fogged up the bathroom mirror completely."

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

Most commonly used for glasses, mirrors, car windscreens, and windows. Very frequent in everyday British English. Can be intransitive ('my glasses fogged up') or transitive ('the steam fogged up the mirror'). American English more often uses 'fog up' or 'steam up' interchangeably.

Commonly used with

glasses windscreen windshield mirror visor windows lens

Forms

Base
fog up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
fogs up
he/she/it
Past simple
foged up
yesterday
Past participle
foged up
have + pp
-ing form
foging up
continuous

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