52 Phrasal Verbs

abide by

To follow a decision, a law or a rule

If you want to stay here, you simply have to abide by the rules.

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account for

To explain why you took a particular decision

I hope you can account for the missing money. 

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act upon

To take action

She acted upon her instincts and challenged the man.

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advise against

To recommend not doing something

I advise against pleading guilty in this case.

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agree with

To have the same opinion as another person.

I agree with you. You shouldn’t go there tomorrow.

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allow for

To take into consideration

We need to allow for unexpected costs along the way.

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appeal to

To plead or make a request.
He appealed to the court to change its decision.

apply for

To make a formal request for something (job, permit, loan etc.)

Jamie has just applied an online Legal English course with Legal English UK.

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back away

To move backwards, in fear or dislike

When he saw the bear, he backed away slowly whilst trying to keep eye contact.

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back down

To withdraw or admit defeat

The prosecution backed down when they realised that their witness was unlikely to turn up.

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back up

To make a copy of something (file, program, etc.)

You should back up all your computer files in a secure location.

 

back up

To support somebody.

I’m going to be very strict with him. I hope you’ll back me up on this?

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bank on

To base your hopes on something / someone

I’m banking on the witness to really help us out.

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black out

To faint, lose consciousness

Jenna fell in the parking lot and blacked out for at least a minute.

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block off

To separate using a barrier.

The police blocked off the street after the explosion.

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blow up

To explode

The bomb blew a building up in the downtown area but luckily nobody was inside.

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boil down to

To be summarised as

It all boils down to who has more power within the organisation.

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boot up

To start a computer by loading an operating system or program

You need to boot up your computer before you begin your work.

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break away

To separate from a crowd

One of the wolves broke away from the pack.

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break down

To go out of order, cease to function

The washing machine broke down so we had to call in the repair technician.

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break down

To lose control of one’s emotions

John broke down when he heard the news.

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break into

To enter by force

Somebody broke into my car last night and took the radio.

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break out

To start suddenly

Rioting broke out after the government raised taxes again.

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break out of

To escape from a place by force

Several prisoners broke out of the city prison last night.

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break up

To come to an end (marriage, relationship)

She broke up with Joe after dating him for five years.

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bring up

To raise (a child)

Sara is bringing up her children by herself.

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brush up on

To improve, refresh one’s knowledge of something

I must brush up on my Legal French before going to Paris next month.

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bump into

To meet by chance or unexpectedly

I bumped into Adam at the bank. He says “hello”.

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burn out

become exhausted from over-working

She needs to work fewer hours. Otherwise she will burn out.

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call back

To return a phone call

Could you please call back in ten minutes?

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call off

To cancel

The game was called off because of bad weather.

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calm down

To become more relaxed, less angry or upset

It took Kylie several hours to calm down after she saw the accident.

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carry on

To continue

The soldiers carried on walking in order to get to their post before dark.

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carry out

To do something as specified (a plan, an order, a threat)

His orders were carried out to the letter.

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check in

To register at a hotel or airport

They said I must check in at least three hours before my flight.

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check out

To pay one’s bill and leave (a hotel)

Donna checked out of the hotel this morning.

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clam up

To refuse to speak

When the police started asking questions, the suspect clammed up.

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clamp down on

To act strictly to prevent something

The local authorities have decided to clamp down on illegal parking in handicapped parking places.

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come across

To find by chance

I was cleaning up and came across some old photos of you.

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come forward

To present oneself

Has the owner of the winning lotto ticket come forward yet?

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count on

To rely or depend on (for help)

You can count on me to keep your secret.

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cut down on

To reduce in number or size

I’ve decided to cut down on the amount of sweets I eat.

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cut out

To stop doing something

You need to cut out all red meat from your diet.

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deal with

To handle, take care of (problem, situation)

Catherine is not good at dealing with stress.

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die down

To calm down, become less strong

After the storm died down, we went outside to see the damage it had caused.

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do without

To manage without

She didn’t get a salary this month, so she’ll have to do without extra treats.

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drag on

To last longer than expected

The suspect’s trial dragged on longer than we had expected!

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draw up

To write (contract, agreement, document)

They drew up a contract and had me sign it.

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dress up

wear elegant clothes

Their wedding gave us a chance to dress up and get out of the house.

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drop in

To visit, usually on the way somewhere

Why don’t you drop in to see us on your way home?

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drop off

To deliver someone or something

I’ll drop off the papers later today.

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drop out

To leave school without finishing

Zack dropped out of college and joined the army.

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ease off

To reduce, become less severe or slow down (pain, traffic, work)

Traffic usually eases off about 7pm

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end in

To finish in a certain way; result in

Her marriage ended in divorce.

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end up

To finally reach a state, place or action

If you don’t improve your work habits, you’ll end up being fired.

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fall through

To fail; doesn’t happen

His plans to trek through South America fell through when he got sick.

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figure out

To understand, find the answer

He’s trying to figure out how to earn enough money to go on the trip to Spain.

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fill out

To complete (a form/an application)

Please fill out the enclosed form and return it as soon as possible.

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find out

To discover or obtain information

I’m going to to find out who’s responsible for the power cut.

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focus on

To concentrate on something

Tom had difficulty focusing on work the day before his holiday started.

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get along (with)

To be on good terms; work well with

It’s important to get along with your team supervisor.

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get at

To imply

What are you getting at? Do you think I’m to blame?

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get away

To escape

I think we should get away for the weekend.

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get by

To manage to cope or to survive

Students without jobs have a hard time getting by.

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get in

To enter

When did you get in last night?

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get into (+noun)

To enter

How did you get into your car without the keys?

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get off

To remove

I can’t get the ink stain off my shirt.

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get on

To board (bus, train, plane)

I’m trying to get on the flight to Brussels.

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get on with (something)

To continue to do; make progress

After they split up, she had a hard time getting on with her life.

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get on (well) with (somebody)

To have a good relationship with

He doesn't get on very well with the other members of the committee.

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get out

To leave

He had a hard time getting out of Newark because of the snow.

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get out of

To avoid doing something

Edna’s trying to get out of working the night shift.

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get over

To recover from (illness, disappointment)

Has she gotten over the flu?

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get over

To recover from (illness, disappointment)

Mary had the chickenpox last week but she got over it.

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get rid of

To eliminate

Please get rid of that old t-shirt. It’s so ragged.

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get together

To meet each other

Let’s get together for your birthday on Saturday.

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get up

To rise, leave bed

Will you please get up? You’ve got a class in 20 minutes.

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give in

To To hand in; submit

I’ll give in my paper tomorrow.

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give up

To stop doing something

Morris gave up drinking 10 years ago.

go through

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grow up

To spend one’s childhood; develop; become an adult

He’s like Peter Pan. He never really grew up at all.

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hand in

To submit (report, homework)

Please hand in your papers before Friday.

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hand out

To distribute

Susan volunteered at the shelter where she handed out warm clothes.

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hang out

To spend time in a particular place or with a group of friends

Which pub does the team hang out at after the game?

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hang up

To end a phone conversation

If you hang up now, I’ll never speak to you again.

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hold on

To wait

Please hold on and a representative will answer your call.

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hurry up

To be quick, act speedily

Hurry up and finish your lunch or we’ll miss the train.

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iron out

To resolve by discussion, eliminate differences

The two countries met at the conference to iron out their differences.

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join in

To participate

Yes David, you can join in the discussion any time you like.

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join up

To engage in, become a member of

There was a war on, so some kids were only sixteen when they joined up.

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keep on

To continue doing something

If you keep on making that noise I will get annoyed.

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keep up with

To stay at the same level as someone or something

I read the paper every day to keep up with the news.

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kick off

To begin, start

The rugby match kicked off at 3 o’clock.

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leave out

To omit, not mention

Please check your form again and make sure nothing is left out.

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let down

To disappoint

I feel so let down because they promised me a puppy but all I got was a doll.

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look after

To take care of

Andy can you look after your sister until I get back?

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look down on

To consider as inferior

She’s such a snob. She always looks down on anyone who is poor.

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look on

To be a spectator at an event

If you don’t want to take part in the game you can look on for now.

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look for

To try to find something

Harry went to the shop to look for a new computer.

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look forward to

To await or anticipate with pleasure

I’m looking forward to my birthday. It’s in two days time.

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look up to

To admire

I always looked up to my father. He was a great man.

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make fun of

To laugh at/ make jokes about

It’s not nice to make fun of people in wheelchairs.

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make up

To invent (excuse, story)

That’s a good excuse. Did you make up it up yourself?

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mix up

To mistake one thing or person for another

She had so many cats that she kept mixing up their names.

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move in

To arrive in a new home or office

Did you hear? Our new neighbours are moving in this afternoon.

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move out

To leave your home/office for another one.

When are you moving out? We need your office for the new guy.

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nod off

To fall asleep

You were so tired after the game that you nodded off on the couch.

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own up

To admit or confess something

Come on. Own up. We know you did it!

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pass away

To die

Your grandfather passed away peacefully in his sleep last night.

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pass out

To faint

He didn’t drink enough water so he passed out at the end of the race.

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pay back

To reimburse

I’ll pay you back as soon as I get the loan.

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put off

To postpone, arrange a later date

Don’t put off until tomorrow, what you can do today.

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put on

To turn on, switch on

It’s very dark in here. Please put on the light on.

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put out

To extinguish

The fire fighters were able to put out fire in ten minutes.

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put up

To accommodate, give somebody a bed

I can put you up until the weekend but then I’m going away.

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pick up

To collect somebody

I’ll pick you up at around 7:00 to take you to the airport.

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point out

To indicate/direct attention to something

As I already pointed out, there was a mistake in your calculation.

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rely on

To count on, depend on, trust somebody

You can rely on me. I always arrive on time.

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rule out

To eliminate

Since he had a sound alibi, the police ruled him out as a suspect.

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run away

To escape from a place or suddenly leave

He ran away from home and joined the circus.

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run into

To meet by accident or unexpectedly (also: bump into)

I’m so glad I ran into you. I need to ask you something.

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run out of

To have no more of something.

It looks like we've run out of milk. I’ll just pop to the shop to buy some.

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set off

To start a journey.

Let’s set off early to miss the rush hour traffic.

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set up

To start a business

They set up their own company when they were still in high school.

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shop around

To compare prices

Don’t buy that. Let’s shop around and see if we can find something cheaper.

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show off

To brag or want to be admired

He’s such a show off. He has to tell everybody about his new computer.

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show up

To appear/arrive

I don’t think she’ll show up tonight. Her daughter is sick.

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shut up (impolite)

To be silent, stop talking

Shut up, you’re spoiling the movie!

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sit down

To take a seat

I think you should sit down. It’s bad news.

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stand up

To rise from a sitting position

The whole stadium stood up for the national anthem.

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stick up for

To defend

My big brother always stuck up for me when I got into a fight.

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take after

To resemble, in appearance or character

Angie really takes after her grandmother.

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take care of

To look after

Please take care of my cat when I’m away.

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take off

To leave the ground

The plane will take off as soon as the fog lifts.

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take on

To hire or engage staff

I hear they’re taking on extra staff for this event.

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take out

To remove; extract

Please take out your mobile phones and turn them off.

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tell off

To reprimand/criticize severely

The coach told her off for not trying hard enough.

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think over

To consider

Take your time and think it over before you decide.

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try on

To wear something to see if it suits or fits

Go ahead, try it on and see if it fits?

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turn down

To refuse

I asked her out but she turned me down flat.

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use up

To finish a product (so that there’s none left)

Your parents have used up all the coffee!

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watch out

To be careful

Watch out! There’s a dog in the road.

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wear out

To become unusable

Julie wore out her shoes running the marathons.

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work out

To do physical exercise

You should work out twice a week at the gym.

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wipe off

To clean (board, table).I’ll wash up if you wipe off the table.

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