Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verbs

Andrew Ernest Ritz

May 8, 2011

Andrew Ernest Ritz () Phrasal Verbs May 8, 2011 1 / 138

ask out

verb –. (1) ask out, invite out, take out – (make a date; ”Has heasked you out yet?”)


add up

verb –1. (4) come, add up, amount – (develop into; ”This idea willnever amount to anything”; ”nothing came of his grandiose plans”)


back up

verb –1. (3) support, back up – (give moral or psychological support,aid, or courage to; ”She supported him during the illness”; ”Herchildren always backed her up”)


blow up

verb –1. (4) explode, detonate, blow up, set off – (cause to burstwith a violent release of energy; ”We exploded the nuclear bomb”)


break down

verb –1. (3) break down, crush – (make ineffective; ”Martin LutherKing tried to break down racial discrimination”)


break in

verb –1. (2) break in, break – (enter someone’s (virtual or real)property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to stealor commit a violent act; ”Someone broke in while I was on vacation”;”They broke into my car and stole my radio!”; ”who broke into myaccount last night?”)


break up

verb –1. (5) disperse, dissipate, dispel, break up, scatter – (to causeto separate and go in different directions; ”She waved her hand andscattered the crowds”)


break out

verb –1. (4) erupt, break out – (start abruptly; ”After 1989, peacebroke out in the former East Bloc”)


bring down

verb –1. (3) lower, take down, let down, get down, bring down –(move something or somebody to a lower position; ”take down thevase from the shelf”)


bring up

verb –1. (3) raise, conjure, conjure up, invoke, evoke, stir, call down,arouse, bring up, put forward, call forth – (summon into action orbring into existence, often as if by magic; ”raise the specter ofunemployment”; ”he conjured wild birds in the air”; ”call down thespirits from the mountain”)


call back

verb –1. (1) recall, call in, call back, withdraw – (cause to bereturned; ”recall the defective auto tires”; ”The manufacturer tried tocall back the spoilt yoghurt”)


call off

verb –1. (1) cancel, call off, scratch, scrub – (postpone indefinitely orannul something that was scheduled; ”Call off the engagement”;”cancel the dinner party”; ”we had to scrub our vacation plans”;”scratch that meeting–the chair is ill”)


call on

verb –. (8) call on, turn – (have recourse to or make an appeal orrequest for help or information to; ”She called on her Representativeto help her”; ”She turned to her relatives for help”)


call up

verb –1. (2) call up, bring forward – (bring forward for consideration;”The case was called up in court”)


calm down

verb –1. (4) calm, calm down, cool off, chill out, simmer down, settledown, cool it – (become quiet or calm, especially after a state ofagitation; ”After the fight both men need to cool off.”; ”It took awhile after the baby was born for things to settle down again.”)


catch up

verb –1. (2) catch up – (reach the point where one should be after adelay; ”I caught up on my homework”)


check in

verb –. (3) check in, sign in – (announce one’s arrival, e.g. at hotelsor airports)


check out

verb –1. (6) check, check up on, look into, check out, suss out, checkover, go over, check into – (examine so as to determine accuracy,quality, or condition; ”check the brakes”; ”Check out the engine”)


cheer up

verb –1. cheer, cheer up, jolly along, jolly up – (cause (somebody) tofeel happier or more cheerful; ”She tried to cheer up the disappointedchild when he failed to win the spelling bee”)


chip in

verb –. contribute, give, chip in, kick in – (contribute to some cause;”I gave at the office”)


clean up

verb –1. (8) tidy, tidy up, clean up, neaten, straighten, straightenout, square away – (put (things or places) in order; ”Tidy up yourroom!”)


come across

verb –1. (3) fall upon, strike, come upon, light upon, chance upon,come across, chance on, happen upon, attain, discover – (findunexpectedly; ”the archeologists chanced upon an old tomb”; ”shestruck a goldmine”; ”The hikers finally struck the main path to thelake”)


come apart

verb –. break, separate, split up, fall apart, come apart – (becomeseparated into pieces or fragments; ”The figurine broke”; ”The freshlybaked loaf fell apart”)


come down

verb –1. (14) descend, fall, go down, come down – (move downwardand lower, but not necessarily all the way; ”The temperature is goingdown”; ”The barometer is falling”; ”The curtain fell on the diva”;”Her hand went up and then fell again”)


come forward

verb –. (1) come to the fore, step forward, come forward, step up,step to the fore, come out – (make oneself visible; take action;”Young people should step to the fore and help their peers”)


count on

verb –. (1) calculate, estimate, reckon, count on, figure, forecast –(judge to be probable)


cross out

verb –. cross off, cross out, strike out, strike off, mark – (removefrom a list; ”Cross the name of the dead person off the list”)


cut back

verb –1. (1) cut back, flash back – (return in time; ”the film cutback to an earlier event in the story”)


cut down

verb –1. (8) reduce, cut down, cut back, trim, trim down, trim back,cut, bring down – (cut down on; make a reduction in; ”reduce yourdaily fat intake”; ”The employer wants to cut back health benefits”)


cut in

verb –1. cut in – (allow someone to have a share or profit)


cut off

verb –1. (8) interrupt, disrupt, break up, cut off – (make a break in;”We interrupt the program for the following messages”)


cut out

verb –1. (2) cut out – (delete or remove; ”Cut out the extra text”;”cut out the newspaper article”)


do up

verb –1. do up – (wrap for decorative purposes; ”The gift was doneup in pretty red paper”)


dress up

verb –1. (5) overdress, dress up, fig out, fig up, deck up, gussy up,fancy up, trick up, deck out, trick out, prink, attire, get up, rig out,tog up, tog out – (put on special clothes to appear particularlyappealing and attractive; ”She never dresses up, even when she goesto the opera”; ”The young girls were all fancied up for the party”)


drop back

verb –1. (1) drop back – (take position in the rear, as in a militaryformation or in the line of scrimmage in football; ”The defenderdropped back behind his teammate”)


drop in

verb –. (1) drop by, drop in, come by – (visit informally andspontaneously; ”We frequently drop by the neighbors’ house for a cupof coffee”)


drop off

verb –1. (1) drop off – (fall or diminish; ”The number of students inthis course dropped off after the first test”)


drop out

verb –1. (2) drop out, give up, fall by the wayside, drop by thewayside, throw in, throw in the towel, quit, chuck up the sponge –(give up in the face of defeat of lacking hope; admit defeat; ”In thesecond round, the challenger gave up”)


eat out

verb –. eat out, dine out – (eat at a restaurant or at somebody else’shome)


end up

verb –. (3) finish up, land up, fetch up, end up, wind up, finish –(finally be or do something; ”He ended up marrying his high schoolsweetheart”; ”he wound up being unemployed and living at homeagain”)


fall apart

verb –1. fall apart, go to pieces – (lose one’s emotional or mentalcomposure; ”She fell apart when her only child died”)


fall down

verb –. fall, fall down – (lose an upright position suddenly; ”The vasefell over and the water spilled onto the table”; ”Her hair fell acrossher forehead”)


fall out

verb –1. (1) fall out – (have a breach in relations; ”We fell out over atrivial question”)


figure out

verb –. (6) solve, work out, figure out, puzzle out, lick, work – (findthe solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of;”did you solve the problem?”; ”Work out your problems with theboss”; ”this unpleasant situation isn’t going to work itself out”; ”didyou get it?”; ”Did you get my meaning?”; ”He could not work themath problem”)


fill in

verb –1. (4) fill in – (supply with information on a specific topic; ”Hefilled me in on the latest developments”)


fill out

verb –1. (5) complete, fill out, fill in, make out – (write all therequired information onto a form; ”fill out this questionnaire ,please!”; ”make out a form”)


fill up

verb –1. (2) fill, fill up, make full – (make full, also in a metaphoricalsense; ”fill a container”; ”fill the child with pride”)


find out

verb –1. (33) determine, find, find out, ascertain – (establish after acalculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study; ”find theproduct of two numbers”; ”The physicist who found the elusiveparticle won the Nobel Prize”)


get across

verb –1. (1) get across, put over – (communicate successfully; ”Icouldn’t get across the message”; ”He put over the idea very well”)


get along

verb –1. (4) do, fare, make out, come, get along – (proceed or getalong; ”How is she doing in her new job?”; ”How are you making outin graduate school?”; ”He’s come a long way”)


get around

verb –1. (4) break, get out, get around – (be released or becomeknown; of news; ”News of her death broke in the morning”)


get away

verb –1. (8) escape, get away, break loose – (run away fromconfinement; ”The convicted murderer escaped from a high securityprison”)


get back

verb –1. (4) win back, get back – (recover something or somebodythat appeared to be lost; ”We got back the money after wethreatened to sue the company”; ”He got back his son from thekidnappers”)


get on

verb –1. (2) get along with, get on with, get on, get along – (havesmooth relations; ”My boss and I get along very well”)


get over

verb –1. (4) traverse, track, cover, cross, pass over, get over, getacross, cut through, cut across – (travel across or pass over; ”Thecaravan covered almost 100 miles each day”)


get together

verb –1. (1) assemble, gather, get together – (get people together;”assemble your colleagues”; ”get together all those who are interestedin the project”; ”gather the close family members”)


get up

verb –1. (15) arise, rise, uprise, get up, stand up – (rise to one’s feet;”The audience got up and applauded”)


give away

verb –1. (3) give away – (make a gift of; ”She gave away her antiquefurniture”)


give back

verb –. refund, return, repay, give back – (pay back; ”Please refundme my money”)


give in

verb –1. (5) submit, bow, defer, accede, give in – (yield to another’swish or opinion; ”The government bowed to the military pressure”)


give out

verb –1. (1) emit, give out, give off – (give off, send forth, ordischarge; as of light, heat, or radiation, vapor, etc.; ”The ozone layerblocks some harmful rays which the sun emits”)


give up

verb –1. (9) forfeit, give up, throw overboard, waive, forgo, forego –(lose (s.th.) or lose the right to (s.th.) by some error, offense, orcrime; ”you’ve forfeited your right to name your successor ”;”forfeited property”)


go after

verb –1. (7) chase, chase after, trail, tail, tag, give chase, dog, goafter, track – (go after with the intent to catch; ”The policemanchased the mugger down the alley”; ”the dog chased the rabbit”)


go against

verb –1. (2) violate, go against, break – (fail to agree with; be inviolation of; as of rules or patterns; ”This sentence violates the rulesof syntax”)


go ahead

verb –. (6) go ahead, plow ahead – (proceed (with a plan of action);”He went ahead with the project”)


go back

verb –1. (4) go back, date back, date from – (belong to an earliertime; ”This story dates back 200 years”)


go out

verb –1. (21) exit, go out, get out, leave – (move out of or departfrom; ”leave the room”; ”the fugitive has left the country”)


go over

verb –1. (5) review, go over, survey – (hold a review (of troops))


grow up

verb –. (17) grow up – (become an adult)


hand down

verb –. (1) hand down – (passed on, as by inheritance; ”This ringwas handed down through many generations”)


hand out

verb –. (5) distribute, give out, hand out, pass out – (give to severalpeople; ”The teacher handed out the exams”)


hand over

verb –. (5) hand over, fork over, fork out, fork up, turn in, deliver,render – (to surrender someone or something to another; ”the guarddelivered the criminal to the police”; ”render up the prisoners”;”render the town to the enemy”; ”fork over the money”)


hang in

verb –. (1) persevere, persist, hang in, hang on, hold on – (bepersistent, refuse to stop; ”he persisted to call me every night”; ”Thechild persisted and kept asking questions”)


hang on

verb –1. (4) append, tag on, tack on, tack, hang on – (fix to; attach;”append a charm to the necklace”)


hang out

verb –. hang out – (spend time in a certain location or with certainpeople; ”She hangs out at the corner cafe”)


hang up

verb –1. (8) hang up – (put a telephone receiver back in its cradle)


hold back

verb –1. (4) check, turn back, arrest, stop, contain, hold back –(hold back, as of a danger or an enemy; check the expansion orinfluence of; ”Arrest the downward trend”; ”Check the growth ofcommunism in South East Asia”; ”Contain the rebel movement”;”Turn back the tide of communism”)


hold on

verb –1. (5) grasp, hold on – (hold firmly)


hold up

verb –1. (4) hold, support, sustain, hold up – (be the physicalsupport of; carry the weight of; ”The beam holds up the roof”; ”Hesupported me with one hand while I balanced on the beam”; ”What’sholding that mirror?”)


keep on

verb –. retain, continue, keep, keep on – (allow to remain in a placeor position or maintain a property or feature; ”We cannot continueseveral servants any longer”; ”She retains a lawyer”; ”The family’sfortune waned and they could not keep their household staff”; ”Ourgrant has run out and we cannot keep you on”; ”We kept the workgoing as long as we could”; ”She retained her composure” ; ”thisgarment retains its shape even after many washings”)


keep out

verb –1. (3) exclude, keep out, shut out, shut – (prevent fromentering; shut out; ”The trees were shutting out all sunlight”; ”Thispolicy excludes people who have a criminal record from entering thecountry”)


keep up

verb –1. (6) keep up – (maintain a required pace or level; ”He couldnot keep up and dropped out of the race”)


let down

verb –1. (7) lower, take down, let down, get down, bring down –(move something or somebody to a lower position; ”take down thevase from the shelf”)


let in

verb –1. (1) admit, let in, include – (allow participation in or theright to be part of; permit to exercise the rights, function s, andresponsibilities of; ”admit someone to the profession”; ”She wasadmitted to the New Jersey Bar”)


look after

verb –. (5) look after – (keep under careful scrutiny; ”Keep an eye onthis prisoner!”)


look for

verb –1. (50) search, seek, look for – (try to locate or discover, or tryto establish the existence of; ”The police are searching for clues”;”They are searching for the missing man in the entire county”)


look forward

verb –. (7) look forward – (expect or hope for; ”I look to hear fromyou soon”)


look into

verb –1. (6) investigate, look into – (investigate scientificall y; ”Let’sinvestigate the syntax of Chinese”)


look out

verb –1. (7) watch, look out, watch out – (be vigilant, be on thelookout or be careful; ”Watch out for pickpockets!”)


look up

verb –. (8) consult, refer, look up – (seek information from; ”Youshould consult the dictionary”; ”refer to your notes”)


make up

verb –1. (19) constitute, represent, make up, comprise, be – (form orcompose; ”This money is my only income”; ”The stone wall was thebackdrop for the performance”; ”These constitute my entirebelonging”; ”The children made up the chorus”; ”This sum representsmy entire income for a year”; ”These few men comprise his entirearmy”)


mix up

verb –1. jumble, confuse, mix up – (assemble without order or sense;”She jumbles the words when she is supposed to write a sentence”)


pass away

verb –1. (3) die, decease, perish, go, exit, pass away, expire, pass,kick the bucket, cash in one’s chips, buy the farm, conk, give-up theghost, drop dead, pop off, choke, croak, snuff it – (pass from physicallife and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustainlife; ”She died from cancer”; ”The children perished in the fire”; ”Thepatient went peacefully”; ”The old guy kicked the bucket at the ageof 102”)


pass out

verb –1. (1) faint, conk, swoon, pass out – (pass out from weakness,physical or emotional distress due to a loss of blood supply to thebrain)


pass up

verb –1. (1) refuse, reject, pass up, turn down, decline – (refuse toaccept; ”He refused my offer of hospitality”)


pay back

verb –1. reward, repay, pay back – (act or give recompense inrecognition of someone’s behavior or actions)


pay for

verb –. invite, pay for – (have as a guest; ”I invited them to arestaurant”)


pick out

verb –1. (4) choose, take, select, pick out – (pick out, select, orchoose from a number of alternatives; ”Take any one of these cards”;”Choose a good husband for your daughter”; ”She selected a pair ofshoes from among the dozen the salesgirl had shown her”)


point out

verb –1. (42) comment, notice, remark, point out – (make or write acomment on; ”he commented the paper of his colleague”)


put down

verb –1. (6) set down, put down, place down – (cause to sit or seator be in a settled position or place; ”set down your bags here”)


put off

verb –1. (1) postpone, prorogue, hold over, put over, table, shelve,set back, defer, remit, put off – (hold back to a later time; ”let’spostpone the exam”)


put out

verb –1. (2) trouble, put out, inconvenience, disoblige, discommo de,incommode, bother – (to cause inconvenience or discomfort to;”Sorry to trouble you, but...”)


put together

verb –. (4) assemble, piece, put together, set up, tack, tack together– (create by putting components or members together; ”She pieced aquilt”; ”He tacked together some verses”; ”They set up acommittee”)


put up

verb –1. (4) post, put up – (place so as to be noticed; ”post a sign”;”post a warning at the dump”)


put on

verb –1. (18) wear, put on, get into, don, assume – (put clothing onone’s body; ”What should I wear today?”; ”He put on his best suitfor the wedding”; ”The princess donned a long blue dress”; ”Thequeen assumed the stately robes”; ”He got into his jeans”)


run into

verb –1. (6) run into, encounter – (be beset by; ”The project raninto numerous financial difficulties”)


run over

verb –1. (3) run down, run over – (injure or kill by running over, aswith a vehicle)


run away

verb –1. (12) scat, run, scarper, turn tail, lam, run away, hightail it,bunk, head for the hills, take to the woods, escape, fly the coop,break away – (flee; take to one’s heels; cut and run; ”If you see thisman, run!”; ”The burglars escaped before the police showed up”)


run out

verb –1. (5) run out – (become used up; be exhausted; ”Our suppliesfinally ran out”)


send back

verb –. remit, remand, send back – (refer (a matter or legal case) toanother committee or authority or court for decision)


set up

verb –1. (17) establish, set up, found, launch – (set up or found;”She set up a literacy program”)


show off

verb –. (4) flaunt, flash, show off, ostentate, swank – (displayproudly; act ostentatiously or pretentiously; ”he showed off his newsports car”)


sleep over

verb –. sleep over, stay over – (stay overnight; ”The boy’s friendswere allowed to sleep over after the birthday party”)


sort out

verb –1. (3) classify, class, sort, assort, sort out, separate – (arrangeor order by classes or categories; ”How would you classify thesepottery shards–are they prehistoric?”)


stick to

verb –1. (4) adhere, hold fast, bond, bind, stick, stick to – (stick tofirmly; ”Will this wallpaper adhere to the wall?”)


switch off

verb –. (2) switch off, cut, turn off, turn out – (cause to stopoperating by disengaging a switch; ”Turn off the stereo, please”; ”cutthe engine”; ”turn out the lights”)


switch on

verb –. (5) switch on, turn on – (cause to operate by flipping aswitch; ”switch on the light”; ”turn on the stereo”)


take after

verb –1. take after – (be similar to a relative; ”She takes after herfather!”)


take apart

verb –1. (1) disassemble, dismantle, take apart, break up, breakapart – (take apart into its constituent pieces)


take back

verb –1. (5) return, take back, bring back – (bring back to the pointof departure)


take off

verb –1. (15) depart, part, start, start out, set forth, set off, set out,take off – (leave; ”The family took off for Florida”)


take out

verb –1. (7) take out, move out, remove – (cause to leave; ”Theteacher took the children out of the classroom”)


tear up

verb –. shred, tear up, rip up – (tear into shreds)


think back

verb –. (2) remember, think back – (recapture the past; indulge inmemories; ”he remembered how he used to pick flowers”)


think over

verb –. (3) chew over, think over, meditate, ponder, excogitate,contemplate, muse, reflect, mull, mull over, ruminate, speculate –(reflect deeply on a subject; ”I mulled over the events of theafternoon”; ”philosophers have speculated on the question of God forthousands of years”; ”The scientist must stop to observe and start toexcogitate”)


throw away

verb –1. (5) discard, fling, toss, toss out, toss away, chuck out, castaside, dispose, throw out, cast out, throw away, cast away, put away –(throw or cast away; ”Put away your worries”)


turn down

verb –1. (5) refuse, reject, pass up, turn down, decline – (refuse toaccept; ”He refused my offer of hospitality”)


turn off

verb –1. (8) switch off, cut, turn off, turn out – (cause to stopoperating by disengaging a switch; ”Turn off the stereo, please”; ”cutthe engine”; ”turn out the lights”)


turn on

verb –1. (12) switch on, turn on – (cause to operate by flipping aswitch; ”switch on the light”; ”turn on the stereo”)


turn up

verb –1. (8) come on, come out, turn up, surface, show up – (appearor become visible; make a showing; ”She turned up at the funeral”; ”Ihope the list key is going to surface again”)


try on

verb –. (1) try on, try – (put on a garment in order to see whether itfits and looks nice; ”Try on this sweater to see how it looks”)


try out

verb –1. (8) test, prove, try, try out, examine, essay – (put to thetest, as for its quality, or give experimental use to; ”This approachhas been tried with good results”; ”Test this recipe”)


use up

verb –1. (3) consume, eat up, use up, eat, deplete, exhaust, runthrough, wipe out – (use up (resources or materials); ”this carconsumes a lot of gas”; ”We exhausted our savings”; ”They runthrough 20 bottles of wine a week”)


wake up

verb –1. (8) awaken, wake, waken, rouse, wake up, arouse – (causeto become awake or conscious; ”He was roused by the drunken menin the street”; ”Please wake me at 6 AM.”)


warm up

verb –1. (2) warm up – (run until the normal working temperature isreached; ”We warmed up the car for a few minutes”)


wear off

verb –1. (1) wear, wear off, wear out, wear down, wear thin –(deteriorate through use or stress; ”The constant friction wore out thecloth”)


work out

verb –1. (16) work out, work up – (come up with; ”His colleaguesworked out his interesting idea”; ”We worked up an ad for our client”)


Education

Phrasal Verbs