An Extensive List of Phrasal

Verbs
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

To respect or obey a If you want to keep your job here,

abide by
decision, a law or a rule you must abide by our rules.

I hope you can account for the time

account for To explain, give a reason
you were out!

To make sense, seem The facts in the case just dont add
add up
reasonable up.

To recommend not doing I advise against walking alone in this

advise against
something neighborhood.

To have the same opinion I agree with you. I think you should
agree with
as someone else. go as well.

We need to allow for unexpected

allow for To take into consideration
charges along the way.

1. To plead or make a 1. He appealed to the court to

appeal to request change its decision.

2. To be attractive or 2. A vacation of sunbathing

interesting doesnt appeal to me.

apply for To make a formal request He applied for a scholarship for next
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

for something (job,

semester.
permit, loan etc.)

To move backwards, in When he saw the bear, he backed

back away
fear or dislike away in fright.

Local authorities backed down on

To withdraw, concede
back down their threats to build on that part of
defeat
the beach.

1. Im going to be very strict with

1. To give support or
him. I hope youll back me up on
encouragement
back up this?

2. To make a copy of
2. You should back up all your
(file, program, etc.)
computer files in a secure location.

To base your hopes on Im banking on you to help with the

bank on
something / someone charity event.

To faint, lose Jenna fell in the parking lot

black out
consciousness and blacked out.

To separate using a The police blocked off the street after

block off
barrier. the explosion.

1. Tommy blew up the red balloon.

1. To explode
blow up
2. Dont blow up at me. Its not my
2. To get angry
fault.

It all boils down to who has more

boil down to To be summarized as
power.

To start a computer by
You need to boot up your computer
boot up loading an operating
before you begin to work.
system or program

One of the wolves broke away from

break away To separate from a crowd
his pack.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

1. The washing machine broke

1. To go out of order,
down so we had to call in the repair
cease to function
break down technician.

2. To lose control of
2. John broke down when he heard
ones emotions
the news.

Burglars broke into my car last

break into To enter by force
night.

Rioting broke out after the

break out To start suddenly government raised the fuel prices
again.

To escape from a place by

break out of Several prisoners broke out of jail.
force

To come to an end She broke up with Daniel after

break up
(marriage, relationship) dating him for five years.

Sara is bringing up her children by

bring up To raise (a child)
herself.

To improve, refresh ones I must brush up on my French

brush up on
knowledge of something before going to Paris next month.

To meet by chance or I bumped into Adam at the bank. He

bump into
unexpectedly says hello.

1. stop (something) 1. The light bulb burnt out. Please

working change it.
burn out
2. become exhausted 2. She needs to work fewer hours.
from over-working Otherwise she will burn out.

Could please call back in ten

call back To return a phone call
minutes?

The game was called off because of

call off To cancel
bad weather.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

To become more relaxed, It took Kylie several hours to calm

calm down
less angry or upset down after she saw the accident.

The soldiers carried on walking in

carry on To continue
order to get to their post before dark.

1. To do something as
specified (a plan, an 1. His orders were carried out to the
order, a threat) letter.
carry out
2. To perform or 2. That company does not carry
conduct (test, out tests on animals.
experiment)

To register at a hotel or They said I must check in at least

check in
airport three hours before my flight.

1. Donna checked out of the hotel

1. To pay ones bill and
this morning.
check out leave (a hotel)

2. I dont know if this price is

2. To investigate
correct. Ill check it out online.

When the police started asking

clam up To refuse to speak
questions, the suspect clammed up.

The local authorities have decided

clamp down To act strictly to prevent
to clamp down on illegal parking in
on something
handicapped parking places.

1. I was cleaning up and came

1. To find by chance
across some old photos of you.
come across
2. To appear, seem,
2. The politician came across as a
make an impression
complete fool during the TV interview.

Has the owner of the winning lotto

come forward To present oneself
ticket come forward?
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

To rely or depend on (for You can count on me to keep your

count on
help) secret.

To reduce in number or Ive decided to cut down on the

cut down on
size amount of sweets I eat.

1. To remove using 1. She cut out a coupon from the

scissors newspaper.
cut out
2. To stop doing 2. You need to cut out all red meat
something from your diet.

To handle, take care of Catherine is not good at dealing

deal with
(problem, situation) with stress.

After the storm died down, we went

To calm down, become
die down outside to see the damage it had
less strong
caused.

She didnt get a salary this month, so

do without To manage without
shell have to do without extra treats.

To last longer than The suspects trial dragged on longer

drag on
expected than we had expected!

To write (contract, They drew up a contract and had me

draw up
agreement, document) sign it.

Their wedding gave us a chance

dress up wear elegant clothes
to dress up and get out of the house.

To visit, usually on the Why dont you drop in to see us on

drop in
way somewhere your way home?

1. To deliver someone
1. Ill drop off the papers later today.
drop off or something

2. I often drop off in front of the TV.

2. To fall asleep

To leave school without Zack dropped out of college and

drop out
finishing joined the army.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

To reduce, become less

ease off severe or slow down Traffic usually eases off about 7pm
(pain, traffic, work)

To finish in a certain way;

end in Her marriage ended in divorce.
result in

To finally reach a state, If you dont improve your work

end up
place or action habits, youll end up being fired.

His plans to trek through South

fall through To fail; doesnt happen America fell through when he got
sick.

Hes trying to figure out how to earn

To understand, find the
figure out enough money to go on the trip to
answer
Spain.

To complete (a form/an Please fill out the enclosed form and

fill out
application) return it as soon as possible.

To discover or obtain Im going to to find out whos

find out
information responsible for the power cut.

To concentrate on Tom had difficultty focusing on work

focus on
something the day before his holiday started.

get along To be on good terms; Its important to get along with your
(with) work well with team supervisor.

What are you getting at? Do you

get at To imply
think Im to blame?

I think we should get away for the

get away To escape
weekend.

To manage to cope or to Students without jobs have a hard

get by
survive time getting by.

get in To enter When did you get in last night?

get into How did you get into your car

To enter
(+noun) without the keys?
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

1. You should get off the train in

1. To leave (bus, train,
Kings Heath.
get off plane)

2. I cant get the ink stain off my

2. To remove
shirt.

To board (bus, train, Im trying to get on the flight to

get on
plane) Brussels.

get on with To continue to do; make After they split up, she had a hard
(something) progress time getting on with her life.

get on (well)
To have a good He doesnt get on very well with the
with
relationship with other members of the committee.
(somebody)

He had a hard time getting out of

get out To leave
Newark because of the snow?

Ednas trying to get out of working

get out of To avoid doing something
the night shift.

To recover from (illness,

get over Has she gotten over the flu?
disappointment)

To recover from (illness, Mary had the chickenpox last week

get over
disappointment) but she got over it.

Please get rid of that old t-shirt. Its

get rid of To eliminate
so ragged.

Lets get together for your birthday

get together To meet each other
on Saturday.

Will you please get up? Youve got a

get up To rise, leave bed
class in 20 minutes.

give in
1. To cease opposition; 1. We will never give in to the
yield terrorists demands.

2. To To hand in; 2. Ill give in my paper tomorrow.

Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

submit

Morris gave up drinking 10 years

give up To stop doing something
ago.

Andy went through a lot of pain

go through To experience
after his mother died.

To spend ones childhood; Hes like Peter Pan. He never

grow up
develop; become an adult really grew up at all.

To submit (report, Please hand in your papers before

hand in
homework) Friday.

Susan volunteered at the shelter

hand out To distribute
where she handed out warm clothes.

To spend time in a
Which pub does the team hang out at
hang out particular place or with a
after the game?
group of friends

To end a phone If you hang up now, Ill never speak

hang up
conversation to you again.

1. Please hold on and a

representative will answer your call.
1. To wait
hold on
2. She was so scared on the
2. To grip tightly
rollercoaster ride that she held on for
dear life.

Hurry up and finish your lunch or

hurry up To be quick, act speedily
well miss the train.

The two countries met at the

To resolve by discussion,
iron out conference to iron out their
eliminate differences
differences.

Yes David, you can join in the

join in To participate
discussion any time you like.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

1. There was a war on, so some kids

1. To engage in,
were only sixteen when they joined
become a member of
join up up.

2. To meet and unite

2. Lets separate now and join
with
up later at the restaurant.

To continue doing If you keep on making that noise I

keep on
something will get annoyed.

To stay at the same level I read the paper every day to keep up
keep up with
as someone or something with the news.

The rugby match kicked off at 3

kick off To begin, start
oclock.

Please check your form again and

leave out To omit, not mention
make sure nothing is left out.

I feel so let down because they

let down To disappoint promised me a puppy but all I got
was a doll.

Andy can you look after your sister

look after To take care of
until I get back?

Shes such a snob. She always looks

look down on To consider as inferior
down on anyone who is poor.

To be a spectator at an If you dont want to take part in the

look on
event game you can look on for now.

Harry went to the shop to look for a

look for To try to find something
new computer.

look forward To await or anticipate Im looking forward to my birthday.

to with pleasure Its in two days time.

I always looked up to my father. He

look up to To admire
was a great man.

make fun of To laugh at/ make jokes Its not nice to make fun of people in
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

about wheelchairs.

Thats a good excuse. Did you make

make up To invent (excuse, story)
up it up yourself?

To mistake one thing or She had so many cats that she

mix up
person for another kept mixing up their names.

To arrive in a new home Did you hear? Our new neighbors

move in
or office are moving in this afternoon.

To leave your home/office When are you moving out? We need

move out
for another one. your office for the new guy.

You were so tired after the game that

nod off To fall asleep
you nodded off on the couch.

To admit or confess Come on. Own up. We know you did

own up
something it!

Your grandfather passed

pass away To die away peacefully in his sleep last
night.

He didnt drink enough water so

pass out To faint
he passed out at the end of the race.

Ill pay you back as soon as I get the

pay back To reimburse
loan.

To postpone, arrange a Dont put off until tomorrow, what

put off
later date you can do today.

Its very dark in here. Please put

put on To turn on, switch on
on the light on.

The fire fighters were able to put

put out To extinguish
out fire in ten minutes.

To accommodate, give I can put you up until the weekend

put up
somebody a bed but then Im going away.

Ill pick you up at around 7:00 to

pick up To collect somebody
take you to the airport.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

To indicate/direct As I already pointed out, there was a

point out
attention to something mistake in your calculation.

To count on, depend on, You can rely on me. I always arrive
rely on
trust on time.

Since he had a sound alibi, the

rule out To eliminate
police ruled him out as a suspect.

To escape from a place or He ran away from home and joined

run away
suddenly leave the circus.

To meet by accident or
Im so glad I ran into you. I need to
run into unexpectedly (also: bump
ask you something.
into)

To have no more of Weve run out of milk. Ill just pop

run out of
something. next door to borrow some.

Lets set off early to miss the rush

set off To start a journey;
hour traffic.

They set up their own company when

set up To start a business
they were still in high school.

Dont buy that. Lets shop

shop around To compare prices around and see if we can find
something cheaper.

To brag or want to be Hes such a show off. He has to tell

show off
admired everybody about his new computer.

I dont think shell show up tonight.

show up To appear/arrive
Her daughter is sick.

shut up
To be silent, stop talking Shut up, youre spoiling the movie!
(impolite)

I think you should sit down. Its bad

sit down To take a seat
news.

To rise from a sitting The whole stadium stood up for the

stand up
position national anthem.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

My big brother always stuck up

stick up for To defend
for me when I got into a fight.

To resemble, in Angie really takes after her

take after
appearance or character grandmother.

Please take care of my cat when Im

take care of To look after
away.

The plane will take off as soon as the

take off To leave the ground
fog lifts.

I hear theyre taking on extra staff

take on To hire or engage staff
for this event.

Please take out your mobile phones

take out To remove; extract
and turn them off.

To reprimand/criticize The coach told her off for not trying

tell off
severely hard enough.

Take your time

think over To consider
and think it over before you decide.

To wear something to see

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

I asked her out but

turn down To refuse
she turned me down flat.

To finish a product (so

use up Your parents used up all the coffee!
that theres none left)

watch out To be careful Watch out! Theres a dog in the road.

1. Julie wore out her shoes running

1. To become unusable the marathons.
wear out
2. To become very tired 2. Julie was worn out after all that
running.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

1. To do physical 1. You should work out twice a

exercise week at the gym.
work out
2. To find a solution or 2. Can you work this out? Im no
calculate something good at math.

wipe off To clean (board, table). Ill wash up if you wipe off the table.