Phrasal verbs

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add up to: amount to It is hard to see what that adds up to.
leave behind: leave, not bring I accidentally left my umbrella behind.
fit in with: be suited to You don't fit in with this group.
keep to: adhere to The train will keep to the schedule.
stick up for: defend, support Will you stick up for me?
get across: transmit We got our point across to the audience.Our point got across to the audience.
launch into: start He launched into an explanation.
tune in: find a station on the radio We tuned in to listen to the hockey game.
point out: draw attention to She pointed out the advantages of the proposal.
get through: survive, finish I don't know how I can get through all this work.
bring back: return She brought back her library books.
call up: telephone Why don't you call him up?
drum into: teach by repetition We drummed the safety rules into the children.
get into: become involved with I don't want to get into an argument.
break in: make something new fit for use I broke in my new hiking boots.
come out in: develop He came out in a rash.
live up to: maintain a standard She has lived up to her reputation as a great singer.
boil away: disappear by boiling If the water boils away, the stew will burn.
abide by: adhere to We abided by the rules.
nod off: go to sleep Half the bus passengers nodded off.
do away with: abolish We want to do away with delays.
side with: support in a dispute Why did you side with him?
make up for: compensate for She tried to make up for her past mistakes.
get over: recover from Have you got over the flu yet?
stick to: adhere to We shall stick to the original plan.
go with: look good with Those shoes don't go with that outfit.
go along with: agree, not resist I'm willing to go along with your idea.
scale down: reduce Because of lack of funds, we had to scale down our plans.
pull out: leave (of vehicles) The train pulled out at ten o'clock.
show around: conduct on a tour.We showed the visitors around. We showed the visitors around the city.
enlarge on: say more about Please enlarge on your proposal.
prey on: hunt and eat; disturb Ospreys prey on fish; the idea preys on my mind.
move out: give up possession of living quarters He moved out yesterday.
catch up to: overtake The boy ran quickly to catch up with his friends.
laugh at: mock, make fun of Don't laugh at me!
look into: investigate He will look into the situation.
decide on: settle on They decided on a course of action.
let in on: allow to share We let them in on the secret.
put up to: urge to do wrong She put me up to playing a trick on the teacher.
call in: ask to assist I think it is time we called in an expert.
talk down to: speak patronizingly He always talks down to people younger than he is.
guard against: take precautions We must guard against possible attack.
burn down: destroy by fire We burned down the old barn. The old barn burned down.
butter up: flatter We buttered him up, hoping that he would agree to our proposal.
knock out: make unconscious Boxers are often knocked out.
fade away: become less The sound gradually faded away.
run up against: meet One runs up against many different kinds of people.
phase out: cease gradually The practice will gradually be phased out.
border on: be near, be next to Their excitement bordered on hysteria.
come up with: produce She came up with a solution to the problem.
wake up: stop sleeping I woke her up. She woke up.
go without: not have They went without. They went without food.
pin down: get a commitment When the guest speaker is pinned down, we can set a date for the conference.
settle for: reluctantly accept Since there was no kale, we had to settle for cabbage.
put off: postpone We cannot put off the meeting again.
call off: cancel We ~ed the meeting.
lounge around: relax in We lounged around. We lounged around the living room.
buckle down: work seriously You may fail your courses if you don't buckle down to work.
breathe out: exhale I breathed out a sigh of relief.
bring up: raise Bringing up children is never easy.
account for: explain He accounted for the discrepancy.
survive on: survive using During the winter, we had to survive on turnips and parsnips.
fill out: complete I filled out the form.
settle down: become peaceful After the excitement, the students found it difficult to settle down.
build on: develop from We want to build on our success.
see through: not be deceived by I instantly saw through the disguise.
hand in: give to person in authority The students handed their assignments in to the teacher.
lead up to: be a preparation for The first thirty chapters of the book lead up to the dramatic conclusion.
come across: find accidentally She came across some old papers.
tide over: provide for temporarily.This money will tide me over.Thismoneywilltideme over the weekend.
run across: find accidentally They ran across some interesting information.
read into: find other meanings You are reading too much into her remarks.
double up: bend over We were doubled up with laughter.
leave out: omit Tell me what happened. Don't leave anything out!
wash out: remove by washing We washed out the dye. The dye washed out.
dawn on: realize Finally the truth dawned on him.
blow over: pass I wonder when the trouble will blow over.
come down to: can be reduced to Your choices come down to these.
join in: become involved in I joined in. I joined in the game.
grow on: become more attractive to I'm sure the idea will grow on you.
grow out of: become too big for My son has grown out of most of his clothes.
pull through: recover from, survive.The doc pulled her through the illness.Shepulledthroughtheillness.
bail out: rescue If you run into difficulties, who will bail you out?
hand on: give to another person I am not sorry to hand the responsibility on to you.
come down with: become ill with She came down with a cold.
wear out: gradually destroy by wearing or using My jacket is wearing out, although it is only a year old.
sit through: sit and endure It was all I could do to sit through the lecture without falling asleep.
think up: invent What will they think up next?
rub off on: acquire from someone Some of his enthusiasm has rubbed off on me.
look forward to: anticipate I'm looking forward to the holidays.
frown on: disapprove of Absenteeism is frowned on.
send away for: order by mail We sent away for warm winter boots.
hold out for: not compromise We want to hold out for better conditions.
come upon: discover We came upon a small lake.
rise above: be superior to He rose above his circumstances and managed to succeed.
wriggle out of: avoid She always tries to wriggle out of her responsibilities.
boil down to: can be reduced to All his arguments boil down to a belief in the supernatural.
fall back on: turn to for help Because of unexpected expenses, we had to fall back on our savings.
rub out: erase Be sure to rub out all the pencil marks.
dwell on: emphasize He dwelt on the risks involved.
shout down: stop from speaking by shouting The crowd shouted down the speaker.
zero in on: focus on Let us zero in on the heart of the problem.
pass by: pass I passed by. I passed by the house.
pitch in: help If everyone pitches in, the work will be done in a few minutes.
hold back: restrain, delay He is so enthusiastic, it is hard to hold him back.
take up on: accept an offer I would like to take you up on your offer.
level off: stop rising Prices finally leveled off.
bow out of: withdraw He bowed out of the race.
count on: depend on We are counting on you.
tamper with: interfere with Someone has tampered with the lock.
warn off: warn to leave We were warned off. We were warned off the premises
cut across: use a short route I cut across the parking lot.
wear away: gradually remove Water wore away the rock. The rock wore away.
fill in: complete Please fill in this form.
deal with: handle successfully She can deal with any situation.
go over: review I would like to go over the report again.
inquire into: investigate Please inquire into the alternatives.
provide for: prepare for We have provided for any emergency.
sort out: organize It will take some time to sort out this mess.
roll up: wrap into a cylinder I rolled up the window blind. The window blind rolled up.
set back: delay This could set back the project by several years.
frighten into: control by fear The little girl frightened her brother into obeying her.
make up: invent She likes to make up stories.
blare out: make a loud sound The loudspeakers blared out the music.The music blared out.
mill around: (of a crowd)move randomly. The students milled around.The studentsmilledaround thelobby.
let into: allow to share Shall we let her into the secret?
liven up: become lively He livened up the party. The party livened up.
talk over: discuss Let us talk it over before we decide.
turn off: leave a road We turned off. We turned off the main highway
talk into: persuade Can you talk him into changing his mind?
turn on: activate by using a switch Please turn on the light.
turn off: deactivate by using a switch I turned off the radio.
dry out: become dry The sun dried out the earth. The earth dried out.
log on to: contact a computer She logged on to the new system.
call on: ask, order We will call on you to give a speech.
touch on: mention She touched on many important subjects.
watch out for: beware of Watch out for snakes.
take in: absorb We tried to take in the new information.
rule out: remove from consideration None of the possibilities can be ruled out yet.
call for: demand This calls for an investigation.
write off: cancel, regard as They were forced to write off several irretrievable debts.
go back on: break a promise He never goes back on his word.
lay before: present to We will lay the evidence before the court.
pull off: succeed Do you think she can ~ her plan?
play down: de-emphasize He played down the importance of the news.
settle in: become used to How are you ~ing to your new job?
reel off: recite a long list She reeled off a long list of names.
hand down: give to someone younger The tradition was handed down from father to son.
cut back on: reduce The government has cut back on spending.
ferret out: find with difficulty We managed to ferret out the information.
cheer on: cheer, encourage I will be there to cheer you on.
pass around: distribute I passed the papers around. I passed the papers around the class.
clean up: tidy The mayor asked everyone to help clean up the city streets.
lap up: accept eagerly The public lapped up the story.
play along: pretend to agree Let's play along until we find out what his plans are.
take over: assume control They will take over at the beginning of June.
drop in: visit Please drop in any time.
pass out: faint It was so hot, I almost passed out.
run into: meet accidentally I ran into my cousin downtown.
sell off: dispose of by selling We sold off all the books and furniture.
chop down: fell They chopped down the dead tree.
hang around: stay near We hung around. We hung around the movie theater.
scrape through: barely succeed They scraped through. They scraped through the course.
face up to: accept and deal with It is best to face up to one's problems.
turn away: refuse admission The event was so popular that many people had to be turned away.
write up: compose in writing I used my notes to write up the report.
polish off: finish We polished off the rest of the apple pie.
live down: live so that past faults are forgotten This will be hard to live down!
fool around with: not be serious, have as a hobby He likes to fool around with computers.
lay off: put out of work The company laid off seventy workers.
breathe in: inhale We breathed in the fresh air.
stumble across: find accidentally He stumbled across an interesting fossil.
take out on: vent bad feelings on She took her dissatisfaction with her job out on her neighbors.
do without: survive without We had to do without. We had to do without electricity.
stand for: represent What does the abbreviation etc. stand for?
read up on: read about Whenever I travel, I like to read up on the place I am going to visit.
come up against: meet an obstacle They came up against many difficulties.
water down: dilute The soup has been watered down.
size up: assess I quickly sized up the situation.
look down on: regard as inferior He looks down on his classmates.
enter into: begin, commence The brothers entered into an agreement.
shut down: close, stop working They shut down the factory. The factory shut down.
die down: become less After a few days, the excitement died down.
pull out of: leave (of vehicles) The train pulled out of the station.
pension off: dismiss with a pension He was ~ed at the age of sixty.
look after: take care of I will look after the children.
stammer out: stammer They stammered out their apologies.
clean up after: tidy for She spent half her time cleaning up after the children.
drag into: involve unwillingly Don't drag me into this discussion!
put back: return to original location Please put the book back on the shelf.
write into: add to in writing The terms were written into the lease
go against: oppose Don't go against the rules.
phase in: introduce gradually The new program will be phased in over the next six months.
get by: barely succeed She studied just hard enough to get by.
fend off: repel The goalie fended off every attack.
pull in: arrive (of vehicles) The bus pulled in next to the curb.
boil over: overflow by boiling The soup boiled over.
thrust upon: force upon We thrust the responsibility upon the treasurer.
back out of: not fulfill I wish I could back out of the agreement.
reason with: try to persuade It is hard to reason with an angry person.
turn back: reverse direction Every fall the clocks must be turned back by one hour.
take out: invite to a restaurant May I take you out for supper?
walk away with: win easily They walked away with all the prizes.
talk out of: dissuade from We tried to talk him out of retiring.
expand on: say more about Please expand on what you said before.
iron out: remove I am sure we can iron out every difficulty.
deal in: stock, sell He deals in gold and jewels.
summon up: gather I attempted to summon up my courage.
back down from: withdraw, avoid She never backs down from a challenge.
brush up on: refresh knowledge of I must brush up on my English.
pull down: demolish Many old buildings are pulled down to make way for new ones.
wear out: gradually destroy by using I wore out the sweater. The sweater wore out
put down to: attribute to We put his bad temper down to fatigue.
try on: test clothes by putting them on I tried on the new suit, but it didn't fit me.
sound out: talk with to learn the opinion of We attempted to sound him out.
touch down: land (of planes) The plane touched down.
dispose of: get rid of If he moves, he will have to dispose of his furniture.
rope in: persuade to help We roped in everyone we could to help with the work.
hand over: transfer We had to hand the evidence over to the police.
draw into: involve gradually We managed to draw her into the conversation.
look up: find (information) We looked up the word in a dictionary.
send for: ask to be sent You will have to send for your transcripts.
set on: order to attack We will set our dogs on any intruders.
bring around: persuade We gradually brought her around to our point of view.
get over with: undergo, finish If I must visit the dentist, I prefer to get it over with as soon as possible.
pass up: not take advantage I couldn't pass up such an opportunity.
hinge on: depend on Everything hinges on her decision.
leaf through: turn the pages She leafed idly through the book.
look through: examine quickly We looked through the magazines while we were waiting.
drum up: raise She has drummed up support for the plan.
confide in: share a secret The two friends confided in each other.
pick on: be unkind to Because he was the youngest, the other boys picked on him.
single out: select from others You have been singled out for special attention.
glance off: hit and bounce off The ball glanced off. The ball glanced off the wall.
wade through: slowly peruse We had to wade through a pile of documents.
wear off: gradually disappear The feeling of excitement gradually ~ed
bank on: depend on We are banking on good weather tomorrow.
sail through: succeed easily She sailed through. She sailed through the exam.
keep up with: be on the same level as She has a hard time keeping up with her brother.
write down: make a note I wrote down the instructions.
cry out for: urgently require The education system is crying out for improvement.
bear with: be patient with Please bear with the delay.
tear up: destroy by tearing She tore up the letter.
shrug off: dismiss as unimportant He attempted to ~ the mistake.
try out: test by using Would you like to try out my fountain pen?
stand by: support I hope you will stand by me.
move in: take possession of living quarters When are you moving in?
catch on: be widely accepted Do you think the idea will catch on?
break up: break into pieces The icebreaker broke up the ice. The ice broke up.
keep on: persist in He kept on changing the subject.
go through with: fulfill, carry out Are you going to go through with your plan to conduct a survey?
blow up: destroy by an explosion Troops blew up the bridge.The bridge blew up.
give in: admit defeat I will never ~!
live on: survive using What did you live on?
rally round: gather to give support We rallied round. We rallied round our class president.
put up with: endure, tolerate Bus passengers must often put up with crowded conditions.
part with: give up reluctantly She refused to part with her necklace.
smooth over: improve We tried to smooth over the situation
cross off: put a line through I crossed his name off. I crossed his name off the list.
push on with: go ahead, continue I must push on with my work.
back up: support I will ~ your story.
break through: appear The sun broke through. The sun broke through the clouds.
creep up on: approach undetected Old age tends to creep up on one.
give back: return I gave back the bicycle I had borrowed.
step in: intervene The government had to step in to save the business.
burst into: suddenly enter He burst into the room.
fall off: become less Attendance at the concerts has fallen off.
watch out: beware Watch out! The roads are icy.
look up to: admire We looked up to her.
trade in: give as part payment Why don't you trade in your old vacuum cleaner for a new one?
go through: examine in detail Have you gone through the evidence?
verge on: approach His behavior verges on rudeness.
get at: reach The store was so crowded, it was hard to get at the food.
figure out: solve, understand I can't figure out what happened.
look out for: watch for Look out for fallen branches.
calm down: become calm I calmed down the child. The child calmed down.
bounce back: recover He bounced back from his previous defeat.
give up on: stop trying I've given up on the situation.
paper over: repair superficially They attempted to paper over their differences.
set off: leave They set off at six o'clock in the morning.
dispense with: proceed without The chairman dispensed with formalities.
watch over: guard The shepherd watched over the sheep
cloud over: become overcast Although it clouded over in the afternoon, the rain held off.
get in on: manage to participate in I want to get in on the planning for the new school.
make of: understand Can you make anything of this message?
take after: resemble an ancestor He takes after his grandfather.
run over: injured by a vehicle Children must be careful not to be run over by cars.
think over: consider I need some time to think it over.
track down: search for and find We finally tracked him down at the bookstore.
get down to: begin dealing seriously with It is time to get down to business.
carry on with: continue with We carried on with our conversation.
stock up on: lay in supplies We should stock up on bananas.
hold against: blame for Please don't hold my mistakes against me.
sum up: summarize He summed up the discussion in a few well-chosen words.
play off against: encourage to fight In the last century, the British weakened their enemies by playing them off against one another.
set against: make antagonistic She likes to set people against one another.
get away: escape I hooked a fish, but it got away.
reckon on: calculate on I hadn't reckoned on being the center of attention.

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Deck Info

Number of cards 298