ON PHRASAL VERBS
Meaning Example
1-BE AFTER 1- want Mandela has always been after the respect for black
2- chase people's rights.
2-BREAK DOWN 1- stop working
2- lose control of your feelings
3-BREAK IN 1- Enter by force 1-Last night the police broke into a house looking for
(intransitive) 2- interrupt drugs.
BREAK INTO I was shocked to see that someone had broken in, but
(transitive) nothing was missing.
4- BREAK OUT Begin suddenly (of war, fire, etc) The fireman says that the fire first broke out in the
second floor.
5-BREAK UP 1- Separate, Split up 1-Chris and Joan broke up, they're no longer together.
6-BRING ABOUT Cause to happen The persistent rains brought about floodings in many
areas.
7-BRING FORWARD Suggest an idea Joey put his theory forward in class, but it was not
PUT accepted.
8-BRING ROUND To persuade someone to agree with you The kids can always bring me round, I don't know why.
9-BRING UP 1- Raise a child 1-I was brought up by my grandmother because my
2- Mention, introduce a subject mother died very young.
2-We didn't want to talk about the subject but Tom
brought it up.
10-CALL OFF Cancell I'm sorry, but we'll have to call off our meeting, I'm not
feeling well
11- BE/ GET CARRIED Be /get very excited
AWAY
12- CARRY OUT 1- Conduct an experiment 1-To carry out experiments on animals should be
2- Fulfill (order, tasks) banned.
2-To carry out instructions.
13- COME ACROSS Meet/ find by chance. Joey came across a very interesting book the other
day.
14- COME BY obtain Well-paid jobs sometimes are hard to come by.
15-COME DOWN WITH Become ill He came down with chickenpox right before his
GO wedding.
16- COME INTO Inherit She came into a fortune on her 21st birthday.
17-COME UP Occur, arise I'm going to have to cancel our lunch – something's
come up.
18-COME UP AGAINST Encounter difficulties Mark's plan came up against a lot of opposition at first.
Lisa's mother asked her where she had been but she
19-COME UP WITH Find / think of a solution couldn't come up with an answer.
20-CUT OFF Disconnect Due to the flood, all the people from the city has been
cut off.
21-CUT DOWN ON Reduce consumption of Sally is cutting down on sweets, she says she wants to
lose weight.
22- CUT IN Interrupt George and Mary were dancing but Peter cut in!
BREAK
23- CUT OUT FOR/ TO Be suited for a profession Thomas is cut out for the job. He knows a lot about
BE computers.
24-DO UP 1- Fasten 1-Do up the buttons on a dress.
2- Repair, redecorate 2-she has done up her flat.
25- FALL BEHIND To fail to keep up with The bank says I've fallen behind with the payment of
the house.
26- FALL FOR 1- Be deceived
2- Fall in love with sb 1-I can't believe you fell for his lies.
2-As soon as Timmy met Margaret he fell for her.
27- FALL OUT (with) To quarrel John fell out with his best friend because he lied to him.
28- GET ACROSS Communicate ideas, become understood How can I get my message across if nobody listens to
me?
29-GET ALONG Be on friendly terms with Sid doesn't want Bob to come, he doesn't get along
ON with him.
30-GET AT 1- Reach 1-I keep the sweets up here where the children can't get
2- (intr) imply at them.
2-What are you getting at?
31-GET AWAY FROM Avoid Don't try to get away from the subject, we're going to
talk about it!
32-GET AWAY WITH Escape punishment Jo thought he could get away with his lies, but this
time he's been caught.
33-GET BY (int) Survive despite difficulties; manage Monica couldn't study much, buy she got by and passed
the exam.
34-GET DOWN TO (tr) Start doing sth seriously The exam is the day after tomorrow, so let's get down
to study
.
35-GET OVER Recover; overcome
36-GET ROUND TO Find the necessary time to do sth
I meant to call you, but somehow, I never got around
to it.
37-GET THROUGH 1- Survive through difficult 1-It's been very hard for Kelly to get through her
times(int) divorce.
2- Reach sb by telephone 2-
38-GET TO Have an effect on sb’s feelings Tim's constant complaining finally got to Peg and so she
left him.
39- GIVE AWAY 1- Reveal sth; betray sb 1-My little sister gave me away and told mum our big
2- Lose or waste secret.
2-I knew Peter loved my green sweater, so I gave it
away to him.
40-GIVE IN Surrender
I'm on a diet! I can't give in to chocolate and
sweets!
41-GIVE OFF Emits (heat, smell, fumes, etc) I do not trust this car; it is giving off too much fumes
42-GIVE OUT Distribute, hand out Some shops give out sweets on Halloween.
43-GIVE UP 1- Stop/ abandon a habit
2- Stop doing or having sth
44- GO BACK ON Break a promise or agreement You said you'd come to the party; you can't go back on
your promise.
45-GO BY 1- (int) (of time) pass Time goes by and Frank can't find a job.
2- (of a chance) let it pass without
taking it.
46-GO OFF 1- (of a bomb) to explode; (of an 1-I hate it when the alarm clock goes off so early!
alarm) to ring.
2- (of food) to go bad. 2-Something has gone off in the fridge, there's a
horrible smell.
47-GO OUT (intr) to be extinguished, stop burning. I got quite frightened when the lights went out and I
was alone in that huge room.
48-GO THROUGH Experience, endure. Jack is going through a difficult time, his wife has just
left him.
49-HOLD ON (intr) to waint (especially on the phone)
50-KEEP AWAY (FROM) Stay away (food, a habit) -Keep away from the window, it's too dangerous to
OFF poke out.
-I must keep off chocolates, I’m allergic.
51-HOLD UP 1- Delay (tr) 1-The flight has been held up until further notice due
2- Use violence in order to rob to the fog.
2-Mark was held up yesterday, they took his wallet and
his watch
52-KEEP UP WITH 1- Proceed at an equal pace with It's hard to keep up with technology, there's something
2- Continue to be informed (news, new everyday
events)
53-LET DOWN Disappoint I thought Sarah would help me get a job, but she let me
down.
54-LET OUT Say something (usually a secret) Don't worry, I won't let your secret out.
unintentionally
55-LOOK AFTER Take care of The babysitter looks after my baby when I have to
work.
56-LOOK DOWN ON Have a bad opinion of sb; disapprove of The kid looked down on the food his father had
sb. prepared.
57-LOOK FORWARD TO Anticipate ( with pleasure) I am looking forward to your return to Argentina.
58-LOOK INTO (tr) investigate. The police looked into the disturbance.
59-LOOK UP (tr) look for sth (an address) in a book or You can look up in the dictionary the words you do not
list. know.
60-LOOK UP TO Respect, admire Pedro has always looked up to his grandfather
61-MAKE FOR Move in the direction of The dog made for the door when it heard its master
arriving.
62- MAKE OUT 1- See sth/sb clearly Angela is trying to make out why her husband has quit
2- Understand (WORK OUT) his job.
MORE ?
DON’T FREAK OUT…. THERE ARE JUST A FEW MORE!
63- MAKE STH UP TO Compensate sb for sth After all he's done to her, John will make it up to Meg
SB by taking her to the movies.
64- MAKE UP 1- (tr) to invent (a story) 1-Peter doesn't know what has happened, he's just
2- Put cosmetics on making it up.
3- Become friends again 2-I'm not ready yet! I still have to make up!
3-After the misunderstanding Sally is making up with
Pedro.
65-MAKE UP FOR Compensate, repay sb for The owner will make up for the inconvenient with a
free dinner.
66- PASS AWAY (intr) die My grandma passed away last summer.
67- PASS OUT Faint; lose consciousness She passed out at the sight of blood.
68- PUT ASIDE Save Sue has put all the money she earned this year aside
for a new car.
69- PUT OFF 1- Postpone 1-The boss put the meeting off because he was ill.
2- Discourage sb from liking sth 2-Idon’t want to put you off, but, have you thought
how expensive it is going to be?
70- PUT ON 1- Dress oneself 1-Put your coats on if you're going outside, it's cold.
2- Increase in weight 2-I think Mary has put on weight since the last time I
saw her.
71- PUT OUT 1- (tr) extinguish (fire, cigarette, etc) There were a lot of firemen trying to put out the fire.
72- PUT THROUGH 1- Connect by telephone I'll put you through Susan's extension so you can tell
her yourself.
73- PUT sb UP Offer hospitality If you come to Buenos Aires we can put you up in one
of our rooms.
74- PUT UP WITH Tolerate Sarah has to put up with a lot of paperwork before
beginning to work.
75- RUN AWAY Escape The news report alerted that a tiger has ran away
from the zoo.
76- RUN INTO 1- Meet sb unexpectedly
2- Collide with a vehicle 1-I ran into mum on my way home, she wants you to
phone her
2-Pete ran into a tree when he was driving, he's in
hospital.
77- RUN OUT (OF) No longer have a supply of sth I can't finish printing the document, I ran out of
paper.
78-RUN OVER (tr) knock down with and damage or wound The driver didn't see the cat and ran over it.
DOWN (with a vehicle)
79- SEE THROUGH Not be deceived by sb/ sth I saw through Jo's behaviour and her intentions didn't
surprise me.
80- SEE TO Take care of sb /sth (tr) Don't worry, I will see to the leak in the piping
81- SET OFF Start a journey You can come with us if you want, we are setting out
OUT next week
82- STAND BY Support sb ,esp in difficulties A true friend always stands by you.
83- STAND FOR Be an abbreviation of NY stands for New York.
84- STAND OUT Be noticeable. At the station, there's a huge sign that stands out at
the entrance.
85- STAND UP FOR (tr) support sb or sth Nobody believed what I said, so I had to stand up for
myself.
86- STAND UP TO (tr) resisit; defend oneself against (sb) Joey stood up to a boy much bigger than him who
without fear. wanted to eat his lunch.
87- TAKE AFTER Look or act like a relative; resemble If you meet Mickey you'll realize that he's taken after
his father.
88- TAKE OFF 1- Remove clothes (tr) 1-I took my coat off and put it in the closet but now
2- (planes) leave the ground it's gone!
2-The plane takes off at seven, we have plenty of
time for a drink.
89- TAKE OVER (tr) take control of sth I would like the architect to take over the project if
you don't mind.
90- TAKE TO (tr) like Alice took to Paul from the moment she met him.
91- BE TAKEN ABACK Be strongly surprised I was taken aback by my electricity bill.
92- BE TAKEN IN Be deceived She was taken in by some by old lady.
93- TURN DOWN 1- Refuse an offer; reject 1-Al turned down a great job offer because he had to
2- Reduce the volume (opp turn up) move to Rome.
2-Please turn down the air conditioning, I'm freezing.
94- TURN INTO Change into; become It's so naive of you to think that Tony will turn into a
faithful man.
95- TURN OUT Result The film seemed good at first, but it turned out to be
very boring.
96-TURN TO (tr) go to sb for help, advice Paul needed a piece of advice, that's why he turned to
me.
97-TURN UP (intr) appear, arrive unexpectedly The cat finally turned up after being absent for many
days.
98-WEAR OUT (Tr)use until no longer serviceable 1-She played the video so many times that she wore
the tape out.
