An Extensive List of Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

abide by To respect or obey a If you want to keep your job

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

account for To explain, give a reason I hope you can account for the
time you were out!

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

reasonable don't add up.

advise To recommend not doing I advise against walking alone in

against something this neighborhood.

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

allow for To take into We need to allow

consideration for unexpected charges along
the way.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

appeal to 1. To plead or make 1. He appealed to the

a request court to change its
decision.
2. To be attractive
or interesting 2. A vacation of sunbathing
doesn't appeal to me.

apply for To make a formal request He applied for a scholarship for

for something (job, next semester.
permit, loan etc.)

back away To move backwards, in When he saw the bear,

fear or dislike he backed away in fright.

back down To withdraw, concede Local authorities backed

defeat down on their threats to build
on that part of the beach.

back up 1. To give support 1. I'm going to be very

or strict with him. I hope
encouragement you'll back me up on
this?
2. To make a copy
of (file, program, 2. You should back up all
etc.) your computer files in a
secure location.

bank on To base your hopes on I'm banking on you to help with

something / someone the charity event.

black out To faint, lose Jenna fell in the parking lot

consciousness and blacked out.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

block off To separate using a The police blocked off the street
barrier. after the explosion.

blow up 1. To explode 1. Tommy blew up the red

balloon.
2. To get angry
2. Don't blow up at me. It's
not my fault.

boil down to To be summarized as It all boils down to who has

more power.

boot up To start a computer by You need to boot up your

loading an operating computer before you begin to
system or program work.

break away To separate from a crowd One of the wolves broke

away from his pack.

break down 1. To go out of 1. The washing

order, cease to machine broke down so
function we had to call in the
repair technician.
2. To lose control of
one's emotions 2. John broke down when
he heard the news.

break into To enter by force Burglars broke into my car last

night.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

break out To start suddenly Rioting broke out after the

government raised the fuel
prices again.

break out of To escape from a place Several prisoners broke out of

by force jail.

break up To come to an end She broke up with Daniel after

(marriage, relationship) dating him for five years.

bring up To raise (a child) Sara is bringing up her children

by herself.

brush up on To improve, refresh one's I must brush up on my French

knowledge of something before going to Paris next
month.

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

unexpectedly He says "hello".

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

working Please change it.

2. become 2. She needs to work fewer

exhausted from hours. Otherwise she
over-working will burn out.

call back To return a phone call Could please call back in ten
minutes?
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

call off To cancel The game was called off because

of bad weather.

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

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

carry on To continue The soldiers carried on walking

in order to get to their post
before dark.

carry out 1. To do something 1. His orders were carried

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

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

airport three hours before my flight.

check out 1. To pay one's bill 1. Donna checked out of

and leave (a the hotel this morning.
hotel)
2. I don't know if this price
2. To investigate is correct.
I'll check it out online.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

clam up To refuse to speak When the police started asking

questions, the suspect clammed
up.

clamp down To act strictly to prevent The local authorities have

on something decided to clamp down on illegal
parking in handicapped parking
places.

come across 1. To find by chance 1. I was cleaning up

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

come To present oneself Has the owner of the winning

forward lotto ticket come forward?

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

help) your secret.

cut down on To reduce in number or I've decided to cut down on the

size amount of sweets I eat.

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

scissors from the newspaper.

2. To stop doing 2. You need to cut out all

something red meat from your diet.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

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

(problem, situation) with stress.

die down To calm down, become After the storm died down, we
less strong went outside to see the damage
it had caused.

do without To manage without She didn't get a salary this

month, so she'll have to do
without extra treats.

drag on To last longer than The suspect's trial dragged

expected on longer than we had expected!

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

agreement, document) me sign it.

dress up wear elegant clothes Their wedding gave us a chance

to dress up and get out of the
house.

drop in To visit, usually on the Why don't you drop in to see us

way somewhere on your way home?

drop off 1. To deliver 1. I'll drop off the papers

someone or later today.
something
2. I often drop off in front
2. To fall asleep of the TV.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

drop out To leave school without Zack dropped out of college and
finishing joined the army.

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

end in To finish in a certain way; Her marriage ended in divorce.

result in

end up To finally reach a state, If you don't improve your work

place or action habits, you'll end up being fired.

fall through To fail; doesn't happen His plans to trek through South
America fell through when he
got sick.

figure out To understand, find the He's trying to figure out how to
answer earn enough money to go on the
trip to Spain.

fill out To complete (a form/an Please fill out the enclosed form
application) and return it as soon as possible.

find out To discover or obtain I'm going to to find out who's

information responsible for the power cut.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

focus on To concentrate on Tom had difficultty focusing

something on work the day before his
holiday started.

get along To be on good terms; It's important to get along with

(with) work well with your team supervisor.

get at To imply What are you getting at? Do you

think I’m to blame?

get away To escape I think we should get away for

the weekend.

get by To manage to cope or to Students without jobs have a

survive hard time getting by.

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

get into To enter How did you get into your car
(+noun) without the keys?

get off 1. To leave (bus, 1. You should get off the

train, plane) train in Kings Heath.

2. To remove 2. I can't get the ink

stain off my shirt.

get on To board (bus, train, I'm trying to get on the flight to

plane) Brussels.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

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

get on (well) To have a good He doesnt get on very

with relationship with well with the other members of
(somebody) the committee.

get out To leave He had a hard time getting

out of Newark because of the
snow?

get out of To avoid doing something Edna's trying to get out

of working the night shift.

get over To recover from (illness, Has she gotten over the flu?
disappointment)

get over To recover from (illness, Mary had the chickenpox last
disappointment) week but she got over it.

get rid of To eliminate Please get rid of that old t-shirt.

It’s so ragged.

get together To meet each other Let's get together for your
birthday on Saturday.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

get up To rise, leave bed Will you please get up? You’ve
got a class in 20 minutes.

give in 1. To cease 1. We will never give in to

opposition; yield the terrorists' demands.

2. To To hand in; 2. I'll give in my paper

submit tomorrow.

give up To stop doing something Morris gave up drinking 10 years

ago.

go through To experience Andy went through a lot of pain

after his mother died.

grow up To spend one's He's like Peter Pan. He never

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

hand in To submit (report, Please hand in your papers

homework) before Friday.

hand out To distribute Susan volunteered at the shelter

where she handed out warm
clothes.

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

hang up To end a phone If you hang up now, I'll never

conversation speak to you again.

hold on 1. To wait 1. Please hold on and a

representative will
2. To grip tightly
answer your call.

2. She was so scared on the

rollercoaster ride that
she held on for dear life.

hurry up To be quick, act speedily Hurry up and finish your lunch or

we’ll miss the train.

iron out To resolve by discussion, The two countries met at the

eliminate differences conference to iron out their
differences.

join in To participate Yes David, you can join in the

discussion any time you like.

join up 1. To engage in, 1. There was a war on, so

become a some kids were only
member of sixteen when
they joined up.
2. To meet and
unite with 2. Let's separate now
and join up later at the
restaurant.

keep on To continue doing If you keep on making that noise

something I will get annoyed.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

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

kick off To begin, start The rugby match kicked off at 3

o'clock.

leave out To omit, not mention Please check your form again
and make sure nothing is left
out.

let down To disappoint I feel so let down because they

promised me a puppy but all I
got was a doll.

look after To take care of Andy can you look after your
sister until I get back?

look down To consider as inferior She's such a snob. She

on always looks down on anyone
who is poor.

look on To be a spectator at an If you don't want to take part in

event the game you can look on for
now.

look for To try to find something Harry went to the shop to look
for a new computer.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

look To await or anticipate I'm looking forward to my

forward to with pleasure birthday. It's in two days time.

look up to To admire I always looked up to my father.

He was a great man.

make fun of To laugh at/ make jokes It's not nice to make fun
about of people in wheelchairs.

make up To invent (excuse, story) That's a good excuse. Did

you make up it up yourself?

mix up To mistake one thing or She had so many cats that she
person for another kept mixing up their names.

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

or office neighbors are moving in this
afternoon.

move out To leave your When are you moving out? We

home/office for another need your office for the new guy.
one.

nod off To fall asleep You were so tired after the game
that you nodded off on the
couch.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

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

something did it!

pass away To die Your grandfather passed

away peacefully in his sleep last
night.

pass out To faint He didn't drink enough water so

he passed out at the end of the
race.

pay back To reimburse I'll pay you back as soon as I get

the loan.

put off To postpone, arrange a Don't put off until tomorrow,

later date what you can do today.

put on To turn on, switch on It's very dark in here. Please put
on the light on.

put out To extinguish The fire fighters were able to put

out fire in ten minutes.

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

somebody a bed weekend but then I’m going
away.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

pick up To collect somebody I'll pick you up at around 7:00 to

take you to the airport.

point out To indicate/direct As I already pointed out, there

attention to something was a mistake in your
calculation.

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

rule out To eliminate Since he had a sound alibi, the

police ruled him out as a
suspect.

run away To escape from a place or He ran away from home and
suddenly leave joined the circus.

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

run out of To have no more of We've run out of milk. I'll just
something. pop next door to borrow some.

set off To start a journey; Let's set off early to miss the
rush hour traffic.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

set up To start a business They set up their own company

when they were still in high
school.

shop around To compare prices Don't buy that. Let's shop

around and see if we can find
something cheaper.

show off To brag or want to be He's such a show off. He has to

admired tell everybody about his new
computer.

show up To appear/arrive I don’t think she'll show

up tonight. Her daughter is sick.

shut up To be silent, stop talking Shut up, you're spoiling the

(impolite) movie!

sit down To take a seat I think you should sit down. It's
bad news.

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

position the national anthem.

stick up for To defend My big brother always stuck up

for me when I got into a fight.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

take after To resemble, in Angie really takes after her

appearance or character grandmother.

take care of To look after Please take care of my cat when

I'm away.

take off To leave the ground The plane will take off as soon as
the fog lifts.

take on To hire or engage staff I hear they're taking on extra

staff for this event.

take out To remove; extract Please take out your mobile

phones and turn them off.

tell off To reprimand/criticize The coach told her off for not
severely trying hard enough.

think over To consider Take your time

and think it over before you
decide.

try on To wear something to Go ahead, try it on and see if it

see if it suits or fits fits?

turn down To refuse I asked her out but

she turned me down flat.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

use up To finish a product (so Your parents used up all the

that there's none left) coffee!

watch out To be careful Watch out! There's a dog in the

road.

wear out 1. To become 1. Julie wore out her shoes

unusable running the marathons.

2. To become very 2. Julie was worn out after

tired all that running.

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

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

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