Phrasal Verb Meaning Example Sentence
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example Sentence
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example Sentence
meaning
example sentence
invite on a
date
ask around
ask many
people the
same
question
I asked aroundbut
nobody has seen my
wallet.
add up
to something
equal
Your purchasesadd
up to$205.32.
back something up
reverse
back someone up
support
My
wife backedme up o
ver my decision to
quit my job.
blow up
explode
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
blow something up
add air
We have toblow 50
balloons up for the
party.
break down
stop
functioning
(vehicle,
machine)
break down
get upset
The womanbroke
downwhen the police
told her that her son
had died.
break somethingdo
wn
divide into
smaller parts
break in
force entry
to a building
Somebodybroke
in last night and stole
our stereo.
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
break
into something
enter
forcibly
break something in
wear
something a
few times so
that it
doesn't
look/feel
new
I need to breakthese
shoes inbefore we
run next week.
break in
interrupt
The TV stationbroke
in to report the news
of the president's
death.
break up
end a
relationship
My boyfriend and
I broke upbefore I
moved to America.
break up
start
laughing
(informal)
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
break out
escape
The prisonersbroke
out of jail when the
guards weren't
looking.
break out
insomething
develop a
skin
condition
bring someone do
wn
make
unhappy
bring someone up
raise a child
My
grandparentsbrought
me upafter my
parents died.
bring something u
p
start talking
about a
subject
bring something u
p
vomit
He drank so much
that hebrought his
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
dinner up in the
toilet.
call around
phone many
different
places/peopl
e
We called
around but we
weren't able to find
the car part we
needed.
return a
phone call
I called the
company backbut the
offices were closed
for the weekend.
cancel
call on someone
ask for an
answer or
opinion
The professorcalled
on me for question 1.
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
call on someone
visit
someone
call someone up
phone
calm down
relax after
being angry
not care
forsomeone/somet
hing
not like
(formal)
catch up
get to the
same point
as someone
else
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
check in
arrive and
register at a
hotel or
airport
check out
leave a hotel
checksomeone/so
methingout
look at
carefully,
investigate
The companychecks
out all new
employees.
check
outsomeone/somet
hing
look at
(informal)
cheer up
become
happier
She cheered
upwhen she heard
the good news.
cheer someone up
make
happier
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
chip in
help
If everyonechips
in we can get the
kitchen painted by
noon.
clean something u
p
tidy, clean
come
acrosssomething
find
unexpectedl
y
I came acrossthese
old photos when I
was tidying the
closet.
come apart
separate
come down
withsomething
become sick
My nephewcame
down with chicken
pox this weekend.
come forward
volunteer for
a task or to
The womancame
forwardwith her
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
give
evidence
husband's finger
prints.
come
fromsomewhere
originate in
The art of
origami comes
from Asia.
count
onsomeone/someth
ing
rely on
I am counting
on you to make
dinner while I am
out.
cross something o
ut
draw a line
through
Please cross
out your old address
and write your new
one.
cut back
onsomething
consume
less
My doctor wants me
to cut back
on sweets and fatty
foods.
make
something
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
fall to the
ground
cut in
interrupt
cut in
pull in too
closely in
front of
another
vehicle
cut in
start
operating (of
an engine or
electrical
device)
The air
conditioner cuts
in when the
temperature gets to
22C.
remove with
something
sharp
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
stop
providing
The phone
company cut offour
phone because we
didn't pay the bill.
take out of a
will
My
grandparentscut my
fatheroff when he
remarried.
remove part
of something
(usually with
scissors and
paper)
dosomeone/someth
ingover
beat up,
ransack
(BrE,
informal)
do something over
do again
(AmE)
My teacher wants me
to domy
essay overbecause
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
she doesn't like my
topic.
do away
withsomething
discard
do something up
fasten, close
Do your
coat upbefore you go
outside. It's snowing!
dress up
wear nice
clothing
It's a fancy
restaurant so we
have to dress up.
drop back
move back
in a
position/gro
up
Andrea dropped
back to third place
when she fell off her
bike.
drop in/by/over
come
without an
appointment
I might drop
in/by/over for tea
sometime this week.
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
dropsomeone/some
thingoff
take
someone/so
mething
somewhere
and leave
them/it
there
I have to dropmy
sister off at work
before I come over.
drop out
quit a class,
school etc
I dropped outof
Science because it
was too difficult.
eat out
eat at a
restaurant
end up
eventually
reach/do/de
cide
We ended uprenting
a movie instead of
going to the theatre.
fall apart
break into
pieces
My new dressfell
apart in the washing
machine.
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
fall down
fall to the
ground
fall out
separate
from an
interior
fall out
(of hair,
teeth)
become
loose and
unattached
figure something o
ut
understand,
find the
answer
I need to figure
out how to fit the
piano and the
bookshelf in this
room.
fill something in
to write
information
in blanks, as
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
on a form
(BrE)
to write
information
in blanks, as
on a form
(AmE)
fill something up
find out
discover
discover
get somethingacro
ss/over
communicat
e, make
I tried to get my
pointacross/over to
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
understanda
ble
get along/on
like each
other
get around
have
mobility
My grandfather
can get aroundfine
in his new
wheelchair.
get away
go on a
vacation
We worked so hard
this year that we had
toget away for a
week.
get away
withsomething
do without
being
noticed or
punished
Jason alwaysgets
away withcheating
in his maths tests.
get back
return
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
receive
something
you had
before
get back
at someone
retaliate,
take revenge
get back
intosomething
become
interested in
something
again
get on something
step onto a
vehicle
recover from
an illness,
loss,
difficulty
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
overcome a
problem
get round
tosomething
finally find
time to do
(AmE: get
around
tosomething
)
get together
meet
(usually for
social
reasons)
Let's get
together for a BBQ
this weekend.
get up
get out of
bed
get up
stand
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
reveal
hidden
information
about
someone
His
wife gavehim away t
o the police.
take the
bride to the
altar
My
father gaveme away
at my wedding.
give something aw
ay
ruin a secret
My little
sistergave the
surprise
partyaway by
accident.
give something aw
ay
give
something to
someone for
free
return a
borrowed
item
I have to givethese
skatesback to Franz
before his hockey
game.
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
give in
reluctantly
stop fighting
or arguing
My boyfriend didn't
want to go to the
ballet, but he
finally gave in.
give to many
people
(usually at
no cost)
They weregiving
out free perfume
samples at the
department store.
give something up
quit a habit
I am giving
upsmoking as of
January 1st.
give up
stop trying
My maths homework
was too difficult so
Igave up.
go after someone
follow
someone
My brother tried
to go after the thief
in his car.
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
go after something
try to
achieve
something
I went after my
dream and now I am
a published writer.
go
against someone
compete,
oppose
We are going
against the best
soccer team in the
city tonight.
go ahead
start,
proceed
go back
return to a
place
I have to go
back home and get
my lunch.
go out
leave home
to go on a
social event
go out
with someone
date
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
go over something
review
Please go overyour
answers before you
submit your test.
go over
visit
someone
nearby
go
withoutsomething
suffer lack or
deprivation
grow apart
stop being
friends over
time
grow back
regrow
My roses grew
back this summer.
grow up
become an
adult
When Jackgrows
up he wants to be a
fireman.
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
grow out
ofsomething
Elizabeth needs a
new pair of shoes
because she
has grown out
of her old ones.
grow
into something
grow big
enough to fit
hand somethingdo
wn
give
something
used to
someone
else
I handed my old
comic booksdown to
my little cousin.
hand something in
submit
I have to hand in my
essay by Friday.
hand something ou
t
to distribute
to a group of
people
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
hand something ov
er
give (usually
unwillingly)
hang in
stay positive
(informal)
hang on
wait a short
time
(informal)
hang out
spend time
relaxing
(informal)
Instead of going to
the party we are just
going tohang out at
my place.
hang up
end a phone
call
He didn't say
goodbye before
he hung up.
holdsomeone/some
thingback
prevent from
doing/going
I had to holdmy
dog backbecause
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
there was a cat in the
park.
hold something ba
ck
hide an
emotion
hold on
wait a short
time
hold
ontosomeone/some
thing
hold firmly
using your
hands or
arms
holdsomeone/some
thingup
rob
A man in a black
mask held the
bank up this
morning.
keep on
doingsomething
continue
doing
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
not tell
We kept our
relationshipfrom our
parents for two years.
keepsomeone/som
ethingout
stop from
entering
keep something up
continue at
the same
rate
If you keepthose
results upyou will get
into a great college.
fail to
support or
help,
disappoint
I need you to be on
time.
Don'tlet me downthi
s time.
let someone in
allow to
enter
sign in (to a
website,
I can't log in to
Facebook because
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
database
etc)
I've forgotten my
password.
look
aftersomeone/som
ething
take care of
I have to look
after my sick
grandmother.
look down
onsomeone
look
forsomeone/somet
hing
try to find
look forward
tosomething
be excited
about the
future
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
look
into something
investigate
look out
be careful,
vigilant, and
take notice
look out
forsomeone/somet
hing
be especially
vigilant for
look something ov
er
check,
examine
look something up
search and
find
information
in a
reference
book or
database
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
look up
to someone
have a lot of
respect for
make something u
p
invent, lie
about
something
Josie made up a
story about why we
were late.
make up
forgive each
other
make someone up
apply
cosmetics to
My
sisters mademe up f
or my graduation
party.
mix something up
confuse two
or more
things
I mixed up the
twins' names again!
pass away
die
His unclepassed
awaylast night after
a long illness.
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
pass out
faint
pass something ou
t
give the
same thing
to many
people
The
professorpassed the
textbooks outbefore
class.
pass something up
decline
(usually
something
good)
return owed
money
be punished
for doing
something
bad
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
choose
I picked outthree
sweaters for you to
try on.
pointsomeone/som
ethingout
indicate with
your finger
I'll point my
boyfriend outwhen
he runs by.
insult, make
someone
feel stupid
postpone
We are putting
off our trip until
January because of
the hurricane.
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
extinguish
The
neighboursput the
fire outbefore the
firemen arrived.
put somethingtoge
ther
assemble
I have to putthe
cribtogether before
the baby arrives.
put up
withsomeone/some
thing
tolerate
I don't think I
can put up
withthree small
children in the car.
put something on
put
clothing/acc
essories on
your body
run
intosomeone/somet
hing
meet
unexpectedl
y
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
run
oversomeone/some
thing
drive a
vehicle over
a person or
thing
I accidentallyran
over your bicycle in
the driveway.
run
over/throughsom
ething
rehearse,
review
Let's run
over/throughthese
lines one more time
before the show.
run away
leave
unexpectedl
y, escape
run out
have none
left
We ran out of
shampoo so I had to
wash my hair with
soap.
send something ba
ck
return
(usually by
mail)
My letter gotsent
back to me because I
used the wrong
stamp.
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
set something up
arrange,
organize
set someone up
trick, trap
shop around
compare
prices
I want to shop
around a little before
I decide on these
boots.
show off
act extra
special for
people
watching
(usually
boastfully)
He alwaysshows
off on his skateboard
sleep over
stay
somewhere
for the night
(informal)
You shouldsleep
overtonight if the
weather is too bad to
drive home.
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
organize,
resolve a
problem
We need to sortthe
bills outbefore the
first of the month.
stick to something
continue
doing
something,
limit yourself
to one
particular
thing
switch something
off
stop the
energy flow,
turn off
switch something
on
start the
energy flow,
turn on
take
after someone
resemble a
family
member
I take after my
mother. We are both
impatient.
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
take something ap
art
purposely
break into
pieces
take something ba
ck
return an
item
I have to takeour
new TVback because
it doesn't work.
take off
start to fly
remove
something
(usually
clothing)
remove from
a place or
thing
pay for
someone to
go
My
grandparentstook us
out for dinner and a
movie.
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
somewhere
with you
tear something up
rip into
pieces
think back
remember
(often + to,
sometimes +
on)
When I think
back on my youth, I
wish I had studied
harder.
think something ov
er
consider
throw somethinga
way
dispose of
turn something do
wn
decrease the
volume or
strength
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
(heat, light
etc)
turn something do
wn
refuse
I turned the
jobdown because I
don't want to move.
stop the
energy flow,
switch off
turn something on
start the
energy,
switch on
turn something up
increase the
volume or
strength
(heat, light
etc)
turn up
appear
suddenly
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
posters up all over
the neighbourhood.
try something on
sample
clothing
test
use something up
finish the
supply
wake up
stop sleeping
We have towake
up early for work on
Monday.
warmsomeone/so
methingup
increase the
temperature
phrasal verb
meaning
example sentence
warm up
prepare
body for
exercise
I always warm up by
doing sit-ups before I
go for a run.
wear off
fade away
work out
exercise
work out
be
successful
Our planworked
outfine.
work something ou
t
make a
calculation
We have towork
out the total cost
before we buy the
house.