An Extensive List of Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

To respect or obey a decision, If you want to keep your job here, you
abide by
a law or a rule mustabide by our rules.

I hope you can account for the time you

account for To explain, give a reason
were out!

To make sense, seem

add up The facts in the case just don’t add up.
reasonable

To recommend not doing I advise against walking alone in this

advise against
something neighborhood.

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

We need to allow for unexpected charges

allow for To take into consideration
along the way.

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

appeal to request decision.
2. To be attractive or 2. A vacation of sunbathing
interesting doesn’tappeal to me.

To make a formal request for

He applied for a scholarship for next
apply for something (job, permit, loan
semester.
etc.)

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

back away
or dislike fright.

Local authorities backed down on their

back down To withdraw, concede defeat
threats to build on that part of the beach.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

1. To give support or 1. I’m going to be very strict with him. I

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

To base your hopes on I’m banking on you to help with the

bank on
something / someone charity event.

Jenna fell in the parking lot and blacked

black out To faint, lose consciousness
out.

The police blocked off the street after the

block off To separate using a barrier.
explosion.

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

blow up
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.

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

One of the wolves broke away from his

break away To separate from a crowd
pack.

1. To go out of order, cease 1. The washing machine broke downso

to function we had to call in the repair technician.
break down
2. To lose control of one’s 2. John broke down when he heard the
emotions news.

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

Rioting broke out after the government

break out To start suddenly
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 (marriage, She broke up with Daniel after dating him
break up
relationship) for five years.

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

Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

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

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

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

bump into
unexpectedly “hello”.

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

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

call back To return a phone call Could please call back in ten minutes?

The game was called off because of bad

call off To cancel
weather.

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

calm down
angry or upset downafter she saw the accident.

The soldiers carried on walking in order to

carry on To continue
get to their post before dark.

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

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

check in
airport hours before my flight.

1. Donna checked out of the hotel this

1. To pay one’s bill and
morning.
check out leave (a hotel)
2. I don’t know if this price is correct.
2. To investigate
I’llcheck it out online.

When the police started asking questions,

clam up To refuse to speak
the suspect clammed up.

The local authorities have decided to clamp

To act strictly to prevent
clamp down on down on illegal parking in handicapped
something
parking places.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

1. I was cleaning up and came

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

Has the owner of the winning lotto

come forward To present oneself
ticketcome forward?

To rely or depend on (for

count on You can count on me to keep your secret.
help)

I’ve decided to cut down on the amount of

cut down on To reduce in number or size
sweets I eat.

1. She cut out a coupon from the

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

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

deal with
(problem, situation) with stress.

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

She didn’t get a salary this month, so she’ll

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

The suspect’s trial dragged on longer than

drag on To last longer than expected
we had expected!

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

draw up
agreement, document) it.

Their wedding gave us a chance to dress

dress up wear elegant clothes
upand get out of the house.

To visit, usually on the way Why don’t you drop in to see us on your
drop in
somewhere way home?

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

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

To reduce, become less

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

To finish in a certain way;

end in Her marriage ended in divorce.
result in

To finally reach a state, place If you don’t improve your work habits,
end up
or action you’llend up being fired.

His plans to trek through South

fall through To fail; doesn’t happen
America fell through when he got sick.

To understand, find the He’s trying to figure out how to earn

figure out
answer enough money to go on the trip to Spain.

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

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

find out
information for the power cut.

Tom had difficultty focusing on work the

focus on To concentrate on something
day before his holiday started.

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

What are you getting at? Do you think I’m

get at To imply
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 timegetting by.

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

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

1. To leave (bus, train, 1. You should get off the train in Kings
get off
plane) Heath.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

2. To remove 2. I can’t get the ink stain off my shirt.

get on To board (bus, train, plane) I’m trying to get on the flight to Brussels.

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

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

He had a hard time getting out of Newark

get out To leave
because of the snow?

Edna’s trying to get out of working the

get out of To avoid doing something
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 but
get over
disappointment) shegot over it.

Please get rid of that old t-shirt. It’s so

get rid of To eliminate
ragged.

Let’s get together for your birthday on

get together To meet each other
Saturday.

Will you please get up? You’ve got a class

get up To rise, leave bed
in 20 minutes.

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

give in yield demands.
2. To To hand in; submit 2. I’ll give in my paper tomorrow.

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

Andy went through a lot of pain after his

go through To experience
mother died.

To spend one’s childhood; He’s like Peter Pan. He never really grew
grow up
develop; become an adult upat all.

To submit (report,
hand in Please hand in your papers before Friday.
homework)
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

Susan volunteered at the shelter where

hand out To distribute
shehanded out warm clothes.

To spend time in a particular

Which pub does the team hang out at after
hang out place or with a group of
the game?
friends

If you hang up now, I’ll never speak to you

hang up To end a phone conversation
again.

1. Please hold on and a representative

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

Hurry up and finish your lunch or we’ll

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

To resolve by discussion, The two countries met at the conference

iron out
eliminate differences toiron out their differences.

Yes David, you can join in the discussion

join in To participate
any time you like.

1. There was a war on, so some kids were

1. To engage in, become a
only sixteen when they joined up.
join up member of
2. Let’s separate now and join up later at
2. To meet and unite with
the restaurant.

If you keep on making that noise I will get

keep on To continue doing something
annoyed.

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

kick off To begin, start The rugby match kicked off at 3 o’clock.

Please check your form again and make

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

I feel so let down because they promised

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

Andy can you look after your sister until I

look after To take care of
get back?
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

She’s such a snob. She always looks down

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

If you don’t want to take part in the game

look on To be a spectator at an event
you can look on for now.

Harry went to the shop to look for a new

look for To try to find something
computer.

To await or anticipate with I’m looking forward to my birthday. It’s in

look forward to
pleasure two days time.

I always looked up to my father. He was a

look up to To admire
great man.

It’s not nice to make fun of people in

make fun of To laugh at/ make jokes about
wheelchairs.

That’s a good excuse. Did you make up it

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

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

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

move in
office aremoving in this afternoon.

To leave your home/office for When are you moving out? We need your
move out
another one. office for the new guy.

You were so tired after the game that

nod off To fall asleep
younodded off on the couch.

To admit or confess
own up Come on. Own up. We know you did it!
something

Your grandfather passed away peacefully

pass away To die
in his sleep last night.

He didn’t drink enough water so he passed

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

pay back To reimburse I’ll pay you back as soon as I get the loan.

To postpone, arrange a later Don’t put off until tomorrow, what you can
put off
date do today.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

It’s very dark in here. Please put on the

put on To turn on, switch on
light on.

The fire fighters were able to put out fire in

put out To extinguish
ten minutes.

To accommodate, give I can put you up until the weekend but then
put up
somebody a bed I’m going away.

I’ll pick you up at around 7:00 to take you

pick up To collect somebody
to the airport.

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

point out
something mistake in your calculation.

You can rely on me. I always arrive on

rely on To count on, depend on, trust
time.

Since he had a sound alibi, the

rule out To eliminate
police ruledhim out as a suspect.

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

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

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

Let’s set off early to miss the rush hour

set off To start a journey;
traffic.

They set up their own company when they

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

Don’t buy that. Let’s shop around and see

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

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

show off
admired everybody about his new computer.

I don’t think she’ll show up tonight. Her

show up To appear/arrive
daughter is sick.

shut up
To be silent, stop talking Shut up, you’re spoiling the movie!
(impolite)
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

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

The whole stadium stood up for the

stand up To rise from a sitting position
national anthem.

My big brother always stuck up for me

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

To resemble, in appearance or
take after Angie really takes after her grandmother.
character

take care of To look after Please take care of my cat when I’m away.

The plane will take off as soon as the fog

take off To leave the ground
lifts.

I hear they’re taking on extra staff for this

take on To hire or engage staff
event.

Please take out your mobile phones and

take out To remove; extract
turn them off.

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

Take your time and think it over before

think over To consider
you decide.

To wear something to see if it

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

I asked her out but

turn down To refuse
she turned me down flat.

To finish a product (so that

use up Your parents used up all the coffee!
there’s none left)

watch out To be careful Watch out! There’s a dog in the road.

1. Julie wore out her shoes running the

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

1. You should work out twice a week at

1. To do physical exercise
the gym.
work out 2. To find a solution or
2. Can you work this out? I’m no good at
calculate something
math.

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