An Extensive List of Phrasal

Verbs
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

To respect or obey a If you want to keep your job here,

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

I hope you can account for the

account for To explain, give a reason
time you were out!

To make sense, seem The facts in the case just don’t add

add up
reasonable up.

To recommend not doing I advise against walking alone in

advise against
something this neighborhood.

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

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

To make a formal request

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

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

back away
fear or dislike away in fright.

Local authorities backed down on

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

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

bank on
something / someone the charity event.

To faint, lose Jenna fell in the parking lot

black out
consciousness and blacked out.

To separate using a The police blocked off the street

block off
barrier. after the explosion.

1. Tommy blew up the red

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

It all boils down to who has more

boil down to To be summarized as
power.

To start a computer by You need to boot up your

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

One of the wolves broke

break away To separate from a crowd
away from his pack.

1. The washing machine broke

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

Burglars broke into my car last

break into To enter by force
night.

Rioting broke out after the

break out To start suddenly government raised the fuel prices
again.

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

Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

force jail.

Sara is bringing up her children

bring up To raise (a child)
by herself.

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

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

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

bump into
unexpectedly He says “hello”.

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

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

Could please call back in ten

call back To return a phone call
minutes?

The game was called off because

call off To cancel
of bad weather.

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

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

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

When the police started asking

clam up To refuse to speak questions, the suspect clammed
up.

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

2. To appear, seem, across some old photos of you.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

2. The politician came across as

make an impression a complete fool during the TV
interview.

Has the owner of the winning lotto

come forward To present oneself
ticket come forward?

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

count on
help) secret.

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

cut down on
size amount of sweets I eat.

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

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

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

deal with
(problem, situation) with stress.

After the storm died down, we

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

She didn’t get a salary this month,

do without To manage without so she’ll have to do without extra
treats.

To last longer than The suspect’s trial dragged

drag on
expected on longer than we had expected!

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

draw up
agreement, document) me sign it.

Their wedding gave us a chance

dress up wear elegant clothes to dress up and get out of the
house.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

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

drop in
way somewhere on your way home?

1. I’ll drop off the papers later

1. To deliver someone
today.
drop off or something
2. I often drop off in front of the
2. To fall asleep
TV.

To leave school without Zack dropped out of college and

drop out
finishing joined the army.

To reduce, become less

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

To finish in a certain way;

end in Her marriage ended in divorce.
result in

To finally reach a state, If you don’t improve your work

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

His plans to trek through South

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

He’s trying to figure out how to

To understand, find the
figure out earn enough money to go on the
answer
trip to Spain.

To complete (a form/an Please fill out the enclosed form

fill out
application) and return it as soon as possible.

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

find out
information responsible for the power cut.

Tom had difficultty focusing

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

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

Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

(with) work well with your team supervisor.

What are you getting at? Do you

get at To imply
think I’m 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 time getting by.

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

get into How did you get into your car

To enter
(+noun) without the keys?

1. You should get off the train in

1. To leave (bus, train,
Kings Heath.
get off plane)
2. I can’t get the ink stain off my
2. To remove
shirt.

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

get on
plane) Brussels.

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

get on (well) He doesnt get on very

To have a good
with well with the other members of the
relationship with
(somebody) committee.

He had a hard time getting out of

get out To leave
Newark because of the snow?

Edna’s trying to get out

get out of To avoid doing something
of working the night shift.

To recover from (illness,

get over Has she gotten over the flu?
disappointment)
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

To recover from (illness, Mary had the chickenpox last

get over
disappointment) week but she got over it.

Please get rid of that old t-shirt.

get rid of To eliminate
It’s so ragged.

Let’s get together for your

get together To meet each other
birthday on Saturday.

Will you please get up? You’ve

get up To rise, leave bed
got a class in 20 minutes.

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

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

Morris gave up drinking 10 years

give up To stop doing something
ago.

Andy went through a lot of pain

go through To experience
after his mother died.

To spend one’s childhood; He’s like Peter Pan. He never

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

To submit (report, Please hand in your papers before

hand in
homework) Friday.

Susan volunteered at the shelter

hand out To distribute where she handed out warm
clothes.

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

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

hang up
conversation speak to you again.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

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

Hurry up and finish your lunch or

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

The two countries met at the

To resolve by discussion,
iron out conference to iron out their
eliminate differences
differences.

Yes David, you can join in the

join in To participate
discussion any time you like.

1. There was a war on, so some

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

To continue doing If you keep on making that noise I

keep on
something will get annoyed.

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

The rugby match kicked off at 3

kick off To begin, start
o’clock.

Please check your form again and

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

I feel so let down because they

let down To disappoint promised me a puppy but all I got
was a doll.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

Andy can you look after your

look after To take care of
sister until I get back?

She’s such a snob. She

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

To be a spectator at an If you don’t want to take part in

look on
event the game you can look on for now.

Harry went to the shop to look

look for To try to find something
for a new computer.

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

to with pleasure birthday. It’s in two days time.

I always looked up to my father.

look up to To admire
He was a great man.

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

That’s a good excuse. Did

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

To mistake one thing or She had so many cats that she

mix up
person for another kept mixing up their names.

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

move in
or office are moving in this afternoon.

To leave your home/office When are you moving out? We

move out
for another one. need your office for the new guy.

You were so tired after the game

nod off To fall asleep
that you nodded off on the couch.

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

own up
something did it!

pass away To die Your grandfather passed

Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

away peacefully in his sleep last

night.

He didn’t drink enough water so

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

I’ll pay you back as soon as I get

pay back To reimburse
the loan.

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

put off
later date what you can do today.

It’s very dark in here. Please put

put on To turn on, switch on
on the light on.

The fire fighters were able to put

put out To extinguish
out fire in ten minutes.

To accommodate, give I can put you up until the

put up
somebody a bed weekend but then I’m going away.

I’ll pick you up at around 7:00 to

pick up To collect somebody
take you to the airport.

To indicate/direct As I already pointed out, there

point out
attention to something was a mistake in your calculation.

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

rely on
trust arrive on time.

Since he had a sound alibi, the

rule out To eliminate
police ruled him out as a suspect.

To escape from a place or He ran away from home and

run away
suddenly leave joined the circus.

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

To have no more of We’ve run out of milk. I’ll just

run out of
something. pop next door to borrow some.

Let’s set off early to miss the rush

set off To start a journey;
hour traffic.

They set up their own company

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

Don’t buy that. Let’s shop

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

He’s such a show off. He has to

To brag or want to be
show off tell everybody about his new
admired
computer.

I don’t think she’ll show

show up To appear/arrive
up tonight. Her daughter is sick.

My big brother always stuck up

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

To resemble, in Angie really takes after her

take after
appearance or character grandmother.

Please take care of my cat when

take care of To look after
I’m away.

The plane will take off as soon as

take off To leave the ground
the fog lifts.

I hear they’re taking on extra staff

take on To hire or engage staff
for this event.

Please take out your mobile

take out To remove; extract
phones and turn them off.

To reprimand/criticize The coach told her off for not

tell off
severely trying hard enough.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

Take your time

think over To consider and think it over before you
decide.

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

try on
if it suits or fits fits?

I asked her out but

turn down To refuse
she turned me down flat.

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

use up
that there’s none left) coffee!

Watch out! There’s a dog in the

watch out To be careful
road.

1. Julie wore out her shoes

1. To become unusable running the marathons.
wear out
2. To become very tired 2. Julie was worn out after all
that running.

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

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

I’ll wash up if you wipe off the

wipe off To clean (board, table).
table.