back

To withdraw, concede defeat Local authorities backed down on

down
threats to build on that part of the

beach.

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

encouragement with him. I hope

To make a copy of (file, program, you'll back me up on th

etc.) You should back up all your compu

files in a secure location.

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

someone charity event.

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

and blacked out.

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

the explosion.

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

To get angry balloon.

Don't blow up at me. It's not my fau

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

to
more power.

boot up To start a computer by loading an You need to boot up your compute

operating system or program before you begin to work.

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

away pack.

break 1. To go out of order, cease to 1. The washing machine bro

down
function down so we had to call in

To lose control of one's emotions repair technician.

John broke down when he heard th

news.

break into 2. To enter by force 2. Burglars broke into my c

last night.

break out To start suddenly Rioting broke out after the governm

raised the fuel prices again.

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

of

break up To come to an end (marriage, She broke up with Daniel after dati

relationship) him for five years.

bring up 2. To raise (a child) 2. Sara is bringing up her

children by herself.

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

on of something going to Paris next month.

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

says "hello".
burn out 1. stop (something) working 1. The light bulb burnt out.

become exhausted from over-working Please change it.

She needs to work fewer hours.

Otherwise she will burn out.

call back 2. To return a phone call 2. Could please call back in

minutes?

call off To cancel The game was called off because o

bad weather.

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

down or upset 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 as 1. His orders were carried

specified (a plan, an order, out to the letter.

That company does not carry out t

a threat)
on animals.
To perform or conduct (test,

experiment)

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

three hours before my flight.

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

(a hotel) hotel this morning.

To investigate I don't know if this price is correct.

I'll check it out online.

clam up To refuse to speak When the police started asking

questions, the suspect clammed up

clamp 2. To act strictly to prevent 2. The local authorities have

down on
something decided to clamp down

on illegal parking in

handicapped parking plac

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

across To appear, seem, make an impression across some old photos o

you.

The politician came across as a

complete fool during the TV intervie

come To present oneself Has the owner of the winning lotto

forward ticket come forward?

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

secret.

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

on amount of sweets I eat.

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

2. To stop doing something the newspaper.

2. You need to cut out all re

meat from your diet.

deal with To handle, take care of (problem, Catherine is not good at dealing
 situation) with stress.

die down 2. To calm down, become less 2. After the storm died down

strong we went outside to see th

damage it had caused.

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

without she'll have to do without extra trea

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

than we had expected!

draw up 2. To write (contract, 2. They drew up a contract

agreement, document) had me sign it.

dress up wear elegant clothes Their wedding gave us a chance

to dress up and get out of the hous

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

somewhere way home?

drop off 1. To deliver someone or 1. I'll drop off the papers la

something today.

To fall asleep I often drop off in front of the TV.

drop out 2. To leave school without 2. Zack dropped out of coll

finishing and joined the army.

ease off To reduce, become less severe or Traffic usually eases off about 7pm

slow down (pain, traffic, work)

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

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

action you'll end up being fired.

fall To fail; doesn't happen His plans to trek through South

through America fell through when he got s

figure out To understand, find the answer He's trying to figure out how to ear

enough money to go on the trip to

Spain.

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

return it as soon as possible.

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

responsible for the power cut.

focus on 2. To concentrate on 2. Tom had difficultty focus

something on work the day before hi

holiday started.

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

(with) team supervisor.

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

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 survive Students without jobs have a 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 with

(+noun) the keys?

get off 1. To leave (bus, train, plane) 1. You should get off the tra

To remove in Kings Heath.

I can't get the ink stain off my shi

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

Brussels.

get on To continue to do; make progress After they split up, she had a hard

with time getting on with her life.

(somethin

g)

get on To have a good relationship with He doesnt get on very well with th

(well) other members of the committee.

with

(somebod

y)

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

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 week

disappointment) she got over it.

get rid of To eliminate Please get rid of that old t-shirt. It’

ragged.

get 2. To meet each other 2. Let's get together for you

together
birthday on Saturday.

get up To rise, leave bed Will you please get up? You’ve got a

class in 20 minutes.

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

To To hand in; submit terrorists' demands.

I'll give in my paper tomorrow.

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

go To experience Andy went through a lot of pain aft

through his mother died.

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

become an adult really grew up at all.

hand in To submit (report, homework) Please hand in your papers before

Friday.

hand out To distribute Susan volunteered at the shelter wh

she handed out warm clothes.

hang out To spend time in a particular place or Which pub does the team hang out

with a group of friends after the game?

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

you again.

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

To grip tightly representative will answe

your call.

She was so scared on the rollercoas

ride that she held on for dear life.

hurry up 2. To be quick, act speedily 2. Hurry up and finish your

lunch or we’ll miss the tra

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

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, become a 1. There was a war on, so so

 member of kids were only sixteen wh

To meet and unite with they joined up.

Let's separate now and join up late

the restaurant.

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

get annoyed.

keep up To stay at the same level as someone I read the paper every day to keep u

with or something 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 m

sure nothing is left out.

let down 2. To disappoint 2. I feel so let down becaus

they promised me a puppy

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 always look

on down on anyone who is poor.

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

game you can look on for now.

look for 2. To try to find something 2. Harry went to the shop

to look for a new comput

look To await or anticipate with pleasure I'm looking forward to my birthday.

forward to in two days time.

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

was a great man.

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

of 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 person for She had so many cats that she

another kept mixing up their names.

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

are moving in this afternoon.

move out To leave your home/office for another When are you moving out? We need

one. your office for the new guy.

nod off To fall asleep You were so tired after the game th

you nodded off on the couch.

own up To admit or confess something Come on. Own up. We know you did
pass To die Your grandfather passed

away away peacefully in his sleep last ni

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

he passed out at the end of the rac

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

loan.

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

can do today.

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

light on.

put out To extinguish The fire fighters were able to put

out fire in ten minutes.

put up To accommodate, give somebody a I can put you up until the weeken

bed but then I’m going away.

pick up To collect somebody I'll pick you up at around 7:00 to t

you to the airport.

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

something mistake in your calculation.

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

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 suddenly He ran away from home and joined

leave circus.

run into To meet by accident or unexpectedly I'm so glad I ran into you. I need to

(also: bump into) you something.

run out of To have no more of something. We've run out of milk. I'll just pop n

door to borrow some.

set off To start a journey; Let's set off early to miss the rush

traffic.

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

they were still in high school.

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

around see if we can find something cheape

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

everybody about his new computer.

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

daughter is sick.

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

(impolite)
sit down To take a seat I think you should sit down. It's bad

news.

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

national anthem.

stick up To defend My big brother always stuck up for

for when I got into a fight.

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

character grandmother.

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

of away.

take off To leave the ground The plane will take off as soon as t

fog lifts.

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

this event.

take out To remove; extract Please take out your mobile phone

and turn them off.

tell off To reprimand/criticize severely The coach told her off for not tryi

hard enough.

think over To consider Take your time

and think it over before you decid

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

fits

turn down To refuse I asked her out but

she turned me down flat.

use up To finish a product (so that there's Your parents used up all the coffee

none left)