An Extensive List of Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Meaning Example

Verb

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

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

account To explain, give a I hope you can account

for reason for the time you were
out!

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

seem reasonable don’t add up.

advise To recommend not I advise against walking

against doing something alone in this
neighborhood.

agree To have the same I agree with you. I think

with opinion as you should go as well.
someone else.

allow for To take into We need to allow

consideration for unexpected charges
along the way.

appeal to 1. To plead 1. He appealed

or make a to the court to
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

request change its

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

apply for To make a formal He applied for a

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

back To move When he saw the bear,

away backwards, in fear he backed away in
or dislike fright.

back To withdraw, Local authorities backed

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

back up 1. To give 1. I’m going to be

support or very strict with
encourage him. I hope
ment you’ll back me 
2. To make a up on this?
copy of 2. You
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

(file, should back
program, up all your
etc.) computer files
in a secure
location.

bank on To base your hopes I’m banking on you to

on something / help with the charity
someone event.

black out To faint, lose Jenna fell in the parking

consciousness lot and blacked out.

block off To separate using a The police blocked

barrier. off the street after the
explosion.

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

boil To be summarized It all boils down to who

down to as has more power.
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

boot up To start a computer You need to boot

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

break To separate from a One of the wolves broke

away crowd away from his pack.

break 1. To go out 1. The washing

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

break To enter by force Burglars broke into my

into car last night.

break out To start suddenly Rioting broke out after

the government raised
the fuel prices again.

break out To escape from a Several prisoners broke

of place by force out of jail.
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

break up To come to an end She broke up with

(marriage, Daniel after dating him
relationship) for five years.

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

children by herself.

brush up To improve, refresh I must brush up on my

on one’s knowledge of French before going to
something Paris next month.

bump To meet by chance I bumped into Adam at

into or unexpectedly the bank. He says
“hello”.

burn out 1. stop 1. The light

(somethin bulb burnt out.
g) working Please change
2. become it.
exhausted 2. She needs to
from over- work fewer
working hours.
Otherwise she
will burn out.

call back To return a phone Could please call back in

call ten minutes?
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

call off To cancel The game was called

off because of bad
weather.

calm To become more It took Kylie several

down relaxed, less angry hours to calm
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 1. His orders

something were carried
as out to the letter.
specified 2. That company
(a plan, an does not carry
order, a out tests on
threat) animals.
2. To
perform or
conduct
(test,
experimen
t)
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

check in To register at a They said I must check

hotel or airport in at least three hours
before my flight.

check 1. To pay 1. Donna checke

out
one’s bill d out of the
and leave hotel this
(a hotel) morning.
2. To 2. I don’t know if
investigat this price is
e correct.
I’ll check it out 
online.

clam up To refuse to speak When the police started

asking questions, the
suspect clammed up.

clamp To act strictly to The local authorities

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

come 1. To find by 1. I was cleaning

across
chance up and came
2. To across some
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

appear, old photos of

seem, you.
make an 2. The
impressio politician came
n across as a
complete fool
during the TV
interview.

come To present oneself Has the owner of the

forward winning lotto ticket come
forward?

count on To rely or depend You can count on me to

on (for help) keep your secret.

cut down To reduce in I’ve decided to cut

on number or size down on the amount of
sweets I eat.

cut out 1. To 1. She cut out a

remove coupon from
using the newspaper.
scissors 2. You need
2. To stop to cut out all
doing red meat from
something your diet.
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

deal with To handle, take Catherine is not good

care of (problem, at dealing with stress.
situation)

die down To calm down, After the storm died

become less strong down, we went outside
to see the damage it had
caused.

do To manage without She didn’t get a salary

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

drag on To last longer than The suspect’s

expected trial dragged on longer
than we had expected!

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

agreement, and had me sign it.
document)

dress up wear elegant Their wedding gave us a

clothes chance to dress up and
get out of the house.

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

the way somewhere see us on your way
home?
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

drop off 1. To deliver 1. I’ll drop off the

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

drop out To leave school Zack dropped out of

without finishing college and joined the
army.

ease off To reduce, become Traffic usually eases

less severe or slow off about 7pm
down (pain, traffic,
work)

end in To finish in a Her marriage ended

certain way; result in divorce.
in

end up To finally reach a If you don’t improve your

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

fall To fail; doesn’t His plans to trek through

through happen South America fell
through when he got
sick.
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

figure To understand, find He’s trying to figure

out the answer out how to earn enough
money to go on the trip
to Spain.

fill out To complete (a Please fill out the

form/an application) enclosed form and return
it as soon as possible.

find out To discover or I’m going to to find

obtain information out who’s responsible for
the power cut.

focus on To concentrate on Tom had

something difficultty focusing
on work the day before
his holiday started.

get along To be on good It’s important to get

(with) terms; work well along with your team
with 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.
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

get by To manage to cope Students without jobs

or to survive 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

(+noun) into your car without the
keys?

get off 1. To leave 1. You should get

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

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

train, plane) flight to Brussels.

get on To continue to do; After they split up, she

with make progress had a hard time getting
(somethi on with her life.
ng)

get on To have a good He doesnt get on very

Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

(well) relationship with well with the other

with members of the
(somebo committee.
dy)

get out To leave He had a hard

time getting out of
Newark because of the
snow?

get out of To avoid doing Edna’s trying to get out

something of working the night shift.

get over To recover from Has she gotten over the

(illness, flu?
disappointment)

get over To recover from Mary had the chickenpox

(illness, last week but she got
disappointment) over it.

get rid of To eliminate Please get rid of that old

t-shirt. It’s so ragged.

get To meet each other Let’s get together for

together your birthday on
Saturday.
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

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

opposition never give in to
; yield the terrorists’
2. To To demands.
hand in; 2. I’ll give in my
submit paper
tomorrow.

give up To stop doing Morris gave up drinking

something 10 years ago.

go To experience Andy went through a lot

through of pain after his mother
died.

grow up To spend one’s He’s like Peter Pan. He

childhood; develop; never really grew up at
become an adult all.

hand in To submit (report, Please hand in your

homework) papers before Friday.

hand out To distribute Susan volunteered at the

Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

shelter where
she handed out warm
clothes.

hang out To spend time in a Which pub does the

particular place or team hang out at after
with a group of the game?
friends

hang up To end a phone If you hang up now, I’ll

conversation never speak to you
again.

hold on 1. To wait 1. Please hold

2. To grip on and a
tightly representative
will 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 Hurry up and finish your

speedily lunch or we’ll miss the
train.
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

iron out To resolve by The two countries met at

discussion, the conference to iron
eliminate out their differences.
differences

join in To participate Yes David, you can join

in the discussion any
time you like.

join up 1. To 1. There was a

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

keep on To continue doing If you keep on making

something that noise I will get
annoyed.

keep up To stay at the same I read the paper every

with level as someone day to keep up with the
or something news.
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

kick off To begin, start The rugby match kicked

off at 3 o’clock.

leave out To omit, not Please check your form

mention 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 To consider as She’s such a snob. She

down on inferior always looks down
on anyone who is poor.

look on To be a spectator at If you don’t want to take

an event part in the game you
can look on for now.

look for To try to find Harry went to the shop

something to look for a new
computer.
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

look To await or I’m looking forward

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

look up To admire I always looked up

to to my father. He was a
great man.

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

make up To invent (excuse, That’s a good excuse.

story) Did you make up it up
yourself?

mix up To mistake one She had so many cats

thing or person for that she kept mixing
another up their names.

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

home or office neighbors are moving
in this afternoon.

move out To leave your When are you moving

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

nod off To fall asleep You were so tired after

Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

the game that

you nodded off on the
couch.

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

something know you did it!

pass To die Your grandfather passed

away 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, Don’t put off until

arrange a later date tomorrow, what you can
do today.

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

on Please put on the light
on.

put out To extinguish The fire fighters were

Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

able to put out fire in ten

minutes.

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

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

pick up To collect I’ll pick you up at around

somebody 7:00 to take you to the
airport.

point out To indicate/direct As I already pointed

attention to out, there was a mistake
something in your calculation.

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

depend on, trust always 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 He ran away from home

place or suddenly and joined the circus.
leave

run into To meet by I’m so glad I ran

Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

accident or into you. I need to ask

unexpectedly (also: you something.
bump into)

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

of something. I’ll just pop next door to
borrow some.

set off To start a journey; Let’s set off early to

miss the rush hour traffic.

set up To start a business They set up their own

company when they
were still in high school.

shop To compare prices Don’t buy that.

around Let’s shop around and
see if we can find
something cheaper.

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

be admired He has to tell everybody
about his new computer.

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

up tonight. Her daughter
is sick.
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

shut up To be silent, stop Shut up, you’re spoiling

(impolite) talking the movie!

sit down To take a seat I think you should sit

down. It’s bad news.

stand up To rise from a The whole

sitting position stadium stood up for the
national anthem.

stick up To defend My big brother

for always stuck up for me
when I got into a fight.

take after To resemble, in Angie really takes

appearance or after her grandmother.
character

take care To look after Please take care of my

of cat when I’m away.

take off To leave the The plane will take

ground off as soon as the fog
lifts.

take on To hire or engage I hear they’re taking

staff on extra staff for this
event.
Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

take out To remove; extract Please take out your

mobile phones and turn
them off.

tell off To The

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

think To consider Take your time

over and think it over before
you decide.

try on To wear something Go ahead, try it on and

to see if it suits or see if it fits?
fits

turn To refuse I asked her out but

down she turned me down flat
.

use up To finish a product Your parents used up all

(so that there’s the coffee!
none left)

watch To be careful Watch out! There’s a

out dog in the road.

wear out 1. To 1. Julie wore

Phrasal Meaning Example
Verb

become out her shoes

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

work out 1. To do 1. You

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

wipe off To clean (board, I’ll wash up if you wipe

table). off the table.