| Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
| Act on | To take action because of something like information received. | The police were ACTING ON a tip from an informer and caught the gang red-handed. |
| Act out | Perform something with actions and gestures.. | They ACTED OUT the story on stage. |
| Act up | Behave badly or strangely. | My computer’s ACTING UP; I think I might have a virus. |
| Add on | Include in a calculation. | You have to ADD the VAT ON to the price they give. |
| Add up | To make a mathematical total. | We ADDED UP the bill to check it was correct. |
| Agree with | Affect- usually used in the negative to show that something has had a negative effect, especially is it makes you feel bad. | I feel terrible- that food didn’t AGREE WITH my stomach. |
| Aim at | To target. | The magazine is AIMED AT teenagers. |
| Allow for | Include something in a plan or calculation. | You should ALLOW FOR delays when planning a journey. |
| Allow of | Make possible, permit. | The rules don’t ALLOW OF any exceptions. |
| Angle for | Try to get something indirectly, by hinting or suggesting. | He’s been ANGLING FOR an invitation, but I don’t want him to come. |
| Answer back | To reply rudely to someone in authority. | Her mother was shocked when she started ANSWERING her BACK and refusing to help. |
| Argue down | Beat someone in a debate, discussion or argument. | The teacher tried to ARGUE the girl DOWN, but she couldn’t. |
| Argue down | Persuade someone to drop the price of something they’re selling. | She ARGUED him DOWN ten percent. |
| Argue out | Argue about a problem to find a solution. | If we can’t ARGUE our differences OUT, we’ll have to take them to court. |
| Ask about | Ask how someone is doing, especially professionally and in terms of health. | He ASKED ABOUT my father. |
| Ask after | Enquire about someone’s health, how life is going. | Jenny rang earlier and ASKED AFTER you, so I told her you were fine. |
| Ask around | Ask a number of people for information of help. | I have no idea, but I’ll ASK AROUND at work and see if anyone can help. |
| Ask in | To invite somebody into your house. | Jon’s at the door.’ ‘ASK him IN.’ |
| Ask out | To invite someone for a date. | He wanted to ASK her OUT but was too shy. |
| Ask over | Invite. | They have ASKED us OVER for drinks on Friday. |
| Ask round | Invite someone. | We ASKED John ROUND for diner. |
| Auction off | Sell something in an auction. | They AUCTIONED OFF their property as they were heavily in debt. |
| Back away | Retreat or go backwards. | The crowd BACKED AWAY when the man pulled a knife. |
| Back down | Retract or withdraw your position or proposal in an argument. | She refused to BACK DOWN and was fired. |
| Back into | Enter a parking area in reverse gear. | He prefers to BACK his car INTO the garage. |
| Back off | Retreat. | The police told the protesters to BACK OFF. |
| Back out | Fail to keep an arrangement or promise. | He BACKED OUT two days before the holiday so we gave the ticket to his sister |
| Back out of | Fail to keep an agreement, arrangement. | She BACKED OUT OF the agreement at the last minute. |
| Back up | Make a copy of computer data. | You should always BACK UP important files and documents so that you won’t lose all your work if something goes wrong with the hardware. |
| Bag out | Criticise. | Don’t bag out BAG OUT Australian English. |
| Ball up | Confuse or make things complicated. | The new project has BALLED me UP- I have no idea what to do. |
| Bargain down | Persuade someone to drop the price of something they’re selling. | I BARGAINED her DOWN to half what she originally wanted. |
| Bash about | Mistreat physically. | If you BASH your monitor ABOUT like that, it won’t last long. |
| Bash in | Break, damage or injure by hitting. | The burglars BASHED the door IN to enter the house. |
| Bash out | Write something quickly without much preparation. | I BASHED the essay OUT the night before I had to hand it in. |
| Be after | Try to find or get. | The police ARE AFTER him because of the theft. |
| Be along | Arrive. | The next bus should BE ALONG in the next quarter of an hour or so. |
| Be away | Be elsewhere; on holiday, etc.. | She’s AWAY on business for three weeks. |
| Be cut out for | Be suitable, have the necessary qualities. | She’s not CUT OUT FOR this kind of work. |
| Be cut up | Be upset. | She was very CUT UP about coming second as she thought she deserved to win. |
| Be down | Be depressed. | He’s BEEN DOWN since his partner left him. |
| Be fed up | Be bored, upset or sick of something. | I AM FED UP of his complaints. |
| Be taken with | Like something. | I WAS very TAKEN WITH the performance- it was superb. |
| Be up | Be out of bed. | She’s not UP yet. |
| Bear down on | Move towards. | She spotted him on the other side of the room and BORE DOWN ON him. |
| Bear on | Influence, affect. | The judge’s character may well BEAR ON the final decision. |
| Bear out | Confirm that something is correct. | Statistics BEAR OUT the government’s positions on the issue. |
| Bear up | Resist pressure. | How are you BEARING UP under the strain? |
| Bear up under | Cope with something difficult or stressful. | He’s BEARING UP UNDER the pressure. |
| Bear with | Be patient. | Please BEAR WITH me a moment while I finish this email. |
| Beat down | Strong sunshine. | The sun WAS really BEATING DOWN and we couldn’t stay outdoors. |
| Beat out | Narrowly win in competition. | The marathon runner barely BEAT OUT his rival at the tape. |
| Beat up | Attack violently. | The mugger BEAT him UP and stole his wallet. |
| Belong with | Be in the correct or appropriate location with other items. | Does this disc BELONG WITH those on the shelf? |
| Bend down | Lower the top half of your body. | I BENT DOWN to pick it up off the floor. |
| Big up | Exaggerate the importance. | He BIGS himself UP all the time. |
| Bitch up | Spoil or ruin something. | I BITCHED UP the interview. |
| Black out | Fall unconscious. | He BLACKED OUT and collapsed on the floor. |
| Blast off | Leave the ground- spaceship or rocket. | The space shuttle BLASTED OFF on schedule yesterday. |
| Block in | Park a car and obstruct another car. | I couldn’t drive here this morning because someone had BLOCKED me IN. |
| Block off | Obstruct an exit to prevent people from leaving. | The police BLOCKED OFF the road after the murder. |
| Blow away | Impress greatly. | Her first novel BLEW me AWAY. |
| Blow down | When the wind forces something to fall. | A tree was BLOWN DOWN in the storm. |
| Blow in | Arrive, sometimes suddenly or unexpectedly. | He BLEW IN from Toronto early this morning. |
| Blow off | Not keep an appointment. | We were going to meet last night, but she BLEW me OFF at the last minute. |
| Blow up | Explode. | The bomb BLEW UP without any warning. |
| Boil up | Feel a negative emotion strongly. | The anger BOILED UP in me when I saw what they had done. |
| Bone up on | Study hard for a goal or reason. | I need to BONE UP ON my French grammar for the test. |
| Book in | Check in at a hotel. | WE took a taxi from the airport to the hotel and BOOKED IN. |
| Call up | Telephone. | I CALLED him UP as soon as I got to a phone to tell him the news. |
| Calm down | Stop being angry or emotionally excited. | When I lose my temper, it takes ages for me to CALM DOWN again. |
| Cancel out | Have an opposite effect on something that has happened, taking things back to the beginning. | The airport taxes CANCELLED OUT the savings we had made on the flight tickets. |
| Cap off | Finish or complete, often with some decisive action. | She CAPPED OFF the meeting with a radical proposal. |
| Care for | Like. | I don’t CARE FOR fizzy drinks; I prefer water. |
| Carried away | Get so emotional that you lose control. | The team got CARRIED AWAY when they won the championship and started shouting and throwing things around. |
| Carry forward | Make something progress. | They hope the new management will be able to CARRY the project FORWARD. |
| Carry off | Win, succeed. | She CARRIED OFF the first prize in the competition. |
| Carry on | Continue. | CARRY ON quietly with your work until the substitute teacher arrives. |
| Decide upon | Choose, select. | Jane spent a long time looking at houses before she bought one, but eventually DECIDED UPON one near her office. |
| Die away | Become quieter or inaudible (of a sound). | The last notes DIED AWAY and the audience burst into applause. |
| Die back | When the parts of a plant above ground die, but the roots remain alive. | The plant DIES BACK in the winter. |
| Die down | Decrease or become quieter. | It was on the front pages of all the papers for a few days, but the interest gradually DIED DOWN. |
| Die for | Want something a lot. | I’m DYING FOR the weekend- this week’s been so hard. |
| Die off | Become extinct. | Most of the elm trees in the UK DIED OFF when Dutch elm disease arrived. |
| Die out | Become extinct or disappear. | Some scientists say that the dinosaurs DIED OUT when a comet hit the earth and caused a nuclear winter. |
| Dig in | Start eating greedily. | We were starving so we really DUG IN when the food finally did arrive. |
| Dig into | Reach inside to get something. | She DUG INTO her handbag and pulled out a bunch of keys. |
| Fawn over | Praise someone in an excessive way to get their favour or something from them. | She FAWNED OVER the inspectors in the hope that they would give her a good grade. |
| Feed off | Eat a food as part of an animals diet. | The gecko FEEDS OFF mosquitoes and other insects. |
| Feed on | Give someone a particular food. | He FEEDS his cat ON dry food. |
| Feed up | Give someone a lot of food to restore their health, make them bigger, etc. | She’s been ill for a fortnight so we’re FEEDING her UP. |
| Feel up | Touch sexually, grope. | Someone FELT me UP in the club as I was trying to get to the bar. |
| Feel up to | Feel capable of doing something. | I’m so tired. I don’t think I FEEL UP TO going out tonight. |
| Get ahead | Progress. | Nowadays, you need IT skills if you want to GET AHEAD. |
| Get ahead of | Move in front of. | I work at home in the evening to GET AHEAD OF schedule. |
| Get along | Leave. | It’s late; we must be GETTING ALONG. |
| Give up | Stop doing something that has been a habit. | I GAVE UP taking sugar in tea and coffee to lose weight. |
| Hit on | Have an idea. | I suddenly HIT ON the solution |
| Hold off | Stop someone from attacking or beating you. | Chelsea couldn’t HOLD their opponents OFF and lost the game. |
| Hold on | Wait. | Could you HOLD ON for a minute; she’ll be free in a moment. |
| Hook up | Meet someone. | We HOOKED UP at the conference. |
| Hunt out | Search until you find something. | It took me ages to HUNT OUT the photos. |
| Jack up | Increase sharply. | They have JACKED UP the price of oil this month. |
| Jam on | Apply or operate something forcefully. | Jack JAMMED ON the brakes when the rabbit ran in front of his car. |
| Jaw away | Talk just for the point of talking rather than having anything to say. | That shows that your interest is not in helping the student, but in JAWING AWAY. |
| Jazz up | Make something more interesting or attractive. | The show was getting stale so they JAZZED it UP with some new scenes. |
| Keep around | Keep something near you. | I KEEP a dictionary AROUND when I’m doing my homework. |
| Keep at | Continue with something difficult. | She found the course hard but she KEPT AT it and completed it successfully. |
| Keep away | Don’t allow someone near something. | Medicines should always be KEPT AWAY from children. |
| Keep back | Maintain a safe distance. | The police told the crowd to KEEP BACK from the fire. |
| Key to | Plan things to fit or suit people or situations. | Promotions are KEYED TO people’s abilities. |
| Key up | Make someone excited or nervous. | The noise got us KEYED UP. |
| Kick about | Discuss. | We KICKED the idea ABOUT at the meeting. |
| Kick in | When a drug starts to take effect. | Her hayfever didn’t feel half as bad once the antihistamines had KICKED IN. |
| Kick out | Expel. | The family KICKED the au pair OUT when they found out that she was planning to move to work for another household. |
| Knock off | Finish work for the day. | We KNOCKED OFF early on Friday to avoid the rush hour queues. |
| Lash down | Secure something with ropes or cords. | We LASHED the tarpaulin DOWN to stop the wind blowing it away. |
| Lash into | Criticise someone strongly. | He LASHED INTO them for messing thins up. |
| Lash out | Suddenly become violent. | He LASHED OUT and broke the man’s nose. |
| Lay on | Organise, supply. | They LAID ON a buffet lunch at the conference. |
| Lay out | Spend money. | They LAID OUT thousands of pounds on their wedding reception. |
| Let in | Allow someone to enter. | The doorstaff didn’t LET him IN the nightclub because he was wearing jeans. |
| Let off | Not punish. | The judge LET him OFF with a fine rather than a prison sentence since it was his first offence. |
| Line up | Arrange events for someone. | We have LINED UP a lot of meetings for them. |
| Link up | Connect, join. | The train LINKS UP the cities. |
| Live by | Follow a belief system to guide your behaviour. | He tries hard to LIVE BY the Bible. |
| Live down | Stop being embarrassed about something. | If I fail the test and everyone else passes, I’ll never be able to LIVE it DOWN. |
| Live with | Accept something unpleasant. | It’s hard to LIVE WITH the pain of a serious illness. |
| Log in | Enter a restricted area on a computer system. | I had forgotten my password and couldn’t LOG IN. |
| Log into | Enter a restricted area of a computer system. | I LOGGED INTO the staff intranet to check my email. |
| Log off | Exit a computer system. | When she’d finished working on the spreadsheet, she LOGGED OFF and left the office. |
| Log on | Enter a computer system. | He entered his password for the college intranet and LOGGED ON. |
| Log out | Exit a computer system. | Danny closed the programs and LOGGED OUT when it was time to go home. |
| Look up | Consult a reference work (dictionary, phonebook, etc.) for a specific piece of information.. | I didn’t know the correct spelling so I had to LOOK it UP in the dictionary. |
| Magic away | Make something disappear quickly. | He MAGICKED the bill AWAY and paid for us all before I could get my wallet out. |
| Make after | Chase. | The police MADE AFTER the stolen car. |
| Make away with | Steal. | The thieves MADE AWAY WITH the painting. |
| Make it | Arrive or get a result. | I thought you weren’t coming, so I was really pleased you MADE IT. |
| Make it up to | Try to compensate for doing something wrong. | He tried to MAKE IT UP TO her, but she wouldn’t speak to him. |
| Make of | Understand or have an opinion. | What do you MAKE OF your new boss? |
| Make off | Leave somewhere in a hurry. | They MADE OFF when they heard the police siren. |
| Mash up | Mix sources of audio, video or other computer sources.. | She MASHED UP the songs into a single track. |
| Melt down | Heat something solid, especially metal, until it becomes liquid. | They MELTED the gold statue DOWN and turned it into gold bars. |
| Mess about | Not be serious, not use something properly. | The children were MESSING ABOUT with the TV remote control and broke it. |
| Mix up | Confuse. | I always MIX those two sisters UP because they look so like each other. |
| Move into | Start living in a place. | They MOVED INTO the house as soon as it was ready. |
| Move up | Move to make space. | Could you MOVE UP and let me sit down? |
| Nail down | Succeed in getting, achieve. | They are having trouble NAILING DOWN the contract. |
| Name after | Give someone a name to remember another person. | I was NAMED AFTER my uncle who died in the war. |
| Narrow down | Remove less important options to make it easier to choose. | I am not sure which university to apply to, but I have NARROWED my list DOWN to three. |
| Nerd out | Play safe and avoid taking a risk. | I’m going to NERD OUT and not go on the river trip. |
| Opt for | Choose. | I OPTED FOR an endowment mortgage and lost a lot of money. |
| Opt in | Choose to be part or a member of something. | If you want them to notify you of updates, you have to OPT IN. |
| Opt into | Choose to be a member or part of something. | I OPTED INTO the scheme. |
| Opt out | Choose not to be part of something. | The UK OPTED OUT of a lot of EU legislation on working hours and conditions. |
| Pack in | Stop doing something. | I’m trying to PACK IN smoking. |
| Pack off | Send someone away. | His boss PACKED him OFF to a regional office. |
| Pack out | Fill a venue. | The stadium was PACKED OUT. |
| Pack up | Stop doing something. | You should PACK UP smoking. |
| Pad down | Sleep somewhere for the night. | I’m too tired to come home; can I PAD DOWN here tonight? |
| Pad out | Make a text longer by including extra content, often content that isn’t particularly relevant. | I couldn’t think of much to write, so I PADDED the essay OUT with a few lengthy quotes. |
| Pal around | Be friendly and spend time with someone. | We PALLED AROUND at university. |
| Pal up | Become friends. | We PALLED UP when I started working with her. |
| Pass away | Die. | Sadly, Georgia’s uncle PASSED AWAY yesterday after a short illness. |
| Pass back | Return. | I felt awful when the teacher started to PASS BACK the exam papers. |
| Pass by | Go past without stopping. | I was just PASSING BY when I saw the accident. |
| Patch up | Fix or make things better. | I tried to PATCH things UP after the argument, but they wouldn’t speak to me. |
| Pay back | Repay money borrowed. | I PAID BACK the twenty pounds I’d borrowed. |
| Pay off | Produce a profitable or successful result. | Their patience PAID OFF when he finally showed up and signed the contract. |
| Peel away | Leave a group by moving in a different direction. | Some of the crowd PEELED AWAY to get out of the crush. |
| Peg out | Put washing outside to dry. | I PEGGED the washing OUT after it stopped raining. |
| Phase in | Introduce gradually. | They are PHASING IN the reforms over the next two years. |
| Phase out | Remove gradually. | They have introduced a compact edition of the newspaper and are PHASING OUT the broadsheet edition over the next few months. |
| Pick at | Eat unwillingly. | I wasn’t very hungry so I just PICKED AT my food. |
| Pick up | Collect. | While you’re in town, can you PICK UP my trousers from the Dry Cleaner? |
| Pig out | Eat a lot. | The food was great, so I really PIGGED OUT. |
| Pile up | Accumulate. | Work just keeps on PILING UP and I really can’t manage to get it all done. |
| Pin down | Discover exact details about something. | The government can’t PIN DOWN where the leak came from. |
| Pin on | Attach the blame to someone. | The police tried to PIN the crime ON him. |
| Pin up | Fix something to a wall, or other vertical surface, with a pin. | I PINNED the notice UP on the board |
| Pine away | Suffer physically because of grief, stress, worry, etc. | He’s been PINING AWAY since his wife died and is a shadow of his former self. |
| Pipe down | Be quiet (often as an imperative). | The lecturer asked the students to PIPE DOWN and pay attention. |
| Pipe up | To speak, raise your voice. | At first, no one answered, then finally someone PIPED UP. |
| Play along | Pretend to agree or accept something in order to keep someone happy or to get more information. | I disagreed with the idea but I had to PLAY ALONG because everyone else liked it. |
| Play around | Be silly. | The children were PLAYING AROUND and being annoying. |
| Play up | Behave badly. | The children PLAYED UP all evening and drove the babysitter mad. |
| Plug in | Connect machines to the electricity supply. | He PLUGGED the TV IN and turned it on full blast. |
| Plump down | Put something in a place without taking care. | He PLUMPED his bag DOWN and kicked his shoes off. |
| Plump for | Choose. | I PLUMPED FOR the steak frites. |
| Point out | Make someone aware of something. | He POINTED OUT that I only had two weeks to get the whole thing finished. |
| Poke about | Move things around or search in a casual way to try to find something. | I POKED ABOUT in my CD collection to see if I could find it. |
| Poke around | Move things around or search in a casual way to try to find something. | I POKED AROUND in my desk to see if the letter was there. |
| Polish off | Finish, consume. | She POLISHES OFF half a bottle of gin every night. |
| Polish up | Improve something quickly. | I need to POLISH UP my French before I go to Paris. |
| Pop in | Visit for a short time. | He POPPED IN for a coffee on his way home. |
| Pop off | Talk loudly, complain. | He’s always POPPING OFF when things don’t suit him. |
| Power up | Turn a computer or electronic device on so that it is ready to use. | I POWERED UP my laptop and started work. |
| Price up | Charge more for something. | In rural areas where they have a monopoly, some garages PRICE UP fuel because there’s nowhere else to buy it. |
| Pull ahead | Overtake, move in front. | The lorry was going slowly but we managed to PULL AHEAD. |
| Pull out | Move into traffic. | The traffic was so bad that it took me ages to PULL OUT. |
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