An Extensive List of Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

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

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

account for To explain, give a I hope you can account

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

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 or 1. He appealed to the

make a request court to change its
2. To be attractive decision.
or interesting 2. A vacation of sunbathing
doesn't appeal to me.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

apply for To make a formal He applied for a

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

back away To move When he saw the bear,

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

back down To withdraw, Local authorities backed

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

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

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

bank on To base your I'm banking on you to help

hopes on with the charity event.
something /
someone

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

consciousness and blacked out.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

block off To separate using The police blocked off the

a barrier. street after the explosion.

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

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

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

as has more power.

boot up To start a You need to boot up your

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

break away To separate from a One of the wolves broke

crowd away from his pack.

break down 1. To go out of 1. The washing

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

break into To enter by force Burglars broke into my car

last night.

break out To start suddenly Rioting broke out after the

government raised the fuel
prices again.

break out of To escape from a Several prisoners broke

place by force out of jail.

break up To come to an end She broke up with Daniel

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

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

children by herself.

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

refresh one's French before going to
knowledge of Paris next month.
something

bump into To meet by chance I bumped into Adam at the

or unexpectedly bank. He says "hello".

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

working Please change it.
2. become 2. She needs to work fewer
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

exhausted from hours. Otherwise she

over-working will burn out.

call back To return a phone Could please call back in

call ten minutes?

call off To cancel The game was called

off because of bad
weather.

calm down To become more It took Kylie several

relaxed, less angry hours to calm down after
or upset 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 1. His orders were carried

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

check in To register at a They said I must check

hotel or airport in at least three hours
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

before my flight.

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

and leave (a the hotel this morning.
hotel) 2. I don't know if this price
2. To investigate 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 down To act strictly to The local authorities have

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

come 1. To find by 1. I was cleaning up

across
chance and came across some
2. To appear, old photos of you.
seem, make an 2. The politician came
impression across as a complete
fool during the TV
interview.

come To present oneself Has the owner of the

forward winning lotto ticket come
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

forward?

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

on (for help) keep your secret.

cut down on To reduce in I've decided to cut

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

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

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

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 down,

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

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

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

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

expected on longer than we had
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

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 see us on your way home?
somewhere

drop off 1. To deliver 1. I'll drop off the papers

someone or later today.
something 2. I often drop off in front
2. To fall asleep of 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)
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

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 through To fail; doesn't His plans to trek through

happen South America fell
through when he got sick.

figure out To understand, find He's trying to figure

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

fill out To complete (a Please fill out the enclosed

form/an form and return it as soon
application) 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.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

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.

get by To manage to cope Students without jobs have

or to survive 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

(+noun) car without the keys?

get off 1. To leave (bus, 1. You should get off the

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

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

train, plane) flight to Brussels.

get on with To continue to do; After they split up, she had
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

(something) make progress a hard time getting on

with her life.

get on (well) To have a good He doesnt get on very

with relationship with well with the other
(somebody) members of the committee.

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 together To meet each Let's get together for your

other birthday on Saturday.

get up To rise, leave bed Will you please get up?

Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

You’ve got a class in 20

minutes.

give in 1. To cease 1. We will never give in to

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

give up To stop doing Morris gave up drinking 10

something years ago.

go through To experience Andy went through a lot 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 all.
become an adult

hand in To submit (report, Please hand in your

homework) papers before Friday.

hand out To distribute Susan volunteered at the

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 the
with a group of game?
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

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 on and a

2. To grip 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.

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 engage in, 1. There was a war on, so

become a some kids were only
member of sixteen when
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

2. To meet and they joined up.

unite with 2. Let's separate now
and join up later at the
restaurant.

keep on To continue doing If you keep on making that

something noise I will get annoyed.

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

with same level as to keep up with the news.
someone or
something

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?
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

look down To consider as She's such a snob. She

on inferior always looks down
on anyone who is poor.

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

at 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.

look To await or I'm looking forward to my

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

look up to To admire I always looked up to my

father. He was a great
man.

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

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

story) you make up it up
yourself?

mix up To mistake one She had so many cats that

thing or person for she kept mixing up their
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

another 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 office
another one. for the new guy.

nod off To fall asleep You were so tired after the

game that you nodded
off on the couch.

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

confess something know you did it!

pass away To die Your grandfather passed

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

Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

arrange a later tomorrow, what you can do

date 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 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 going
bed 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 out,

attention to there was a mistake in your
something 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.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

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 into you. I

accident or need to ask you something.
unexpectedly (also:
bump into)

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

of something. 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. Let's shop

around around and see if we can
find something cheaper.

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

be admired has to tell everybody about
his new computer.

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

Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

up tonight. Her daughter is

sick.

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

(impolite) talking 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 stadium stood

sitting position up for the national anthem.

stick up for To defend My big brother

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

take after To resemble, in Angie really takes after her

appearance or grandmother.
character

take care of To look after Please take care of my cat

when I'm away.

take off To leave the The plane will take off as

ground soon as the fog lifts.

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

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

take out To remove; extract Please take out your

mobile phones and turn
them off.

tell off To The coach told her off for

reprimand/criticize not trying hard enough.
severely

think over To consider Take your time

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 down To refuse I asked her out but

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 out To be careful Watch out! There's a dog

in the road.

wear out 1. To become 1. Julie wore out her shoes

unusable running the marathons.
Phrasal Verb Meaning Example

2. To become very 2. Julie was worn out after

tired all that running.

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

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

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

table). off the table