Phrasal Verbs

"The babysitter had a difficult time. The children acted up all evening."

act like: behave in a way that's like. "What's wrong with Bob? He's acting like an idiot."

add up: find the total.

"What's the total of those bills? Could you add them up and see?"

back off: not follow a threat. "Tom was ready to call the police when I told him I'd wrecked his car, but he backed off when I said I'd pay for the damages."

back up (1): move backward; move in reverse.

"The people waiting in line are too close to the door. We won't be able to open it unless they back up."

back up (2): confirm a story, facts, or information.

"If you don't believe me, talk to Dave. He'll back me up."

back up (3): make a "protection" copy to use if there are problems with the original. "When my computer crashed, I lost many of my files. It's a good thing I backed them up."

blow up (1): explode; destroy by exploding.

A: "That old building really came down quickly!"

B: "That's because the construction company used dynamite to blow it up."

blow up (2): suddenly become very angry. "When I told Jerry that I'd had an accident with his car, he blew up."

break down: stop working or functioning. "Sharon will be late for work today. Her car broke down on the freeway."

break in: enter by using force and breaking a lock, window, etc.

"Jane's apartment was burglarized last night. Someone broke in while Jane was at the movies."

break up: end a personal relationship. "I'm sorry to hear that their marriage broke up. I'm sure the divorce will be difficult for the children."

bring up: raise; rear.

"Lucy's parents died when she was a baby. Her grandparents brought her up."

burn up: cause someone to become very angry.

"Did you hear how rudely Fred talked to me? That really burned me up!"

butt in: impolitely interrupt a conversation, an action.

"Hey, you! Don't butt in! Wait for your turn!"

butter up: praise someone excessively with the hope of getting some benefit. "I guess Marty really wants to be promoted. He's been buttering his boss up all week."

call off: cancel something that has been scheduled.

"We don't have school today. The mayor called classes off because of the snow."

calm down: become calm, less agitated or upset.

"Why are you so upset? Suzie didn't intend to spill orange juice on you. Calm down!"

care for: take care of; supply care to; attend, watch.

"Amy's father got out of the hospital last week. The family is caring for him at home."

catch on: develop understanding or knowledge of something.

"Bill had never used a computer until he took this class, but he caught on very quickly and is now one of the best students."

catch up with: stop being behind. "Terry stopped to rest for a few minutes. He'll catch up with us later."

check in: register for at a hotel, conference, etc.; let someone know officially that you have arrived.

"When you arrive at the conference, be sure to check in at the registration desk."

check out: follow procedures for leaving a hotel, etc.

"Don't forget to take your room key to the front desk when you check out.

cheer up: help someone feel less worried, depressed, sad.

"Suzie's brother was depressed about not getting a promotion, so she sent him a funny card to cheer him up."

chew out: scold someone severely; berate. "Tom's father was really angry when Tom didn't come home until 3:00 AM. He chewed Tom out and then said Tom had to stay at home for two weeks."

come across: find unexpectedly.

"I've lost my extra car keys. If you come across them while you're cleaning the room, please put them in a safe place."

come down with: become ill with. "George won't be at the office today. He came down with the flu over the weekend."

count on: depend on; trust that something will happen or that someone will do as expected.

"I'm counting on you to wake me up tomorrow. I know I won't hear the alarm."

cut back: use less of something. "You drink too much coffee. You should cut back."

do in: to kill; to murder. "The said that the murdered man was done in between 10 and 11 o'clock last night."

do over: do something again.

"Oh, no! I forgot to save my report before I turned the computer off! Now I'll have to do it over!"

drag on: last much longer than expected or is necessary.

"I thought the meeting would be a short one, but it dragged on for more than three hours."

drop off: deliver something; deliver someone by giving him a ride.

"You don't have to take a taxi. You live fairly close to me, so I'll be happy to drop you off."

drop in: visit informally and usually without scheduling a specific time. "If you're in town next month, we'd love to see you. Please try to drop in.

drop out: stop attending, leave school or an organization.

"No, Paul isn't at the university. He dropped out.

eat out: have a meal in a restaurant. "I'm too tired to cook tonight. Why don't we eat out?"

end up: arrive somewhere as a result or consequence.

"You're working too hard. If you don't take it easy, you'll end up in the hospital!"

face up to: admit to; take responsibility for. "You can't pretend that you're doing OK in this course, Joe. Sooner or later, you'll have to face up to the fact that you're failing it."

figure out: logically find the answer to a problem; solve a problem by thinking about it carefully.

"For a long time I couldn't understand the last problem, but I finally figured it out."

figure out: understand why someone behaves the way she does.

"I can't figure Margie out. Sometimes she's very warm and friendly and sometimes she acts as if she doesn't know me."

fill in: add information to a form.

"The office needs to know your home address and phone number. Could you fill them in on this form?"

fill out: complete a form by adding required information.

"Of course I completed my application! I filled it out and mailed it over three weeks ago!"

find out: learn, get information.

"I'm sorry that you didn't know the meeting had been canceled. I didn't find out myself until just a few minutes ago."

get across: make something understood; communicate something understandably. "Alan is really intelligent but sometimes he has problems getting his ideas across."

get along: have a friendly relationship with; be friendly.

"Why can't you and your sister get along? Everyone else gets along with her just fine!"

get around: move from place to place. "She doesn't have a car. She gets around by bicycle, bus, or taxi."

get by: survive, financially, in a difficult situation.

"It's going to be hard to pay the rent now that you've lost your job, but somehow we'll get by."

get in: enter a small, closed vehicle. "I don't know where Carole was going. She just got in her car and drove away."

get off: leave a large, closed vehicle. "When you get off the bus, cross the street, turn right on Oak Street, and keep going until you're at the corner of Oak and Lincoln Boulevard."

get over (1): finish. "What time do your classes get over?"

get over (2): recover from an illness or painful experience.

"Katy was really upset when she failed the test. She thought she would never get over feeling so stupid."

get rid of: dispose of; give away or throw away.

"That shirt is really ugly. Why don't you get rid of it?"

get rid of: dismiss someone; fire someone from a job; cause someone to leave. "The treasurer of the Microsoft Company was spending too much money so the company president got rid of him."

give up: stop doing something (usually a habit).

"He knows smoking isn't good for his health, but he can't give it up."

grow up: spend the years between being a child and being an adult.

"Did you know that Frank grew up in

Malaysia?"

grow up: behave responsibly; behave as an adult, not a child.

A: "Lee really irritates me sometimes. He's really silly and childish." B: "I agree. I wish he would grow up."

hand in: submit homework, an assignment, etc.

"You'd better get started on your report. You know that you have to hand it in at 8:30 tomorrow morning!"

hand out: distribute.

"Why don't you have a course description and list of assignments? The teacher handed them out on the first day of class."

hang up: end a phone conversation by replacing the receiver.

"I'd like to talk longer, but I'd better hang up. My sister needs to make a call."

hold up: delay.

"I'm sorry I'm late. There was an accident on the freeway and traffic held me up."

keep on: continue

"I'm not ready to stop yet. I think I'll keep on working for a while."

kick out: expel; force someone to leave

because of his poor performance or unac- make up: compensate for something missed ceptable behavior. or not done by doing extra or equivalent

"Jim's club kicked him out because he didn't    work.

pay his dues or come to meetings."                "I'm sorry I missed the test. May I make it up?"

knock out: make unconscious.

"That medicine really knocked me out. I slept   mix up: cause to become confused.

for 14 hours straight!"                                   "I didn't complete the assignment because I

didn't know how. The directions mixed me up

lay off: dismiss someone from a job because of lack of work or money (not because of pass away: die.

poor performance)                                        "I was very sorry to hear that your grandfa-

"I feel really sorry Sally's family. Her father ther passed away." was laid off yesterday."

pass out: faint; lose consciousness.

leave out: forget; omit.                                    "When Ella heard that she'd won a million

"Oh, no! When I made the list of those who dollars, she was so shocked that she passed attended the meeting, I left your name out!" out."

let down: disappoint.                                   pass out: distribute.

I promised. I'm really sorry." information sheets. Who will help me pass them out?"

look forward to: anticipate pleasantly; think about a pleasant thing before it hap- pick out: choose; select.

pens                                                                "Billy's grandmother especially liked her

"I'm really looking forward to vacation. I          birthday card because Billy had picked it out

can't wait for it to begin!"                              himself."

look into: investigate, get more details           pick up: lift; take up.

about something.                                           "Those books don't belong on the floor. Will

"Someone said there was a meeting at 9:30 you help me pick them up?" but I haven't heard anything about it. Shall I

look into it?"                                               pull over: drive a vehicle to the side of the rode.

look like: resemble in appearance.                 "When the policeman indicated that I should

"Does he look like his father or his mother?" pull over, I knew he was going to give me a ticket."

look over: check; review.

"I think I may have some typos in this report.  put off: postpone; delay; avoid.

Could you look it over?" "I can't put this work off any longer. If I don't do it soon, it'll be impossible to finish it in

run into: meet by chance.

"Yesterday at the supermarket, Jan ran into her former roommate. Before yesterday, they hadn't seen each other for nearly five years."

run out of: use the last of. "On the way home from work, Art ran out of gas."

set up: make arrangements for something. "You'll see Mr. Thomas tomorrow. I've set a meeting up for 9:30 AM."

stand out: be noticeably better than other similar people or things.

"Good job, Ann! Your work really stands out!"

show up: arrive; appear. "The boss was very upset when you didn't show up for the meeting. What happened?"

stand for: represent.

"These letters seem to be an abbreviation. Do you know what they stand for?"

stand for: tolerate; permit (usually negative).

"I'm not surprised that Mrs. Johnson rejected your report. She won't stand for shoddy work."

take after: resemble; favor (in appearance). "Both my sister and I take after our father."

take back: return.

"This book is due tomorrow. I guess I should take it back to the library."

take care of: provide care for; watch one's health.

"You've been working too hard lately. You'd better take care of yourself!"

A: "Do you like to ski?"

B: "I've never been skiing, but I think I'd like to take it up."

try on: wear something briefly to check its fit, how it looks, etc.

"I'm not sure that jacket is large enough. May I try it on?"

try out: use a machine briefly to determine how well it works.

"I really like the way this car looks. May I try it out?"

turn around: move so that you are facing the opposite direction.

"Everyone turned around and stared when I entered the meeting late."

turn down: decrease the volume. "Your music is giving me a headache! Please turn it down or use your headphones!"

turn down: refuse.

"I thought I could borrow some money from Joe, but when I asked, he turned me down."

turn in: give, deliver, submit to someone. "I've written my report, but I haven't turned

it in."

turn off: stop by turning a handle or switch. "I'm cold. Do you mind if I turn the air conditioner off?"

turn off: bore; repel (very informal). "That music turns me off. Please play something else!"

turn on (1): start by turning a handle or switch.

turn up: appear unexpectedly.

"We were all surprised when Pam turned up at the party. We didn't even know she was in town."

watch out for: be careful of; beware of. "There's a school at the end of this block. Watch out for children crossing the street."

wear out: cause to become exhausted; cause to become very tired. "I had four different meetings today. They wore me out."

work out( 1): exercise to build muscles, body tone, etc.

"Instead of eating lunch on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Sheila goes to the recreation center to work out."

work out (2): solve a problem, resolve a difficult situation (usually by working together).

"I know we disagree on many points, but I believe we can work things out."

"It's really cold today. Be sure you wrap up when you leave the house."

wrap up (2): finish something; bring something to a conclusion.

"We've been talking about the problem for nearly three hours.

I hope we'll be able to wrap the discussion up soon."

write down: record something in writing. "Could you tell me your e-mail address again? I want to write it down."

write up: record; report in writing. "You'll need to make a report on your business meetings. Be sure you write them up as soon as possible after you return from your trip."

zonk out: fall asleep quickly because of exhaustion.

"I intended to go shopping after work, but I was so tired that I zonked out as soon as I

got home."