Phrasal Verb | Meaning |
Example |
ask someone out | invite on a date | Why don't you ask Carla out to dinner? |
ask around | ask different people | I asked around but nobody is helping. |
add up to something | to combine | Your savings will add up over time. |
back something up | reverse | Back up your truck so I park. |
back someone up | support | We will back you up financially. |
blow up | explode | They blew up the tanks. |
blow something up | add air | Blow up the balloons. |
break up | to separate | Katie broke up with her boyfriend. |
break down | stop functioning | My car broke down in the middle of the road. |
break something down | divide into smaller parts | Break it down so we can understand better. |
break in | Entering by force | The thief must have broken in from the back door. |
break into something | enter by force | Someone broke into my car yesterday night. |
break out | escape | Michael broke out of Fox River penitentiary. |
bring someone down | make unhappy | Don't let your relationship bring you down. |
bring up | to raise | Jessica was brought up by her grandparents. |
bring something up | start talking about a subject | You shouldn't bring up this subject when you are in public. |
call around | phone different people | I was calling around all morning to book our flights. |
call someone back | return a phone call | I will call you back when I finish my homework. |
call something off | cancel | It's false alarm, you can call it off. |
call someone up | phone | Call me up when you are in town. |
calm down | to relax | You can't think right, you need to calm down. |
catch up | get to the same point | You two start running, I will catch up to you. |
check in | arrive and register |
Let's check in first and then we can go to the rooms. |
check out | leave a hotel | Wait for me, I need to check out and return the keys. |
check someone/something out | look at carefully, to investigate | They are checking us out before hiring. |
check out | look at | Check out that girl with blue shirt. |
cheer one up | make happier | Don't worry, I know how to cheer her up. |
chip in | help | Everybody chipped in to gather that much money. |
clean up | to clean, tidy |
Clean up your bedroom tonight. |
come across | find unexpectedly | I came across these old photos when I was cleaning up my room. |
come apart | separate | The sides of the box come apart. |
come forward | to volunteer | I will award whomever comes forward for this job. |
come up with | think of |
Russell came up with a brilliant idea. |
count on | rely on | I can count on this phrasal verbs list for tomorrow's grammar quiz. |
cross something out | draw a line through | Please cross those numbers out, they are invalid. |
cut down | make something fall to the ground | They cut down all the trees. |
cut in | interrupt | I couldn't have a nice conversation with him because his friend kept on cutting in. |
cut off | remove with something sharp | They will cut off the stitches next week. |
cut off | stop providing |
Are you saying that you couldn't do the homework because the electricity was cut off? |
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