List Phrasal Verbs – My English Now

List Of Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
Ask around	Ask many people the same question	I *asked around* but nobody has seen him recently.
Back up	To support	My boss *backed* me up on the new idea.
Blow up	To explode	The car caught fire and *blew up*.
Break down	To divide into smaller parts/To malfunction	I asked for a *break down* of the costs.
Break in	To force an entry	Burglars broke in to our office and stole the computer.
Break up	To end a relationship	My girlfriend and I *broke up* in May.
Break out	To escape	The prisoners *broke out* of the jail last night.
Bring up	Start talking about something	The board members *brought up* the matter of profits.
Bring up	To raise a child	He was brought up in India.
Call back	Return a phone call	I called back Mr Edwards as soon as I got back to the office.
Call off	To cancel	I called off the meeting.
Call on	Ask for an opinion	I *called on* my lawyer for some advice.
Calm down	Relax after being angry	You are still angry. You need to *calm down* before you drive.
Catch up	To arrive at a predetermined point	He has to *catch up* on his work.
Check in	To register at a hotel or airport	I haven’t *checked in* yet.
Check out	To control (informal)	He’s *checking out* his flight details.
Cheer up	To become happier	She *cheered up* when she heard the good news.
Clean up	To tidy or clean	I *cleaned up* the mess before I left the house.
Come across	To find unexpectedly	I *came across* these documents while clearing my desk.
Come forward	To volunteer or propose.	They *came forward* with a great idea.
Count on	To rely on something or someone	I’m *counting on* you to meet the deadline.
Cut back	To consume less	We have to *cut back* on expenses.
Cut in	To interrupt	He *cut in* to the discussion during the meeting.
Cut off	To stop providing	They *cut off* our phone last Monday.
Drop in	Come without an appointment	He *dropped in* on his way back from work.
Drop out	To renounce	The company *dropped out* of the deal at the last moment.
Eat out	To Eat at a restaurant	We *ate out* at an Italian restaurant last night.
End up	Eventually at the end	We *ended up* going to the cinema.
Fall apart	To Break into pieces	The deal *fell apart* at the last moment.
Fall down	Fall to the ground	The painting *fell down*.
Figure out	To understand or find the answer	I have to *figure out* how to get there by train.
Fill in	To write information in blank spaces	Please *fill in* the form with your name, address, and phone number.
Fill in For	To substitute someone	I’m filling in for Eugene at work today.
Find out	To discover	I’ll try and *find out* what he does in the company.
Get on	Like each other	He *gets on* with her parents.
Get back	To return	I have to *get back* to the office.
Get back into	Become interested in something again	I finally *got back* into playing the guitar after the holidays.
Get over	To recover from an illness	I *got over* the flu last week.
Give away	To give something to somebody	The library *was giving* away old books on Friday.
Give away	Something at a very good price.	This coat was a real *give away* it only cost £10.
Give back	To return something borrowed	I *gave back* the file that Mr. Acres had loaned me.
Give up	To stop a habit	She *gave up* smoking a year ago.
Go against	To oppose	The students *went against* the teachers wishes.
Go back	To return to a place	I have to *go back* home to get my computer.
Go out	To exit	They are *are going* out to dinner next Friday.
Go over	To review	I have to *go over* these documents before the meeting
Grow back	Re-grow	The last time I saw him, he had *grown back* his moustache.
Grow up	To become an adult	He *grew up* in Sussex.
Hand in	To submit	He *handed in* his exam papers just in time.
Hand out	To distribute	They were *handing out* leaflets at the demonstration.
Hang out	To stay in a place	I hang out with my friends on a Saturday night.
Hang up	To end a phone call abruplty.	Whilst I was trying to explain the problem he *hung up* on me
Keep up	To continue at the same rate	You are all doing great, *keep up* the good work.
Let down	Fail to support	I need you to be on time, don’t *let me down*.
Let in	To alloww to enter	Can you please *let me in* it is raining.
Look after	To take care of	Anna has gone out I’m looking after the children.
Look for	To search	I’m *looking for* Kate can you tell me where she is.
Look forward to	To be excited about the future	I’m *looking forward* to going on holiday.
Look into	To investigate	The authorities are *looking into* the matter.
Look over	To check	Could you please *look over* these documents.
Look up	To search	My secretary is *looking up* the number.
Look up to	To admire	He looked up to his father as a young boy.
Make up	To invent	Tony *made up* a story as to why he was late.
Mix up	To confuse	David *mixed up* the documents.
Pass away	To die	Unfortunately his uncle *passed away* last year.
Pass out	To distribute	Shortly we will be *passing out* the forms.
Pass out	To lose consciousness	The man passed out on the football field.
Pay back	To return money	I’ll *pay back* the loan as soon as I can.
Pick out	To choose	I’ve *picked out* three of my favourite films.


Pick up	To gather	He picked up suit from the dry cleaners.
Point out	To underline/indicate	She *pointed out* the negative aspects of the plan.
Put off	To postpone	They *put off* the meeting at the last minute.
Put out	To extinguish	The fire brigade *put out* the fire.
Put Out	To incovenience someone/to annoy	I was quite put out by her request to leave the party.
Put up with	To tolerate	I won’t *put up* with this sort of behaviour.
Put on	To wear	She forgot to *put on* her hat.
Put on	To present	They put on a great show at the theatre.
Rely on	To depend on	They are relying on you to do a good job.
Rule out	To eliminate	We will have to rule out that possibility.
Run away	To escape	The thieves *ran away* with the money.
Run into	To meet unexpectedly	I *ran into* an old school mate the other day.
Run over	To drive over	The pedestrian was *run over* on the zebra crossing
Run out of	To have none left of something	We have *run out* of milk.
Set off	To start a journey	“We should set off early tomorrow,if we want to avoid the trafic.”
Set up	To arrange/organise	They have *Set up* a meeting for next Tuesday.
Shop around	To compare prices	I think we should *shop around* for a better deal.
Show off	Excessive behaviour to be admired	Alan is always showing off in his new car.
Show up	To arrive/appear	Tim showed up for lunch at the last moment.
Shut up	To stop talking (impolite)	He Told Sam to shut up.
Sit down	To take a seat	All the members of the club sat down after the speech.
Stand up	To rise up	We all stood up when the guest entered the room.
Stick up	To defend	He *stuck up* for his colleagues at work.
Sort out	To resolve a problem	“This situation has to be sorted out.”
Stick to	To not deviate from a plan	“We must *stick to* the original idea of going to Turkey”
Switch off	To stop the energy flow	Could you please *switch off* the lights before leaving.
Switch on	To start the energy flow	“It’s dark in here, shall I *switch on* the lights?”
Take after	To be similar to	” Unfotunately Carla takes after her mother.”
Take back	To return an item or a statment	My phone didn’t work so I *took it back* to the shop.
Take care of	To look after	“Take good care of yourself.”
Take off	To start to fly	The plane *took off* on time.
Take off	To remove	He was hot so he *took off* his jacket.
Take on	To accept a job or task	Mike has taken on the job of writting the new brochure.
Take on	To hire personel	He has been taken on as the new head chef.
Take out	To subscribe to something	He *took out* a loan to pay for his new car.
Take out	To remove	I had my tooth taken out yesterday.
Tell off	To reprimand	The teacher told the children off for making too much noise.
Tear up	To rip into small pieces	They *tore up* the contract during the meeting.
Think over	To consider	They took a break to *think over* the matter.
Try on	To wear an item of clothes to check size/style	Can I try the jeans on?
Throw away	To dispose of	Don’t throw away yesterday’s news paper.
Turn down	To refuse	He *turned down* the consultancy job.
Turn down	To lower intensity	“Can you turn down the volume please.”
Turn up	To increase	She *turned up* the radio to listen to her favourite song.
Turn up	To appear suddenly	Sam *turned up* at the party uninvited.
Try out	To test	I’m going to *try out* that new gym in Mandela towers.
Use up	To finish	They’ve *used up* the tonner for the printer.
Watch out	To be careful	“Watchout your glass is going to fall”.
Wear off	To fade	The effects of the sun burn soon *wore off.*
Wear out	To be consumed	I’m going to change the tyres on my bike they are worn out.
Wear out	To be very tired	I think I’ll have an early night I’m worn out.
Work out	To be successful	The meeting *worked out* as planned.
Work out	To find a solution	They had to *work out* how to get to the station by 6:30 am.
Wipe down	To remove dirt/clean	“Can you wipe the table down please.”
Wrap up	To finish a task or meeting	“Well that should wrap it up for today.”
Write back	To respond to an email or letter	I must remeber to write back to Frank.