200 phrasal verbs with meanings

Phrasal
Meaning Example
Verb

To take action because of The police were ACTING ON a tip from

Act on something like information an informer and caught the gang red-
received. handed.

Perform something with actions and

Act out They ACTED OUT the story on stage.
gestures..

My computer’s ACTING UP; I think I

Act up Behave badly or strangely.
might have a virus.

You have to ADD the VAT ON to the

Add on Include in a calculation.
price they give.

We ADDED UP the bill to check it was

Add up To make a mathematical total.
correct.

Affect- usually used in the negative

Agree to show that something has had a I feel terrible- that food didn’t AGREE
with negative effect, especially is it WITH my stomach.
makes you feel bad.

Aim at To target. The magazine is AIMED AT teenagers.

Include something in a plan or You should ALLOW FOR delays when

Allow for
calculation. planning a journey.

The rules don’t ALLOW OF any

Allow of Make possible, permit.
exceptions.

Try to get something indirectly, by He’s been ANGLING FOR an invitation,

Angle for
hinting or suggesting. but I don’t want him to come.

Her mother was shocked when she

Answer To reply rudely to someone in
started ANSWERING her BACK and
back authority.
refusing to help.

Argue Beat someone in a debate, The teacher tried to ARGUE the girl
down discussion or argument. DOWN, but she couldn’t.

Argue Persuade someone to drop the

She ARGUED him DOWN ten percent.
down price of something they’re selling.

Argue Argue about a problem to find a If we can’t ARGUE our differences

out solution. OUT, we’ll have to take them to court.

Ask how someone is doing,

Ask
especially professionally and in He ASKED ABOUT my father.
about
terms of health.

Enquire about someone’s health, Jenny rang earlier and ASKED AFTER
Ask after
how life is going. you, so I told her you were fine.

Ask Ask a number of people for I have no idea, but I’ll ASK AROUND at
around information of help. work and see if anyone can help.

To invite somebody into your

Ask in Jon’s at the door.’ ‘ASK him IN.’
house.

He wanted to ASK her OUT but was too

Ask out To invite someone for a date.
shy.

They have ASKED us OVER for drinks

Ask over Invite.
on Friday.

Ask
Invite someone. We ASKED John ROUND for diner.
round

Auction They AUCTIONED OFF their property

Sell something in an auction.
off as they were heavily in debt.

Back The crowd BACKED AWAY when the

Retreat or go backwards.
away man pulled a knife.

Back Retract or withdraw your position or She refused to BACK DOWN and was
down proposal in an argument. fired.

Enter a parking area in reverse He prefers to BACK his car INTO the
Back into
gear. garage.
 The police told the protesters to BACK
Back off Retreat.
OFF.

He BACKED OUT two days before the

Fail to keep an arrangement or
Back out holiday so we gave the ticket to his
promise.
sister

Back out Fail to keep an agreement, She BACKED OUT OF the agreement
of arrangement. at the last minute.

You should always BACK UP important

files and documents so that you won’t
Back up Make a copy of computer data.
lose all your work if something goes
wrong with the hardware.

Don’t bag out BAG OUT Australian

Bag out Criticise.
English.

Confuse or make things The new project has BALLED me UP- I

Ball up
complicated. have no idea what to do.

Bargain Persuade someone to drop the I BARGAINED her DOWN to half what
down price of something they’re selling. she originally wanted.

Bash If you BASH your monitor ABOUT like

Mistreat physically.
about that, it won’t last long.

The burglars BASHED the door IN to

Bash in Break, damage or injure by hitting.
enter the house.

Write something quickly without I BASHED the essay OUT the night
Bash out
much preparation. before I had to hand it in.

The police ARE AFTER him because of

Be after Try to find or get.
the theft.

The next bus should BE ALONG in the

Be along Arrive.
next quarter of an hour or so.

She’s AWAY on business for three

Be away Be elsewhere; on holiday, etc..
weeks.
Be cut Be suitable, have the necessary She’s not CUT OUT FOR this kind of
out for qualities. work.

She was very CUT UP about coming

Be cut
Be upset. second as she thought she deserved to
up
win.

He’s BEEN DOWN since his partner left

Be down Be depressed.
him.

Be fed Be bored, upset or sick of

I AM FED UP of his complaints.
up something.

Be taken I WAS very TAKEN WITH the

Like something.
with performance- it was superb.

Be up Be out of bed. She’s not UP yet.

Bear She spotted him on the other side of the

Move towards.
down on room and BORE DOWN ON him.

The judge’s character may well BEAR

Bear on Influence, affect.
ON the final decision.

Statistics BEAR OUT the government’s

Bear out Confirm that something is correct.
positions on the issue.

How are you BEARING UP under the

Bear up Resist pressure.
strain?

Bear up Cope with something difficult or He’s BEARING UP UNDER the

under stressful. pressure.

Please BEAR WITH me a moment while

Bear with Be patient.
I finish this email.

Beat The sun WAS really BEATING DOWN

Strong sunshine.
down and we couldn’t stay outdoors.

The marathon runner barely BEAT OUT

Beat out Narrowly win in competition.
his rival at the tape.
 The mugger BEAT him UP and stole his
Beat up Attack violently.
wallet.

Belong Be in the correct or appropriate Does this disc BELONG WITH those on
with location with other items. the shelf?

Bend
Lower the top half of your body. I BENT DOWN to pick it up off the floor.
down

Big up Exaggerate the importance. He BIGS himself UP all the time.

Bitch up Spoil or ruin something. I BITCHED UP the interview.

He BLACKED OUT and collapsed on

Black out Fall unconscious.
the floor.

Leave the ground- spaceship or The space shuttle BLASTED OFF on

Blast off
rocket. schedule yesterday.

I couldn’t drive here this morning

Park a car and obstruct another
Block in because someone had BLOCKED me
car.
IN.

Obstruct an exit to prevent people The police BLOCKED OFF the road
Block off
from leaving. after the murder.

Blow
Impress greatly. Her first novel BLEW me AWAY.
away

Blow When the wind forces something to A tree was BLOWN DOWN in the
down fall. storm.

Arrive, sometimes suddenly or He BLEW IN from Toronto early this

Blow in
unexpectedly. morning.

We were going to meet last night, but

Blow off Not keep an appointment.
she BLEW me OFF at the last minute.

The bomb BLEW UP without any

Blow up Explode.
warning.
 The anger BOILED UP in me when I
Boil up Feel a negative emotion strongly.
saw what they had done.

Bone up I need to BONE UP ON my French

Study hard for a goal or reason.
on grammar for the test.

WE took a taxi from the airport to the

Book in Check in at a hotel.
hotel and BOOKED IN.

I CALLED him UP as soon as I got to a

Call up Telephone.
phone to tell him the news.

Calm Stop being angry or emotionally When I lose my temper, it takes ages
down excited. for me to CALM DOWN again.

Have an opposite effect on The airport taxes CANCELLED OUT the

Cancel
something that has happened, savings we had made on the flight
out
taking things back to the beginning. tickets.

Finish or complete, often with some She CAPPED OFF the meeting with a
Cap off
decisive action. radical proposal.

I don’t CARE FOR fizzy drinks; I prefer

Care for Like.
water.

The team got CARRIED AWAY when

Carried Get so emotional that you lose
they won the championship and started
away control.
shouting and throwing things around.

Carry They hope the new management will be

Make something progress.
forward able to CARRY the project FORWARD.

She CARRIED OFF the first prize in the

Carry off Win, succeed.
competition.

CARRY ON quietly with your work until

Carry on Continue.
the substitute teacher arrives.

Jane spent a long time looking at

Decide houses before she bought one, but
Choose, select.
upon eventually DECIDED UPON one near
her office.
 Become quieter or inaudible (of a The last notes DIED AWAY and the
Die away
sound). audience burst into applause.

When the parts of a plant above

Die back ground die, but the roots remain The plant DIES BACK in the winter.
alive.

It was on the front pages of all the

Die down Decrease or become quieter. papers for a few days, but the interest
gradually DIED DOWN.

I’m DYING FOR the weekend- this

Die for Want something a lot.
week’s been so hard.

Most of the elm trees in the UK DIED

Die off Become extinct.
OFF when Dutch elm disease arrived.

Some scientists say that the dinosaurs

Die out Become extinct or disappear. DIED OUT when a comet hit the earth
and caused a nuclear winter.

We were starving so we really DUG IN

Dig in Start eating greedily.
when the food finally did arrive.

She DUG INTO her handbag and pulled

Dig into Reach inside to get something.
out a bunch of keys.

Praise someone in an excessive She FAWNED OVER the inspectors in

Fawn
way to get their favour or something the hope that they would give her a
over
from them. good grade.

Eat a food as part of an animals The gecko FEEDS OFF mosquitoes

Feed off
diet. and other insects.

Feed on Give someone a particular food. He FEEDS his cat ON dry food.

Give someone a lot of food to

She’s been ill for a fortnight so we’re
Feed up restore their health, make them
FEEDING her UP.
bigger, etc.

Someone FELT me UP in the club as I

Feel up Touch sexually, grope.
was trying to get to the bar.
Feel up I’m so tired. I don’t think I FEEL UP TO
Feel capable of doing something.
to going out tonight.

Get Nowadays, you need IT skills if you

Progress.
ahead want to GET AHEAD.

Get I work at home in the evening to GET

Move in front of.
ahead of AHEAD OF schedule.

Get
Leave. It’s late; we must be GETTING ALONG.
along

Stop doing something that has I GAVE UP taking sugar in tea and
Give up
been a habit. coffee to lose weight.

Hit on Have an idea. I suddenly HIT ON the solution

Stop someone from attacking or Chelsea couldn’t HOLD their opponents

Hold off
beating you. OFF and lost the game.

Could you HOLD ON for a minute; she’ll

Hold on Wait.
be free in a moment.

Hook up Meet someone. We HOOKED UP at the conference.

It took me ages to HUNT OUT the

Hunt out Search until you find something.
photos.

They have JACKED UP the price of oil

Jack up Increase sharply.
this month.

Apply or operate something Jack JAMMED ON the brakes when the

Jam on
forcefully. rabbit ran in front of his car.

That shows that your interest is not in

Jaw Talk just for the point of talking
helping the student, but in JAWING
away rather than having anything to say.
AWAY.

Make something more interesting The show was getting stale so they
Jazz up
or attractive. JAZZED it UP with some new scenes.
Keep I KEEP a dictionary AROUND when I’m
Keep something near you.
around doing my homework.

She found the course hard but she

Keep at Continue with something difficult. KEPT AT it and completed it
successfully.

Keep Don’t allow someone near Medicines should always be KEPT

away something. AWAY from children.

Keep The police told the crowd to KEEP

Maintain a safe distance.
back BACK from the fire.

Plan things to fit or suit people or Promotions are KEYED TO people’s

Key to
situations. abilities.

Key up Make someone excited or nervous. The noise got us KEYED UP.

Kick We KICKED the idea ABOUT at the

Discuss.
about meeting.

Her hayfever didn’t feel half as bad

Kick in When a drug starts to take effect. once the antihistamines had KICKED
IN.

The family KICKED the au pair OUT

when they found out that she was
Kick out Expel.
planning to move to work for another
household.

We KNOCKED OFF early on Friday to

Knock off Finish work for the day.
avoid the rush hour queues.

Lash Secure something with ropes or We LASHED the tarpaulin DOWN to

down cords. stop the wind blowing it away.

He LASHED INTO them for messing

Lash into Criticise someone strongly.
thins up.

He LASHED OUT and broke the man’s

Lash out Suddenly become violent.
nose.
 They LAID ON a buffet lunch at the
Lay on Organise, supply.
conference.

They LAID OUT thousands of pounds

Lay out Spend money.
on their wedding reception.

The doorstaff didn’t LET him IN the

Let in Allow someone to enter. nightclub because he was wearing
jeans.

The judge LET him OFF with a fine

Let off Not punish. rather than a prison sentence since it
was his first offence.

We have LINED UP a lot of meetings

Line up Arrange events for someone.
for them.

Link up Connect, join. The train LINKS UP the cities.

Follow a belief system to guide your

Live by He tries hard to LIVE BY the Bible.
behaviour.

If I fail the test and everyone else

Live Stop being embarrassed about
passes, I’ll never be able to LIVE it
down something.
DOWN.

It’s hard to LIVE WITH the pain of a

Live with Accept something unpleasant.
serious illness.

Enter a restricted area on a I had forgotten my password and

Log in
computer system. couldn’t LOG IN.

Enter a restricted area of a I LOGGED INTO the staff intranet to

Log into
computer system. check my email.

When she’d finished working on the

Log off Exit a computer system. spreadsheet, she LOGGED OFF and
left the office.

He entered his password for the college

Log on Enter a computer system.
intranet and LOGGED ON.
 Danny closed the programs and
Log out Exit a computer system. LOGGED OUT when it was time to go
home.

Consult a reference work

I didn’t know the correct spelling so I
Look up (dictionary, phonebook, etc.) for a
had to LOOK it UP in the dictionary.
specific piece of information..

He MAGICKED the bill AWAY and paid

Magic
Make something disappear quickly. for us all before I could get my wallet
away
out.

Make The police MADE AFTER the stolen

Chase.
after car.

Make
The thieves MADE AWAY WITH the
away Steal.
painting.
with

I thought you weren’t coming, so I was

Make it Arrive or get a result.
really pleased you MADE IT.

Make it Try to compensate for doing He tried to MAKE IT UP TO her, but she
up to something wrong. wouldn’t speak to him.

Make of Understand or have an opinion. What do you MAKE OF your new boss?

They MADE OFF when they heard the

Make off Leave somewhere in a hurry.
police siren.

Mix sources of audio, video or other She MASHED UP the songs into a
Mash up
computer sources.. single track.

Melt Heat something solid, especially They MELTED the gold statue DOWN
down metal, until it becomes liquid. and turned it into gold bars.

Mess Not be serious, not use something The children were MESSING ABOUT
about properly. with the TV remote control and broke it.

I always MIX those two sisters UP

Mix up Confuse.
because they look so like each other.
Move They MOVED INTO the house as soon
Start living in a place.
into as it was ready.

Could you MOVE UP and let me sit

Move up Move to make space.
down?

Nail They are having trouble NAILING

Succeed in getting, achieve.
down DOWN the contract.

Name Give someone a name to I was NAMED AFTER my uncle who

after remember another person. died in the war.

I am not sure which university to apply

Narrow Remove less important options to
to, but I have NARROWED my list
down make it easier to choose.
DOWN to three.

I’m going to NERD OUT and not go on

Nerd out Play safe and avoid taking a risk.
the river trip.

I OPTED FOR an endowment mortgage

Opt for Choose.
and lost a lot of money.

Choose to be part or a member of If you want them to notify you of

Opt in
something. updates, you have to OPT IN.

Choose to be a member or part of

Opt into I OPTED INTO the scheme.
something.

The UK OPTED OUT of a lot of EU

Opt out Choose not to be part of something. legislation on working hours and
conditions.

Pack in Stop doing something. I’m trying to PACK IN smoking.

His boss PACKED him OFF to a

Pack off Send someone away.
regional office.

Pack out Fill a venue. The stadium was PACKED OUT.

Pack up Stop doing something. You should PACK UP smoking.

Pad I’m too tired to come home; can I PAD
Sleep somewhere for the night.
down DOWN here tonight?

Make a text longer by including I couldn’t think of much to write, so I

Pad out extra content, often content that PADDED the essay OUT with a few
isn’t particularly relevant. lengthy quotes.

Pal Be friendly and spend time with

We PALLED AROUND at university.
around someone.

We PALLED UP when I started working

Pal up Become friends.
with her.

Pass Sadly, Georgia’s uncle PASSED AWAY

Die.
away yesterday after a short illness.

Pass I felt awful when the teacher started to

Return.
back PASS BACK the exam papers.

I was just PASSING BY when I saw the

Pass by Go past without stopping.
accident.

I tried to PATCH things UP after the

Patch up Fix or make things better. argument, but they wouldn’t speak to
me.

I PAID BACK the twenty pounds I’d

Pay back Repay money borrowed.
borrowed.

Their patience PAID OFF when he

Produce a profitable or successful
Pay off finally showed up and signed the
result.
contract.

Peel Leave a group by moving in a Some of the crowd PEELED AWAY to

away different direction. get out of the crush.

I PEGGED the washing OUT after it

Peg out Put washing outside to dry.
stopped raining.

They are PHASING IN the reforms over

Phase in Introduce gradually.
the next two years.
 They have introduced a compact edition
Phase of the newspaper and are PHASING
Remove gradually.
out OUT the broadsheet edition over the
next few months.

I wasn’t very hungry so I just PICKED

Pick at Eat unwillingly.
AT my food.

While you’re in town, can you PICK UP

Pick up Collect.
my trousers from the Dry Cleaner?

The food was great, so I really PIGGED

Pig out Eat a lot.
OUT.

Work just keeps on PILING UP and I

Pile up Accumulate.
really can’t manage to get it all done.

Discover exact details about The government can’t PIN DOWN

Pin down
something. where the leak came from.

The police tried to PIN the crime ON

Pin on Attach the blame to someone.
him.

Fix something to a wall, or other

Pin up I PINNED the notice UP on the board
vertical surface, with a pin.

Pine Suffer physically because of grief, He’s been PINING AWAY since his wife
away stress, worry, etc. died and is a shadow of his former self.

Pipe The lecturer asked the students to PIPE

Be quiet (often as an imperative).
down DOWN and pay attention.

At first, no one answered, then finally

Pipe up To speak, raise your voice.
someone PIPED UP.

Pretend to agree or accept

I disagreed with the idea but I had to
Play something in order to keep
PLAY ALONG because everyone else
along someone happy or to get more
liked it.
information.

Play The children were PLAYING AROUND

Be silly.
around and being annoying.
 The children PLAYED UP all evening
Play up Behave badly.
and drove the babysitter mad.

Connect machines to the electricity He PLUGGED the TV IN and turned it

Plug in
supply. on full blast.

Plump Put something in a place without He PLUMPED his bag DOWN and
down taking care. kicked his shoes off.

Plump
Choose. I PLUMPED FOR the steak frites.
for

Make someone aware of He POINTED OUT that I only had two

Point out
something. weeks to get the whole thing finished.

Poke Move things around or search in a I POKED ABOUT in my CD collection to

about casual way to try to find something. see if I could find it.

Poke Move things around or search in a I POKED AROUND in my desk to see if

around casual way to try to find something. the letter was there.

She POLISHES OFF half a bottle of gin

Polish off Finish, consume.
every night.

I need to POLISH UP my French before

Polish up Improve something quickly.
I go to Paris.

He POPPED IN for a coffee on his way

Pop in Visit for a short time.
home.

He’s always POPPING OFF when

Pop off Talk loudly, complain.
things don’t suit him.

Power Turn a computer or electronic I POWERED UP my laptop and started

up device on so that it is ready to use. work.

In rural areas where they have a

monopoly, some garages PRICE UP
Price up Charge more for something.
fuel because there’s nowhere else to
buy it.

Pull Overtake, move in front. The lorry was going slowly but we
ahead managed to PULL AHEAD.

The traffic was so bad that it took me

Pull out Move into traffic.
ages to PULL OUT.