Phrasal Verb Meaning Example Sentence

phrasal verb meaning example sentence
ask somebodyout invite on a date Brian asked Judy out to dinner

and a movie.
ask around ask many I asked around but nobody has

people the seen my wallet.
same question
add up tosomething equal Your purchases add up

to $205.32.
backsomething up reverse You'll have to back up your car

so that I can get out.
backsomebody up support My wife backed me up over my

decision to quit my job.
blow up explode The racing car blew up after it

crashed into the fence.
blowsomething up add air We have to blow 50

balloons up for the party.
break down stop Our car broke down at the side

functioning of the highway in the snowstorm.
(vehicle,
machine)
break down get upset The woman broke down when

the police told her that her son
had died.
breaksomethingdown divide into Our teacher broke the final

smaller parts project downinto three separate
parts.
break in force entry to a Somebody broke in last night

building and stole our stereo.
break intosomething enter forcibly The firemen had to break

into the room to rescue the
children.
breaksomething in wear I need to break these

something a shoes in before we run next
few times so week.
that it doesn't
look/feel new
break in interrupt The TV station broke in to

report the news of the president's
death.
break up end a My boyfriend and I broke

relationship up before I moved to America.
break up start laughing The kids just broke up as soon

(informal) as the clown started talking.
break out escape The prisoners broke out of jail

when the guards weren't looking.
break out insomething develop a skin I broke out in a rash after our
condition camping trip.
bringsomebodydown make unhappy This sad music

is bringing me down.
bringsomebody up raise a child My

grandparents brought me up afte
r my parents died.
bringsomething up start talking My mother walks out of the

about a subject room when my father brings
up sports.
bringsomething up vomit He drank so much that

he brought his dinner up in the
toilet.
call around phone many We called around but we

different weren't able to find the car part
places/people we needed.
call somebodyback return a phone I called the company back but

call the offices were closed for the
weekend.
call somethingoff cancel Jason called the

wedding off because he wasn't in
love with his fianc.
call onsomebody ask for an The professor called on me for

answer or question 1.
opinion
call onsomebody visit somebody We called on you last night but

you weren't home.
call somebodyup phone Give me your phone number and

I will callyou up when we are in
town.
calm down relax after You are still mad. You need
being angry to calm down before you drive
the car.
not care forsomebody/ not like I don't care for his behaviour.
something (formal)
catch up get to the same You'll have to run faster than that
point as if you want to catch up with
somebody else Marty.
check in arrive and We will get the hotel keys when

register at a we check in.
hotel or airport
check out leave a hotel You have to check out of the

hotel before 11:00 AM.
checksomebody/ look at The company checks out all new

something out carefully, employees.
investigate
check outsomebody/ look at Check out the crazy hair on that

something (informal) guy!
cheer up become She cheered up when she heard

happier the good news.
cheersomebody up make happier I brought you some flowers

to cheer you up.
chip in help If everyone chips in we can get

the kitchen painted by noon.
cleansomething up tidy, clean Please clean up your bedroom

before you go outside.
come acrosssomething find I came across these old photos

unexpectedly when I was tidying the closet.
come apart separate The top and bottom come

apart if you pull hard enough.
come down withsomething become sick My nephew came down

with chicken pox this weekend.
come forward volunteer for a The woman came forward with

task or to give her husband's finger prints.
evidence
come fromsome place originate in The art of origami comes

from Asia.
count onsomebody/ rely on I am counting on you to make

something dinner while I am out.
crosssomething out draw a line Please cross out your old address
through and write your new one.
cut back onsomething consume less My doctor wants me to cut back

onsweets and fatty foods.
cut somethingdown make We had to cut the old tree in our

something fall yard down after the storm.
to the ground
cut in interrupt Your father cut in while I was

dancing with your uncle.
cut in pull in too The bus driver got angry when

closely in front that car cut in.
of another
vehicle
cut in start operating The air conditioner cuts in when

(of an engine the temperature gets to 22C.
or electrical
device)
cut somethingoff remove with The doctors cut off his leg
something because it was severely injured.
sharp
cut somethingoff stop providing The phone company cut off our
phone because we didn't pay the
bill.
cut somebodyoff take out of a My grandparents cut my

will father off when he remarried.
cut somethingout remove part of I cut this ad out of the

something newspaper.
(usually with
scissors and
paper)
do somebody/ somethingover beat up, He's lucky to be alive. His shop

ransack (BrE, was done over by a street gang.
informal)
do somethingover do again My teacher wants me to do my

(AmE) essay over because she doesn't
like my topic.
do away withsomething discard It's time to do away with all of

these old tax records.
do somethingup fasten, close Do your coat up before you go

outside. It's snowing!
dress up wear nice It's a fancy restaurant so we have

clothing to dress up.
drop back move back in a Andrea dropped back to third

position/group place when she fell off her bike.
drop in/ by/ over come without I might drop in/by/over for tea
an sometime this week.
appointment
dropsomebody/ take I have to drop my sister off at

something off somebody/ work before I come over.
something
somewhere
and leave
them/it there
drop out quit a class, I dropped out of Science

school etc because it was too difficult.
eat out eat at a I don't feel like cooking tonight.

restaurant Let's eat out.
end up eventually We ended up renting a movie

reach/do/decid instead of going to the theatre.
e
fall apart break into My new dress fell apart in the

pieces washing machine.
fall down fall to the The picture that you hung up last
ground night fell down this morning.
fall out separate from The money must have fallen

an interior out of my pocket.
fall out (of hair, teeth) His hair started to fall out when
become loose he was only 35.
and unattached
figuresomething out understand, I need to figure out how to fit

find the answer the piano and the bookshelf in
this room.
fill somethingin to write Please fill in the form with your

information in name, address, and phone
blanks, as on a number.
form (BrE)
fill somethingout to write The form must be filled out in

information in capital letters.
blanks, as on a
form (AmE)
fill somethingup fill to the top I always fill the water

jug up when it is empty.
find out discover We don't know where he lives.

How can we find out?
find somethingout discover We tried to keep the time of the

party a secret, but
Samantha found it out.
get somethingacross/ over communicate, I tried to get my

make point across/over to the judge
understandable but she wouldn't listen.
get along/on like each other I was surprised how well my new
girlfriend and my sister got
along/on.
get around have mobility My grandfather can get

around fine in his new
wheelchair.
get away go on a We worked so hard this year that

vacation we had to get away for a week.
get away withsomething do without Jason always gets away

being noticed with cheating in his maths tests.
or punished
get back return We got back from our vacation

last week.
get somethingback receive Liz finally got her Science

something you notes backfrom my room-mate.
had before
get back atsomebody retaliate, take My sister got back at me for

revenge stealing her shoes. She stole my
favourite hat.
get back intosomething become I finally got back into my novel

interested in and finished it.
something
again
get onsomething step onto a We're going to freeze out here if

vehicle you don't let us get on the bus.
get oversomething recover from I just got over the flu and now
an illness, loss, my sister has it.
difficulty
get oversomething overcome a The company will have to close

problem if it can't get over the new
regulations.
get round tosomething finally find I don't know when I am going

time to do to get round to writing the thank
(AmE: get you cards.
around
tosomething)
get together meet (usually Let's get together for a BBQ this
for social weekend.
reasons)
get up get out of bed I got up early today to study for

my exam.
get up stand You should get up and give the

elderly man your seat.
give somebodyaway reveal hidden His wife gave him away to the
information police.
about
somebody
give somebodyaway take the bride My father gave me away at my

to the altar wedding.
givesomethingaway ruin a secret My little sister gave the surprise

party away by accident.
givesomethingaway give something The library was giving away old

to somebody books on Friday.
for free
givesomethingback return a I have to give these

borrowed item skates back to Franz before his
hockey game.
give in reluctantly My boyfriend didn't want to go

stop fighting or to the ballet, but he finally gave
arguing in.
givesomething out give to many They were giving out free

people (usually perfume samples at the
at no cost) department store.
givesomething up quit a habit I am giving up smoking as of

January 1st.
give up stop trying My maths homework was too

difficult so I gave up.
go aftersomebody follow My brother tried to go after the

somebody thief in his car.
go aftersomething try to achieve I went after my dream and now I

something am a published writer.
go againstsomebody compete, We are going against the best

oppose soccer team in the city tonight.
go ahead start, proceed Please go ahead and eat before

the food gets cold.
go back return to a I have to go back home and get

place my lunch.
go out leave home to We're going out for dinner

go on a social tonight.
event
go out withsomebody date Jesse has been going out

with Luke since they met last
winter.
go oversomething review Please go over your answers

before you submit your test.
go over visit somebody I haven't seen Tina for a long

nearby time. I think I'll go over for an
hour or two.
go withoutsomething suffer lack or When I was young, we went

deprivation withoutwinter boots.
grow apart stop being My best friend and I grew

friends over apart after she changed schools.
time
grow back regrow My roses grew back this

summer.
grow intosomething grow big This bike is too big for him now,
enough to fit but he should grow into it by
next year.
grow out ofsomething get too big for Elizabeth needs a new pair of
shoes because she has grown out
of her old ones.
grow up become an When Jack grows up he wants to

adult be a fireman.
handsomethingdown give something I handed my old comic

used to books down to my little cousin.
somebody else
handsomething in submit I have to hand in my essay by

Friday.
handsomething out to distribute to We will hand out the invitations

a group of at the door.
people
handsomethingover give (usually The police asked the man

unwillingly) to hand overhis wallet and his
weapons.
hang in stay positive Hang in there. I'm sure you'll

(informal) find a job very soon.
hang on wait a short Hang on while I grab my coat

time (informal) and shoes!
hang out spend time Instead of going to the party we

relaxing are just going to hang out at my
(informal) place.
hang up end a phone He didn't say goodbye before

call he hung up.
holdsomebody/ prevent from I had to hold my

somethingback doing/going dog back because there was a cat
in the park.
holdsomethingback hide an Jamie held back his tears at his

emotion grandfather's funeral.
hold on wait a short Please hold on while I transfer

time you to the Sales Department.
hold ontosomebody/ hold firmly Hold onto your hat because it's
something using your very windy outside.
hands or arms
holdsomebody/ something up rob A man in a black mask held the

bank upthis morning.
keep on doingsomething continue doing Keep on stirring until the liquid

comes to a boil.
keepsomethingfromsomebod not tell We kept our

y relationship from our parents for
two years.
keepsomebody/ stop from Try to keep the wet dog out of

something out entering the living room.
keepsomething up continue at the If you keep those results up you

same rate will get into a great college.
let somebodydown fail to support I need you to be on time.

or help, Don't let me down this time.
disappoint
let somebodyin allow to enter Can you let the cat in before you
go to school?
log in (or on) sign in (to a I can't log in to Facebook

website, because I've forgotten my
database etc) password.
log out (or off) sign out (of a If you don't log off somebody
website, could get into your account.
database etc)
look aftersomebody/ take care of I have to look after my sick

something grandmother.
look down onsomebody think less of, Ever since we stole that
consider chocolate bar your dad
inferior has looked down on me.
look forsomebody/ try to find I'm looking for a red dress for
something the wedding.
look forward to something be excited I'm looking forward to the

about the Christmas break.
future
look intosomething investigate We are going to look into the

price of snowboards today.
look out be careful, Look out! That car's going to hit

vigilant, and you!
take notice
look out forsomebody/ be especially Don't forget to look out

something vigilant for for snakes on the hiking trail.
looksomethingover check, Can you look over my essay for

examine spelling mistakes?
looksomething up search and find We can look her phone

information in number up on the Internet.
a reference
book or
database
look up tosomebody have a lot of My little sister has

respect for always looked up to me.
makesomething up invent, lie Josie made up a story about why

about we were late.
something
make up forgive each We were angry last night, but

other we made up at breakfast.
makesomebody up apply My sisters made me up for my

cosmetics to graduation party.
mix somethingup confuse two or I mixed up the twins' names

more things again!
pass away die His uncle passed away last night

after a long illness.
pass out faint It was so hot in the church that

an elderly lady passed out.
passsomething out give the same The professor passed the

thing to many textbooks outbefore class.
people
passsomething up decline I passed up the job because I am

(usually afraid of change.
something
good)
pay somebodyback return owed Thanks for buying my ticket.

money I'll pay you back on Friday.
pay forsomething be punished That bully will pay for being

for doing mean to my little brother.
something bad
pick somethingout choose I picked out three sweaters for

you to try on.
pointsomebody/ indicate with I'll point my boyfriend out when

something out your finger he runs by.
put somethingdown put what you You can put the

are holding on groceries down on the kitchen
a surface or counter.
floor
put somebodydown insult, make The students put the substitute

somebody feel teacher down because his pants
stupid were too short.
put somethingoff postpone We are putting off our trip until

January because of the hurricane.
put somethingout extinguish The neighbours put the

fire out before the firemen
arrived.
put somethingtogether assemble I have to put the

crib together before the baby
arrives.
put up withsomebody/ tolerate I don't think I can put up

something with three small children in the
car.
put somethingon put clothing/ Don't forget to put on your new

accessories on earrings for the party.
your body
run intosomebody/ meet I ran into an old school-friend at

something unexpectedly the mall.
run oversomebody/ drive a vehicle I accidentally ran over your

something over a person bicycle in the driveway.
or thing
run over/ throughsomething rehearse, Let's run over/through these

review lines one more time before the
show.
run away leave The child ran away from home

unexpectedly, and has been missing for three
escape days.
run out have none left We ran out of shampoo so I had

to wash my hair with soap.
sendsomethingback return (usually My letter got sent back to me

by mail) because I used the wrong stamp.
set somethingup arrange, Our boss set a meeting up with

organize the president of the company.
set somebodyup trick, trap The police set up the car thief by
using a hidden camera.
shop around compare prices I want to shop around a little

before I decide on these boots.
show off act extra He always shows off on his

special for skateboard
people
watching
(usually
boastfully)
sleep over stay You should sleep over tonight if

somewhere for the weather is too bad to drive
the night home.
(informal)
sortsomething out organize, We need to sort the

resolve a bills out before the first of the
problem month.
stick tosomething continue doing You will lose weight if you stick
something, to the diet.
limit yourself
to one
particular thing
switchsomething off stop the energy The light's too bright. Could
flow, turn off you switch it off.
switchsomething on start the energy We heard the news as soon as

flow, turn on we switched on the car radio.
take aftersomebody resemble a I take after my mother. We are

family member both impatient.
takesomethingapart purposely He took the car brakes apart and

break into found the problem.
pieces
takesomethingback return an item I have to take our new

TV back because it doesn't work.
take off start to fly My plane takes off in five

minutes.
takesomething off remove Take off your socks and shoes

something and come in the lake!
(usually
clothing)
takesomething out remove from a Can you take the garbage out to
place or thing the street for me?
takesomebody out pay for My grandparents took us out for

somebody to dinner and a movie.
go somewhere
with you
tearsomething up rip into pieces I tore up my ex-boyfriend's

letters and gave them back to
him.
think back remember When I think back on my youth,

(often + to, I wish I had studied harder.
sometimes +
on)
thinksomethingover consider I'll have to think this job

offer overbefore I make my final
decision.
throwsomethingaway dispose of We threw our old

furniture away when we won the
lottery.
turnsomethingdown decrease the Please turn the TV down while

volume or the guests are here.
strength (heat,
light etc)
turnsomethingdown refuse I turned the job down because I

don't want to move.
turnsomething off stop the energy Your mother wants you

flow, switch to turn the TV offand come for
off dinner.
turnsomething on start the It's too dark in here.

energy, switch Let's turn some lights on.
on
turnsomething up increase the Can you turn the music up? This
volume or is my favourite song.
strength (heat,
light etc)
turn up appear Our cat turned up after we put

suddenly posters up all over the
neighbourhood.
try somethingon sample I'm going to try these jeans on,

clothing but I don't think they will fit.
try somethingout test I am going to try this new brand

of detergent out.
use somethingup finish the The kids used all of the

supply toothpaste up so we need to buy
some more.
wake up stop sleeping We have to wake up early for

work on Monday.
warmsomebody/ increase the You can warm your feet up in

something up temperature front of the fireplace.
warm up prepare body I always warm up by doing sit-

for exercise ups before I go for a run.
wear off fade away Most of my make-up wore

off before I got to the party.
work out exercise I work out at the gym three

times a week.
work out be successful Our plan worked out fine.

worksomething out make a We have to work out the total

calculation cost before we buy the house.

Phrasal Verb Meaning Example Sentence

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phrasal verb meaning example sentence

ask somebodyout invite on a date Brian asked Judy out to dinner

ask around ask many I asked around but nobody has

add up tosomething equal Your purchases add up

backsomething up reverse You'll have to back up your car

backsomebody up support My wife backed me up over my

blow up explode The racing car blew up after it

blowsomething up add air We have to blow 50

break down stop Our car broke down at the side

break down get upset The woman broke down when

breaksomethingdown divide into Our teacher broke the final

break in force entry to a Somebody broke in last night

break intosomething enter forcibly The firemen had to break

breaksomething in wear I need to break these

break in interrupt The TV station broke in to

break up end a My boyfriend and I broke

break up start laughing The kids just broke up as soon

break out escape The prisoners broke out of jail

bringsomebodydown make unhappy This sad music

bringsomebody up raise a child My

bringsomething up start talking My mother walks out of the

bringsomething up vomit He drank so much that

call around phone many We called around but we

call somebodyback return a phone I called the company back but

call somethingoff cancel Jason called the

call onsomebody ask for an The professor called on me for

call onsomebody visit somebody We called on you last night but

call somebodyup phone Give me your phone number and

check in arrive and We will get the hotel keys when

check out leave a hotel You have to check out of the

checksomebody/ look at The company checks out all new

check outsomebody/ look at Check out the crazy hair on that

cheer up become She cheered up when she heard

cheersomebody up make happier I brought you some flowers

chip in help If everyone chips in we can get

cleansomething up tidy, clean Please clean up your bedroom

come acrosssomething find I came across these old photos

come apart separate The top and bottom come

come down withsomething become sick My nephew came down

come forward volunteer for a The woman came forward with

come fromsome place originate in The art of origami comes

count onsomebody/ rely on I am counting on you to make

cut back onsomething consume less My doctor wants me to cut back

cut somethingdown make We had to cut the old tree in our

cut in interrupt Your father cut in while I was

cut in pull in too The bus driver got angry when

cut in start operating The air conditioner cuts in when

cut somebodyoff take out of a My grandparents cut my

cut somethingout remove part of I cut this ad out of the

do somebody/ somethingover beat up, He's lucky to be alive. His shop

do somethingover do again My teacher wants me to do my

do away withsomething discard It's time to do away with all of

do somethingup fasten, close Do your coat up before you go

dress up wear nice It's a fancy restaurant so we have

drop back move back in a Andrea dropped back to third

dropsomebody/ take I have to drop my sister off at

drop out quit a class, I dropped out of Science

eat out eat at a I don't feel like cooking tonight.

end up eventually We ended up renting a movie

fall apart break into My new dress fell apart in the

fall out separate from The money must have fallen

figuresomething out understand, I need to figure out how to fit