Important Phrases

Important Phrases
Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Examples
ask someone out	invite on a date	Karim asked Rahim out to breakfast and a movie.
ask around	ask many people the same question	He asked around but nobody has seen my pen.
add up to sth	equal	Your purchases add up to Tk.5000.
back sth up	reverse	You'll have to back up your car so that she can get out.
back someone up	support	My uncle backed me up over my decision to quit this school.
blow up	explode	The racing car blew up after it crashed into the fence.
blow sth up	add air	He has to blow fifty balloons up for the birthday party.
break down	stop functioning (vehicle, machine)	My car broke down at the side of the Road in the storm.
break down	get upset	The man broke down when the doctor told him that her brother had died.
break sth down	divide into smaller parts	Our MD broke the final project down into three small parts.
break in	force entry to a building	Someone broke in last night and stole our ornaments.
break into sth	enter forcibly	The fireman had to break into the room to rescue the boy.
break sth in	wear sth a few times so that it doesn't look new	I am going to break these shoes in before we run next week.
break in	interrupt	The TV station broke in to report the news of the Rohinga Issues.
break up	end a relationship	My girlfriend and I broke up before I moved to Iraq.
break up	start laughing	The girls just broke up as soon as the clown started talking.
break out	escape	The protesters broke out of jail when the guards weren't looking.
bring someone down	make unhappy	This sad news is bringing me down.
bring someone up	raise a child	My aunt brought me up after my parents had died.
bring sth up	start talking about a subject	He walks out of the room when I bring up movie.
bring sth up	vomit	My girlfriend drank so much that she brought her dinner up in the toilet.
call around	phone many different people	He called around but he wasn't able to cell phone.
call someone back	return a phone call	I called girl back
call sth off	cancel	Rony called the deal off
call on someone	ask for an answer or opinion	My father called on me
call on someone	visit someone	She called on me last night
call someone up	phone	I will call you up at 3.30 am
calm down	relax	One needs to calm down before driving the car.
not care for someone/sth	not like	I don't care for his behavior
check in	arrive and register	We will get the hotel keys when we check in.
check out	leave a hotel	He has to check out of the hotel
check someone/sth out	investigate	He checks out all new equipment.
check out someone/sth	look at	Check out the crazy guy!
cheer up	become happier	She cheered up when she heard result
cheer someone up	make happier	I brought you some flowers to cheer you up.
chip in	help	Everybody chips in the boy
come across sth	find unexpectedly	I came across these old photos
come apart	separate	The top and bottom come apart
come down with sth	become sick	Dolon came down with fever
come from somewhere	originate in	The art of origami comes from Asia.
count on someone/sth	rely on	He counts on me.
cross sth out	draw a line through	Please cross out your old address
cut back on sth	consume less	Doctor suggests me to cut back on sweets
cut sth down	make sth fall to the ground	We cut the old tree in our yard down
cut in	interrupt	She cut in while I was reading
cut in	pull in too closely in front of another vehicle	The bus driver got angry when that car cut in.
cut in	start operating	The air conditioner cuts in after repair
cut sth off	remove with sth sharp	The doctors cut off his leg
cut sth off	stop providing	The phone company cut off our phone
cut someone off	take out of a will	My grandparents cut my father off when he remarried.
cut sth out	remove part of sth	I cut this ad out of the newspaper.
do someone/sth over	beat up, ransack	He's lucky to be alive. His shop was done over by a street gang.
do sth over	do again	My teacher wants me to do my essay over because she doesn't like my topic.
do away with sth	discard	It's time to do away with all of these old tax records.
do sth up	fasten, close	Do your coat up before you go outside
dress up	wear nice clothing	It's a fancy restaurant so we have to dress up.
drop back	move back in a position	Ali dropped back to third place
drop in/by/over	come without an appointment	I might drop in/by/over for tea sometime this week.
drop someone/sth off	take someone/sth somewhere and leave them/it there	I have to drop my sister off at work
drop out	quit a class, school etc	I dropped out of Science because it was too difficult.
eat out	eat at a restaurant	I don't feel like cooking tonight. Let's eat out.
end up	eventually reach/do/decide	We ended up renting a movie
fall apart	break into pieces	My new dress fell apart in the washing machine.
fall down	fall to the ground	The picture that you hung up last night fell down this morning.
fall out	separate from an interior	The money must have fallen out of my pocket.
fall out	become loose and unattached	Her hair started to fall out when she was child
figure sth out	understand, find the answer	I need to figure out how to fit the piano and the bookshelf in this room.
fill sth in	to write information in blanks	Please fill in the form with your name, address, and phone number.
fill sth out	to write information in blanks	The form must be filled out in capital letters.
fill sth up	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 sth out	discover	We tried to keep the time of the party a secret, but Samantha found it out.
get sth across/over	communicate, make understandable	I tried to get my point across/over to the judge 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 vacation	We worked so hard this year that we had to get away for a week.
get away with sth	do without being noticed or punished	Jason always gets away with cheating in his maths tests.
get back	return	We got back from our vacation last week.
get sth back	receive sth you had before	Liz finally got her Science notes back from my room-mate.
get back at someone	retaliate, take revenge	My sister got back at me for stealing her shoes. She stole my favourite hat.
get back into sth	become interested in sth again	I finally got back into my novel and finished it.
get on sth	step onto a vehicle	We're going to freeze out here if you don't let us get on the bus.
get over sth	recover from an illness, loss, difficulty	I just got over the flu and now my sister has it.
get over sth	overcome a problem	The company will have to close if it can't get over the new regulations.
get round to sth	finally find time to do	I don't know when I am going to get round to writing the thank you cards.
get together	meet	Let's get together for a BBQ this weekend.
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 someone away	reveal hidden information about someone	His wife gave him away to the police.
give someone away	take the bride to the altar	My father gave me away at my wedding.
give sth away	ruin a secret	My little sister gave the surprise party away by accident.
give sth away	give sth to someone for free	The library was giving away old books on Friday.
give sth back	return a borrowed item	I have to give these skates back to Franz before his hockey game.
give in	reluctantly stop fighting or arguing	My boyfriend didn't want to go to the ballet, but he finally gave in.
give sth out	give to many people (usually at no cost)	They were giving out free perfume samples at the department store.
give sth 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 after someone	follow someone	My brother tried to go after the thief in his car.
go after sth	try to achieve sth	I went after my dream and now I am a published writer.
go against someone	compete, oppose	We are going against the best 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 place	I have to go back home and get my lunch.
go out	leave home to go on a social event	We're going out for dinner tonight.
go out with someone	date	Jesse has been going out with Luke since they met last winter.
go over sth	review	Please go over your answers before you submit your test.
go over	visit someone nearby	I haven't seen Tina for a long time. I think I'll go over for an hour or two.
go without sth	suffer lack or deprivation	When I was young, we went without winter boots.
grow apart	stop being friends over time	My best friend and I grew apart after she changed schools.
grow back	regrow	My roses grew back this summer.
grow up	become an adult	When Jack grows up he wants to be a fireman.
grow out of sth	get too big for	Elizabeth needs a new pair of shoes because she has grown out of her old ones.
grow into sth	grow big enough to fit	This bike is too big for him now, but he should grow into it by next year.
hand sth down	give sth used to someone else	I handed my old comic books down to my little cousin.
hand sth in	submit	I have to hand in my essay by Friday.
hand sth out	to distribute to a group of people	We will hand out the invitations at the door.
hand sth over	give	The police asked the man to hand over his wallet and his weapons.
hang in	stay positive	Hang in there. I'm sure you'll find a job very soon.
hang on	wait a short time	Hang on while I grab my coat and shoes!
hang out	spend time relaxing	Instead of going to the party we are just going to hang out at my place.
hang up	end a phone call	He didn't say goodbye before he hung up.
hold someone/sth back	prevent from doing	I had to hold my dog back because there was a cat in the park.
hold sth back	hide an emotion	Jamie held back his tears at his grandfather's funeral.
hold on	wait a short time	Please hold on while I transfer you to the Sales Department.
hold onto someone/sth	hold firmly using your hands or arms	Hold onto your hat because it's very windy outside.
hold someone/sthup	rob	A man in a black mask held the bank up this morning.
keep on doing sth	continue doing	Keep on stirring until the liquid comes to a boil.
keep sth from someone	not tell	We kept our relationship from our parents for two years.
keep someone/sth out	stop from entering	Try to keep the wet dog out of the living room.
keep sth up	continue at the same rate	If you keep those results up you will get into a great college.
let someone down	disappoint	I need you to be on time. Don't let me down this time.
let someone in	allow to enter	Can you let the cat in before you go to school?
look after someone/sth	take care of	I have to look after my sick grandmother.
look down on someone	think less of, consider inferior	Ever since we stole that chocolate bar your dad has looked down on me.
look for someone/sth	try to find	I'm looking for a red dress for the wedding.
look forward to sth	be excited about the future	I'm looking forward to the Christmas break.
look into sth	investigate	We are going to look into the price of snowboards today.
look out	be careful	Look out! That car's going to hit you!
look out for someone/sth	be especially vigilant for	Don't forget to look out for snakes on the hiking trail.
look sth over	check, examine	Can you look over my essay for spelling mistakes?
look sth up	search and find information in a reference book or database	We can look her phone number up on the Internet.
look up to someone	have a lot of respect for	My little sister has always looked up to me.
make sth up	invent, lie about sth	Josie made up a story about why we were late.
make up	forgive each other	We were angry last night, but we made up at breakfast.
make someone up	apply cosmetics to	My sisters made me up for my graduation party.
mix sth up	confuse two or more things	I mixed up the twins' names 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.
pass sth out	give the same thing to many people	The professor passed the textbooks out before class.
pass sth up	decline	I passed up the job because I am afraid of change.
pay someone back	return owed money	Thanks for buying my ticket. I'll pay you back on Friday.
pay for sth	be punished for	That bully will pay for being mean to my little brother.
pick sth out	choose	I picked out three sweaters for you to try on.
point someone/sth out	indicate with your finger	I'll point my boyfriend out when he runs by.
put sth down	put what you are holding on a surface or floor	You can put the groceries down on the kitchen counter.
put someone down	insult	The students put the substitute teacher down because his pants were too short.
put sth off	postpone	We are putting off our trip until January because of the hurricane.
put sth out	extinguish	The neighbours put the fire out before the firemen arrived.
put sth together	assemble	I have to put the crib together before the baby arrives.
put up with someone/sth	tolerate	I don't think I can put up with three small children in the car.
put sth on	put clothing	Don't forget to put on your new earrings for the party.
run into someone/sth	meet unexpectedly	I ran into an old school-friend at the mall.
run over someone/sth	drive a vehicle over a person or thing	I accidentally ran over your bicycle in the driveway.
run over/through sth	review	Let's run over/through these lines one more time before the show.
run away	escape	The child ran away from home and has been missing for three days.
run out	have none left	We ran out of shampoo so I had to wash my hair with soap.
send sth back	return	My letter got sent back to me because I used the wrong stamp.
set sth up	arrange	Our boss set a meeting up with the president of the company.
set someone up	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 special for people watching	He always shows off on his skateboard
sleep over	stay somewhere for the night	You should sleep over tonight if the weather is too bad to drive home.
sort sth out	resolve a problem	We need to sort the bills out before the first of the month.
stick to sth	continue doing sth	You will lose weight if you stick to the diet.
switch sth off	stop the energy flow, turn off	The light's too bright. Could you switch it off?
switch sth on	start the energy flow, turn on	We heard the news as soon as we switched on the car radio.
take after someone	resemble a family member	I take after my mother. We are both impatient.
take sth apart	purposely break into pieces	He took the car breaks apart and found the problem.
take sth back	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.
take sth off	remove sth	Take off your socks and shoes and come in the lake!
take sth out	remove from a place or thing	Can you take the garbage out to the street for me?
take someone out	pay for someone to go somewhere with you	My grandparents took us out for dinner and a movie.
tear sth 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, I wish I had studied harder.
think sth over	consider	I'll have to think this job offer over before I make my final decision.
throw sth away	dispose of	We threw our old furniture away when we won the lottery.
turn sth down	decrease the volume or strength	Please turn the TV down while the guests are here.
turn sth down	refuse	I turned the job down because I don't want to move.
turn sth off	switch off	Your mother wants you to turn the TV off and come for dinner.
turn sth on	switch on	It's too dark in here. Let's turn some lights on.
turn sth up	increase the volume or strength	Can you turn the music up? This is my favourite song.
turn up	appear suddenly	Our cat turned up after we put posters up all over the neighbourhood.
try sth on	sample clothing	I'm going to try these jeans on, but I don't think they will fit.
try sth out	test	I am going to try this new brand of detergent out.
use sth up	finish the supply	The kids used all of the toothpaste up so we need to buy some more.
wake up	stop sleeping	We have to wake up early for work on Monday.
warm someone/sth up	increase the temperature	One can warm one’s feet up in front of the fire.
warm up	prepare body for exercise	I always warm up by doing sit-ups before I go for a run.