The most common phrasal verbs

Welcome to the lesson

This list shows 200 common phrasal verbs, with meanings and examples. Only the most usual meanings are given.

phrasal verb	meaning	example sentence
ask sby out	invite on a date	Brian asked Judy out to dinner and a movie.
ask around	ask many people the same question	I asked around but nobody has seen my wallet.
add up tosthg	equal	Your purchases add up to $205.32.
back sthgup	reverse	You'll have to back up your car so that I can get out.
back sby 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.
blow sthgup	add air	We have to blow 50 balloons up for the party.
break down	stop functioning (vehicle, machine)	Our car broke down at the side of the highway in the snowstorm.
break down	get upset	The woman broke down when the police told her that her son had died.
break sthgdown	divide into smaller parts	Our teacher broke the final projectdown into three separate parts.
break in	force entry to a building	Somebody broke in last night and stole our stereo.
break intosthg	enter forcibly	The firemen had to break into the room to rescue the children.
break sthgin	wear sthg a few times so that it doesn't look/feel new	I need to break these shoes inbefore we run next week.
break in	interrupt	The TV station broke in to report the news of the president's death.
break up	end a relationship	My boyfriend and I broke up before I moved to America.
break up	start laughing (informal)	The kids just broke up as soon as the clown started talking.
break out	escape	The prisoners broke out of jail when the guards weren't looking.
break out in sthg	develop a skin condition	I broke out in a rash after our camping trip.
bring sbydown	make unhappy	This sad music is bringing medown.
bring sbyup	raise a child	My grandparents brought me upafter my parents died.
bring sthgup	start talking about a subject	My mother walks out of the room when my father brings up sports.
bring sthgup	vomit	He drank so much that he broughthis dinner up in the toilet.
call around	phone many different places/people	We called around but we weren't able to find the car part we needed.
call sbyback	return a phone call	I called the company back but the offices were closed for the weekend.
call sthg off	cancel	Jason called the wedding offbecause he wasn't in love with his fiancé.
call on sby	ask for an answer or opinion	The professor called on me for question 1.
call on sby	visit sby	We called on you last night but you weren't home.
call sby up	phone	Give me your phone number and I will call you up when we are in town.
calm down	relax after being angry	You are still mad. You need to calm down before you drive the car.
not care forsby/ sthg	not like (formal)	I don't care for his behaviour.
catch up	get to the same point as sby else	You'll have to run faster than that if you want to catch up with Marty.
check in	arrive and register at a hotel or airport	We will get the hotel keys when wecheck in.
check out	leave a hotel	You have to check out of the hotel before 11:00 AM.
check sby/ sthg out	look at carefully, investigate	The company checks out all new employees.
check outsby/ sthg	look at (informal)	Check out the crazy hair on that guy!
cheer up	become happier	She cheered up when she heard the good news.
cheer sbyup	make happier	I brought you some flowers tocheer you up.
chip in	help	If everyone chips in we can get the kitchen painted by noon.
clean sthgup	tidy, clean	Please clean up your bedroom before you go outside.
come across sthg	find unexpectedly	I came across these old photos when I was tidying the closet.
come apart	separate	The top and bottom come apart if you pull hard enough.
come down with sthg	become sick	My nephew came down withchicken pox this weekend.
come forward	volunteer for a task or to give evidence	The woman came forward with her husband's finger prints.
come fromsome place	originate in	The art of origami comes fromAsia.
count onsby/ sthg	rely on	I am counting on you to make dinner while I am out.
cross sthgout	draw a line through	Please cross out your old address and write your new one.
cut back onsthg	consume less	My doctor wants me to cut back on sweets and fatty foods.
cut sthgdown	make sthg fall to the ground	We had to cut the old tree in our yard down after the storm.
cut in	interrupt	Your father cut in while I was dancing with your uncle.
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 (of an engine or electrical device)	The air conditioner cuts in when the temperature gets to 22°C.
cut sthg off	remove with sthg sharp	The doctors cut off his leg because it was severely injured.
cut sthg off	stop providing	The phone company cut off our phone because we didn't pay the bill.
cut sby off	take out of a will	My grandparents cut my father offwhen he remarried.
cut sthg out	remove part of sthg (usually with scissors and paper)	I cut this ad out of the newspaper.
do sby/ sthgover	beat up, ransack (BrE, informal)	He's lucky to be alive. His shop wasdone over by a street gang.
do sthgover	do again (AmE)	My teacher wants me to do my essay over because she doesn't like my topic.
do away with sthg	discard	It's time to do away with all of these old tax records.
do sthg up	fasten, close	Do your coat up before you go outside. It's snowing!
dress up	wear nice clothing	It's a fancy restaurant so we have to dress up.
drop back	move back in a position/group	Andrea dropped back to third place when she fell off her bike.
drop in/ by/ over	come without an appointment	I might drop in/by/over for tea sometime this week.
drop sby/ sthg off	take sby/ sthg somewhere and leave them/it there	I have to drop my sister off at work before I come over.
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'seat out.
end up	eventually reach/do/decide	We ended up renting a movie instead of going to the theatre.
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	(of hair, teeth) become loose and unattached	His hair started to fall out when he was only 35.
figure sthgout	understand, find the answer	I need to figure out how to fit the piano and the bookshelf in this room.
fill sthg in	to write information in blanks, as on a form (BrE)	Please fill in the form with your name, address, and phone number.
fill sthg out	to write information in blanks, as on a form (AmE)	The form must be filled out in capital letters.
fill sthg 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 sthgout	discover	We tried to keep the time of the party a secret, but Samantha foundit out.

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