| Phrasal Verb |
Meaning of the Phrasal Verb |
Example |
| Add up to |
- To have something build up in combination or along with something that has already happened
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- The chief guest arriving late added up to the existing problems.
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| Ask around |
- To enquire about something to different people
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- The teacher asked around the entire school if they saw a little boy named Krishna going upstairs.
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| Abide by |
- To act in accordance with something
- To remain faithful to someone
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- While you are here, you will have to abide by the rules and regulations of this organisation.
- He did not show up for the event as he had promised, but he had supported me for months and so I will abide by him.
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| Account for |
- To explain something by connecting or relating circumstances
- To be the primary cause of something that happened
- To destroy
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- The doctor does not have to account for anything to you.
- You will be accounted for any damage done to the products.
- Terrorism accounts for the loss of lives more that diseases do.
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| Break in |
- To enter a building or a place forcefully
- To start something brand new or take something to a new level
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- Someone tried to break into our house last Saturday.
- Charles broke in with the newest smartphone.
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| Break up |
- To break some object into pieces
- To end a relationship
- To dissolve or to part
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- The glass plates broke up when it was unknowingly pushed down by Chandler.
- Kimmy broke up with her boyfriend last month.
- The party finally broke up after three long hours of dance and music.
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| Blow up |
- To explode
- To enlarge
- To fail disastrously
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- Do you know why vehicles blow up when they crash into another vehicle or fall off a cliff?
- Try blowing up the pictures if you want a better look at them.
- Yadhu blew up the interview he attended yesterday.
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| Back down |
- Take a more compromising and less aggressive position in a conflict contrary to what one had in mind earlier
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- The opposite party decided to back down after hearing our case.
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| Break off |
- To cancel or put an end to something
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- Diana broke off her engagement.
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| Bring on |
- To cause something to happen
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- Excessive drinking and smoking can bring on serious health hazards like heart attacks, lung diseases and cancer.
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| Bring up |
- To mention
- To rear or nurture
- To uncover something that has been in the dark or a mystery for long
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- We had asked Salim not to bring up the issue of gender neutrality but he did it anyway.
- My brother and I were born and brought up in North India.
- The facts we had been missing out on were brought up by Terry, the undercover agent.
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| Brush up |
- To review or improve on some skill that you already possess or some information you already know.
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- I will have to help my sister brush up her French before she leaves for Paris.
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| Burst out |
- To display sudden powerful emotion or to speak suddenly or emotionally
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- The whole room burst out into laughter the moment the boys left.
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| Call off |
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- The managing director had to call off the meeting because of some medical emergency.
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| Catch up |
- To update oneself with the past and present events
- To entangle
- To reach something that is already ahead of you
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- It has been a really long time since we met. We should definitely catch up.
- All the embroidery threads have got caught up with each other as they were put together.
- Susan was late for the meeting but she somehow managed to catch up with all that she had missed.
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| Check out |
- To withdraw, to leave
- To examine or to inspect
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- Ross never checks out of the hotel room he has rented even one minute before the given time.
- The CBI checked out the spot for possible evidence.
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| Cheer up |
- To become happy
- To make someone happy by doing or saying something
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- The little boy fell down but he cheered up soon after.
- His dad was doing all that he could to cheer him up.
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| Count on |
- To depend on someone or something
- To expect
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- All the members of the team were counting on their captain.
- Don’t count on being able to get the 9 p.m. bus if you are planning to leave home by 8:30.
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| Clean up |
- To tidy
- To become smart or handsome
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- Tommy was asked to clean up the hall after his play time.
- He looks smart, he surely cleans up well.
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| Drop out |
- To quit or to leave
- To be interrupted momentarily
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- Sruthy and Samantha decided to drop out of the online course.
- I am not able to make any phone calls as the line keeps dropping out.
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| Do without |
- To manage without someone or something
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- Binu sure cannot do without a secretary.
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| Do away with |
- To put an end to something or to eliminate something
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- If you want to live in peace, you have to do away with the superstitions and judgements.
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| Ease off |
- To reduce the pressure
- To become less serious or concerned
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- Try listening to some music; it will surely help you to ease off your thoughts about the upcoming exam results.
- The manager tried to ease off a little; he had been working for months to get this project.
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| End up |
- To conclude
- To arrive at a particular destination
- To do something eventually
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- After all the chaos, that is how all of it ended up.
- Joy, Sherin, Sanju and Arjun ended up in a forest after driving for a long time.
- We sat in the railway station for long hours as the train was late and we ended up talking and enjoying each other’s company.
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| Figure out |
- To solve or find out something
- To understand
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- As soon as I figure out how to request a return for the trimmer I bought, I will order a different one.
- Are you able to figure out what she has been speaking about?
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| Fall apart |
- To break into pieces or to disintegrate
- To be in an emotional crisis
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- My old house is falling apart; we have to do something about it soon or we would be in big trouble.
- I cannot stand to see my two best friends falling apart because of something so silly.
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| Fill in |
- To provide missing information about someone or something
- To substitute for someone or something
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- The guy who owned the tea shop filled in about the recent theft attempt at the opposite house.
- Raju asked Bheem to fill in for him so that he could take care of his sick father.
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| Fall through |
- To be unsuccessful
- To be cancelled
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- All their attempts to convince the Principal for a holiday fell through.
- Their plans to go river rafting fell through because of heavy rains in the area.
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| Fall behind |
- To be late
- To be below average in one’s performance
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- The landlord did not appreciate the boys falling behind with the rent every month.
- You might lose your job if you keep falling behind with your work.
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| Follow up |
- To continue or take further actions
- To verify
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- The superintendent asked him to follow up on the remaining files.
- Try sending a letter but make sure you follow up promptly without missing out.
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| Get back |
- To retrieve
- To do something to harm or hurt someone who has harmed or hurt you
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- Make sure you get every single form back before you leave the office today evening.
- The boys from the other school are planning to get back at us because they lost the match.
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| Get through |
- To overcome or endure
- To complete
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- It was very difficult for her to get through all of it alone.
- Cinderella got through the book she was reading this afternoon.
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| Give in |
- To collapse or to fall
- To surrender or to admit defeat
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- The building gave in due to the earthquake.
- After a long quarrel, I finally gave in and let him have the last piece of cake.
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| Go about |
- To keep oneself busy with something
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- My brother just goes about his work; he never has time for the family.
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| Grow up |
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- Technology grew up even in the most rural areas.
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| Grow apart |
- To become estranged gradually
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- They were very close but they grew apart over the years.
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| Goof around |
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- The children were goofing around with their grandparents.
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| Go through with |
- To proceed or continue with
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- My mom and dad decided to go through with the demolition of our ancestral house.
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| Hang on |
- To wait
- To grasp or hold
- To continuously have faith in something
- To persevere
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- Can you please hang on for a minute while I check for your details?
- Hang on to the handle so that you do not fall.
- He has got a theory that he hangs on to.
- This pain is not going to stay forever, just hang on and keep going.
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| Hold on |
- To store something for someone
- To wait for a short while
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- Can you please hold on to this seat so that I can bring my luggage?
- Hold on, let me just get my phone.
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| Hand out |
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- The teacher asked Maya to hand out the permission slips.
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| Hand over |
- To transfer control or possession of something to someone
- To deliver something to someone
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- The controls of the system were handed over to Mike.
- I handed over all the documents to the bank manager yesterday.
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| Hang out |
- To spend time with someone and not doing anything particularly
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- My friends decided to hang out at the coffee shop opposite our college after graduation.
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| Hold against |
- To think less of someone because of something they have done
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- Suganya was awful to me when we were in school, but I don’t hold any of it against her, but I don’t think she has moved on.
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| Head back |
- To go back to a place from where you had initially started
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- We headed back to the hotel after a long trek.
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| Help Out |
- To provide someone with assistance in doing something
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- When we were shifting, we did not know much trouble as my son’s friends helped out a lot.
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| Hold up |
- To withstand
- To fulfil one’s part of an agreement
- To rob at gunpoint
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- You have to hold up to all kinds of judgement if you want to survive at this job.
- He kept holding up his end of the bargain even though we tried to make a compromise.
- The guy in the red jacket is the one who held up the bank yesterday.
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| Knock out |
- To render unconscious
- To complete
- To exhaust
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- The police knocked out the man who tried to break into the house.
- Ricky knocked out the entire assignment in one night.
- Taking care of fifty students all day really knocked her out.
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| Knock off |
- To kill
- To remove as a discount
- To rob
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- The girl hired a gang to knock off the people who had been threatening her.
- The manager agreed to knock off 25% of the price for all new arrivals.
- The mob knocked off a clothing store during the commotion.
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| Knock over |
- To stage a heist of
- To strike something
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- The gang knocked over another bank this week.
- Kimmy knocked over the water bottle which was kept open.
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| Look for |
- To search or seek
- To expect
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- She spent her whole day looking for a green file.
- Do you have any idea of what they would look for in me?
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| Look out |
- To be careful and vigilant
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- The police have asked all the residents of the area to look out for men wearing peculiar clothes.
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| Look up |
- To refer or search for information
- To have better prospects
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- I guess I have to look up the dictionary to find out the meanings of the words I do not know.
- Everything has started looking up for him since he moved to France.
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| Look into |
- To investigate or explore
- To consider
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- The CBI has been appointed to look into the case.
- Can you please look into this before you move on to the next work?
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| Light up |
- To illuminate
- To make happy
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- The team has done a great job in lighting up the entire place.
- The little boy’s dance lit up the entire room.
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| Lift up |
- To exalt someone’s mood
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- The reunion of the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. cast lifted up the fans of the show.
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| Look up to |
- To show respect and admiration for someone
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- Girls always look up to their fathers.
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| Make for |
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- Constant disagreement and arguments will not make for a happy marriage.
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| Make up |
- To fabricate or invent
- To settle or resolve
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- Can you believe that they made up the whole story?
- You have to definitely make up for all that has happened because of your forgetfulness.
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| Move in |
- To start living or working in a new place
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- When are you moving into the new apartment?
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| Move out |
- To leave one’s current location to go to another place
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- Beth finally moved out of this neighbourhood.
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| Narrow down |
- To make things more specific
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- Can you please narrow down your choices so that we can provide you the cost estimation?
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| Opt out |
- To decide not to participate in something
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- Anna opted out of the creative writing competition.
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| Pay for |
- To be punished or held accountable for something that has happened
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- We had warned him that he would have to pay for his careless choices.
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| Pay back |
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- Gulliver paid them back for kidnapping him.
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| Point out |
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- The lawyer pointed out that Harry was the one who reached the spot first.
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| Pull off |
- To achieve, succeed or make it happen
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- Are you sure you can pull it off by yourself?
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| Pull over |
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- Can you please pull over for some time?
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| Put up |
- To dare someone to do something
- To endure
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- He thinks that someone might have put him up to all this.
- I don’t know how I am going to put up with all her drama.
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| Put up with |
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- I know what exactly you had to put up with to reach here.
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| Rip off |
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- Do you know who ripped off their idea?
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| Rule out |
- To reject an option
- To make something impossible
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- We had to rule out the colours that looked flashy.
- The heavy rains ruled out our every chance to go out today.
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| Run into |
- To meet someone unexpectedly
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- I ran into your brother on the way to school yesterday.
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| Run over |
- To describe briefly
- To drive over something
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- Can you please run over the agenda for me?
- Someone just ran over the dog.
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| Screw up |
- To ruin or make a mistake
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- Please try not to screw up this time
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| See about |
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- The teacher will see about it.
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| Settle down |
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- Let me know after you settle down.
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| Settle for |
- To accept something that’s not desirable
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- He finally decided to settle for the cheaper headphones.
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| Sign up |
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- We decided to sign up for the winter musicals this year.
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| Sign off |
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- How are you planning to sign off your speech?
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| Sneak in |
- To enter without being noticed
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- Did you see her sneak into her room?
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| Shut down |
- To stop something from functioning
- To end
- To withdraw oneself emotionally as a defence mechanism
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- It would be good if you could shut it down for a while.
- The company was shut down.
- She shuts down every time I try t o make a conversation with her.
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| Stand up for |
- To speak or act in support of something
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- Would you stand up for us?
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| Straighten out |
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- He is coming tomorrow to straighten things out.
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| Show off |
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- He often shows off his new expensive gadgets
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| Stick around |
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- I think she wants to stick around for some more time.
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| Try out |
- To test something to check if it works well or not
- To take a test to see if you qualify, to audition
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- Why don’t you try out if the TV is working now?
- If you want to be on the team, you will have to first try out.
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| Take out on |
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- He took it out on his sister.
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| Talk out of |
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- They talked him out of it somehow.
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| Think up |
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- I know you can think up plenty of excuses.
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| Throw up |
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- The little boy threw up after jumping around the whole day.
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| Turn in |
- To submit or to tell on someone
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- He turned himself in to the police.
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| Turn down |
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| Turn out |
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- It turned out to be a successful program.
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| Warm up to |
- To become earnest to someone
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- He warmed up to her as soon as we had expected.
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| Watch out |
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- You better watch out for speeding vehicles.
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| Wear out |
- To not be in a useful condition or to be exhausted
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- He was worn out by the continuous practice.
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| Wipe off |
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- All the money was wiped off.
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| Wrap up |
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- We have to wrap up the event by 5 p.m.
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| Zone out |
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- The children zoned out in the middle of the class.
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