200 phrasal verbs

Hold off

1) Stopping someone from attacking or beating you. 2) To not do something immediately. Let's _______ making a decision until next week.

Agree with

Affect, usually used inthe negative to shoew that something has had a negative effect. I feel terrible- that food didn't _____ my stomach.

Argue out

Argue about a problem to find a solution. If we can't ___ our differences ___, we'll have to take them to court.

Be along

Arrive The next bus should ______ in the next quarter of an hour.

Blow in

Arrive, sometimes suddenly or unexpectedly. He ______ from Toronto early this morning.

Ask around

Ask a number of people for information of help. I have no idea, but I'll ______ at work and see if anyone can help.

Ask about

Ask how someone is doing, especially professionally and in terms of health. He _____ my father.

Be fed up

Be bored, upset or sick of something. I _______ of his complaints.

Be down

Be depressed. He's ______ since his partner left him.

Be away

Be elsewhere; on holiday, etc. She's ____ on business for three weeks.

Belong with

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

Be up

Be out of bed. She's not ___ yet.

Bear with

Be patient. Please _______ me a moment while I finish this email.

Be cut out for

Be suitable, have the necessary qualities. She's not _____ this kind of work.

Be cut up

Be upset. She was very _____ about coming second.

Argue down

Beat someone in a debate, discussion or argument. The teacher tried to ___ the girl ____, but she couldn't.

Die off, Die out

Become extinct. Most of the elm trees in the UK _______ when Dutch elm disease arrived.

Die away

Become quieter or inaudible (of a sound). The last notes _______ and the audience burst into applause.

Act up

Behave badly or strangely. My computer's ____; I think I might have a virus.

Bash in

Break, damage or injure by hitting. The burglars ____ the door ___ to enter the house.

Book in

Check in at a hotel. WE took a taxi from the airport to the hotel and ________.

Decide upon

Choose, select. Jane spent a long time looking at houses before she bought one, but eventually ________ one near her office.

Bear out

Confirm that something is correct. Statistics ______ the government's positions on the issue

Ball up

Confuse or make things complicated. The new project has ______ me _____- I have no idea what to do.

Carry on

Continue. _______ quietly with your work until the substitute teacher arrives.

Bag out

Criticise. I don't mean to __ you _____, but that top is really not flattering on you.

Die down

Decrease or become quieter. It was on the front pages of all the papers for a few days, but the interest gradually ___________

Feed off

Eat a food as part of an animals diet. The gecko _______ mosquitoes and other insects.

Ask after

Enquire about someone's health, how life is going. Jenny rang earlier and _______ you, so I told her you were fine.

Back into

Enter a parking area in reverse gear. He prefers to ___ his car ___ the garage

Big up

Exaggerate the importance. He __himself __ all the time

Blow up

Explode. The bomb _____ without any warning.

Back out of

Fail to keep an agreement, arrangement. She ________ the agreement at the last minute.

Back out

Fail to keep an arrangement or promise. He ____ two days before the holiday so we gave the ticket to his sister.

Black out

Fall unconscious. He ____ and collapsed on the floor.

Boil up

Feel a negative emotion strongly. The anger _____ in me when I saw what they had done.

Feel up to

Feel capable of doing something I'm so tired. I don't think I ______ going out tonight.

Cap off

Finish or complete, often with some decisive action. She _________ the meeting with a radical proposal.

Carried away

Get so emotional that you lose control. The team got ________ when they won the championship.

Feed up

Give someone a lot of food to restore their health, make them bigger, etc. She's been ill for a fortnight so we're ____ her ___.

Feed on

Give someone a particular food. He ______ his cat _____ dry food.

Hit on

Have an idea. I suddenly ______ the solution.

Cancel out

Have an opposite effect on something that has happened, taking things back to the beginning. The airport taxes ______ the savings we had made on the flight tickets.

Blow away

Impress greatly. Her first novel ______ me ______.

Add on

Include in a calculation. You have to ___ the tax __ to the price they give.

Allow for

Include something in a plan or calculation. You should _______ delays when planning a journey.

Jack up

Increase sharply. They have _____ the price of oil this month.

Bear on

Influence, affect. The judge's character may well ______ the final decision.

Ask round

Invite someone. We _____ John ____ for diner.

Ask over

Invite. They have ___ us ____ for drinks on Friday.

Make off

Leave somewhere in a hurry. They MADE OFF when they heard the police siren.

Blast off

Leave the ground (spaceship or rocket) The space shuttle ____ on schedule yesterday.

Get along

Leave. It's late; we must be _______.

Be taken with

Like something. I ___ very ______ the performance- it was superb.

Care for

Like. I don't _________ fizzy drinks; I prefer water.

Bend down

Lower the top half of your body. I ____ to pick it up off the floor.

Back up

Make a copy of computer data. You should always ____ important files and documents.

Allow of

Make possible, permit. The rules don't ____ any exceptions

Carry forward

Make something progress. They hope the new management will be able to _______ the project ________.

Hook up

Meet someone. We _______ at the conference.

Bash about

Mistreat physically . If you _____ your monitor _____ like that, it won't last long.

Get ahead of

Move in front of. I work at home in the evening to __________ schedule.

Bear down on

Move towards. She spotted him on the other side of the room and _____ him.

Beat out

Narrowly win in competition. The marathon runner barely ______ his rival at the tape.

Blow off

Not keep an appointment. We were going to meet last night, but she ____ me ____ at the last minute.

Block off

Obstruct an exit to prevent people from leaving. The police ________ the road after the murder.

Block in

Park a car and obstruct another car. I couldn't drive here this morning because someone had _____ me ____.

Act out

Perform something with actions and gestures. They ____ the story on stage.

Bargain down

Persuade someone to drop the price of something they're selling. I ______ her _____ to half what she originally wanted.

Fawn over

Praise someone in a excessive way to get their favour or somthing from them. She _______ the inspectors in the hope that they would give her a good grade.

Get ahead

Progress. Nowadays, you need IT skills if you want to _______.

Dig into

Reach inside to get something. She _________ her handbag and pulled out a bunch of keys.

Bear up

Resist pressure. How are you ______ under the strain?

Back down

Retract or withdraw your position or proposal in an argument. She refused to ____ and was fired.

Back away

Retreat or go backwards. The crowd ____ when the man pulled a knife.

Back off

Retreat. The police told the protesters to ____.

Hunt out

Search until you find something. It took me ages to ________ the photos.

Auction off

Sell something in an auction. They ____ their property as they were heavily in debt.

Dig in

Start eating greedily. We were starving so we really _______ when the food finally did arrive.

Calm down

Stop being angry or emotionally excited. It takes ages for me to _______.

Give up

Stop doing something that has been a habit. I ______ taking sugar in tea and coffee to lose weight.

Beat down

Strong sunshine The sun ____ really ____ and we couldn't stay outdoors.

Bone up on

Study hard for a goal or reason. I need to ______ my French grammar for the test.

Call up

Telephone. ____ him __ as soon as I got to a phone to tell him the news.

Beat up

To hit someone hard and repeatedly. The mugger _____ him ___ and stole his wallet.

Ask in

To invite somebody into your house. Jon's at the door.' '__ him __.'

Ask out

To invite someone for a date. He wanted to __ her __ but was too shy.

Add up

To make a mathematical total. We ____ the bill to check it was correct.

Answer back

To reply rudely to someone in authority. Her mother was shocked when she started ______ her ____and refusing to help.

Act on

To take action because of something like information received. The police were____ a tip from an informer and caught the gang red-handed.

Aim at

To target The magazine is _____ teenagers.

Feel up

Touch sexually, grope. Someone _____ me ___ in the club as I was trying to get to the bar.

Be after

Try to find or get. The police _____ him because of the theft.

Angle for

Try to get something indirectly, by hinting or suggesting. He's been ______ an invitation, but I don't want him to come.

Hold on / Hold up

Wait. Could you _____ for a minute; she'll be free in a moment.

Die for

Want something a lot. I'm ______ the weekend- this week's been so hard.

Die back

When the parts of a plant above ground die, but the roots remain alive. The plant _____ in the winter.

Blow down

When the wind forces something to fall. A tree was _______ in the storm.

Carry off

Win, succeed. She _________ the first prize in the competition.

Bash out

Write something quickly without much preparation. I ___ the essay ___ the night before I had to hand it in.