|
Verb
|
Meaning
|
Example
|
1
|
1. blow up
|
explode
|
The racing
car blew up after it crashed into the fence.
|
2
|
2. break
down
|
stop
functioning (vehicle, machine)
|
Our car broke
down at the side of the highway in the snowstorm.
|
3
|
3. break
up
|
end a
relationship
|
My
boyfriend and I broke up before I moved to America.
|
4
|
4. bring someone up
|
raise a
child
|
My
grandparents brought me up after my parents died.
|
5
|
5. call something off
|
cancel
|
Jason called
the wedding off because he wasn't in love with his fiancé.
|
6
|
6. carry on
|
continue
|
The
students carried on with the
exercise.
|
7
|
7. catch
up
|
get to the
same point as someone else
|
You'll
have to run faster than that if you want to catch up with Marty.
|
8
|
8. check in
|
arrive and
register at a hotel or airport
|
We will
get the hotel keys when we check in.
|
9
|
check out
|
leave a hotel
|
You have
to check out of the hotel before 11:00 AM.
|
10
|
clean something up
|
tidy, clean
|
Please clean
up your bedroom before you go outside.
|
11
|
come across something
|
find unexpectedly
|
I came
across these old photos when I was tidying the closet.
|
12
|
come up with
|
devise, invent
|
He came up with a really elaborated plan.
|
13
|
count on someone/something
|
rely on
|
I am counting
on you to make dinner while I am out.
|
14
|
cut back on something
|
consume less
|
My doctor
wants me to cut back on sweets and fatty foods.
|
15
|
deal with
|
Handle, manage
|
He has to deal with the customers.
|
16
|
dress up
|
wear nice clothing
|
It's a
fancy restaurant so we have to dress up.
|
17
|
drop out
|
quit a
class, school etc
|
I dropped
out of Science because it was too difficult.
|
18
|
fall down
|
fall to the ground
|
The
picture that you hung up last night fell down this morning.
|
19
|
feel like
|
have desire
for
|
I don’t feel like going out.
|
20
|
fill something in
|
to write
information in blanks (Br.E.)
|
Please fill
in the form with your name, address, and phone number.
|
21
|
find out
|
discover
|
We don't
know where he lives. How can we find out?
|
22
|
get something across/over
|
communicate, make understandable
|
I tried to
get my point across/over to the judge but she wouldn't listen.
|
23
|
get along/on
|
like each other
|
I was
surprised how well my new girlfriend and my sister got along/on.
|
24
|
get away with something
|
do without
being noticed or punished
|
Jason
always gets away with cheating in his maths tests.
|
25
|
get back at someone
|
retaliate, take revenge
|
My sister got
back at me for stealing her shoes. She stole my favourite hat.
|
26
|
get over something
|
recover
from an illness, loss, difficulty,
overcome a
problem
|
I just got
over the flu and now my sister has it.
The
company will have to close if it can't get over the new regulations.
|
27
|
get up
|
get out of bed
|
I got
up early today to study for my exam.
|
28
|
give someone/something away
|
reveal
hidden information about someone
ruin a secret
|
His wife gave
him away to the police.
My little
sister gave the surprise party away by accident.
|
29
|
give in
|
reluctantly
stop fighting or arguing
|
My
boyfriend didn't want to go to the ballet, but he finally gave in.
|
30
|
give something up
|
quit a
habit, stop trying
|
I am giving
up smoking as of January 1st.
My maths
homework was too difficult so I gave up.
|
31
|
give up
|
stop trying
|
|
32
|
go after someone
|
follow someone
|
My brother
tried to go after the thief in his car.
|
33
|
go without something
|
suffer lack or deprivation
|
When I was
young, we went without winter boots.
|
34
|
grow apart
|
stop being
friends over time
|
My best
friend and I grew apart after she changed schools.
|
35
|
grow up
|
become an adult
|
When Jack grows
up he wants to be a fireman.
|
36
|
grow out of something
|
get too big for
|
Elizabeth
needs a new pair of shoes because she has grown out of her old ones.
|
37
|
hand something in
|
submit
|
I have to hand
in my essay by Friday.
|
38
|
hand something out
|
to
distribute to a group of people
|
We will hand
out the invitations at the door.
|
39
|
hang on
|
wait a
short time (informal)
|
Hang on while I grab my coat and shoes!
|
40
|
hang out
|
spend time relaxing (informal)
|
Instead of
going to the party we are just going to hang out at my place.
|
41
|
hold on
|
wait a short time
|
Please hold
on while I transfer you to the Sales Department.
|
42
|
keep on doing something
|
continue doing
|
Keep on stirring until the liquid comes to a boil.
|
43
|
let someone down
|
fail to
support or help, disappoint
|
I need you
to be on time. Don't let me down this time.
|
44
|
let someone in
|
allow to enter
|
Can you let
the cat in before you go to school?
|
45
|
log in (or on)/out (or off)
|
sign in/out
(to a website, database etc)
|
I can't log
in to Facebook because I've forgotten my password.
If you
don't log off somebody could get into your account.
|
46
|
look after someone/something
|
take care of
|
I have to look
after my sick grandmother.
|
47
|
look down on someone
|
think less
of, consider inferior
|
Ever since
we stole that chocolate bar your dad has looked down on me.
|
48
|
look for someone/something
|
try to find
|
I'm looking
for a red dress for the wedding.
|
49
|
look forward to something
|
be excited
about the future
|
I'm looking
forward to the Christmas break.
|
50
|
look into something
|
investigate
|
We are
going to look into the price of snowboards today.
|
51
|
look out
|
be
careful, vigilant, and take notice
|
Look out! That car's going to hit
you!
|
52
|
look up to someone
|
have a lot
of respect for
|
My little
sister has always looked up to me.
|
53
|
make something up
|
invent, lie about something
|
Josie made
up a story about why we were late.
|
54
|
make up
|
forgive each other
|
We were
angry last night, but we made up at breakfast.
|
55
|
make someone up
|
apply cosmetics to
|
My sisters
made me up for my graduation party.
|
56
|
pass away
|
die
|
His uncle passed
away last night after a long illness.
|
57
|
put someone down
|
insult,
make someone feel stupid
|
The
students put the substitute teacher down because his pants were
too short.
|
58
|
put something off
|
postpone
|
We are putting
off our trip until January because of the hurricane.
|
59
|
put up
with someone/something
|
tolerate
|
I don't
think I can put up with three small children in the car.
|
60
|
put something on
|
put
clothing/accessories on your body
|
Don't
forget to put on your new earrings for the party.
|
61
|
run into someone/something
|
meet unexpectedly
|
I ran
into an old school-friend at the mall.
|
62
|
run over someone/something
|
drive a
vehicle over a person or thing
|
I
accidentally ran over your bicycle in the driveway.
|
63
|
run away
|
leave unexpectedly, escape
|
The child ran
away from home and has been missing for three days.
|
64
|
run out of
|
have none left
|
We ran
out of shampoo so I had to wash my hair with soap.
|
65
|
send something back
|
return (usually by mail)
|
My letter
got sent back to me because I used the wrong stamp.
|
66
|
show off
|
act extra
special for people watching (usually boastfully)
|
He always shows
off on his skateboard
|
67
|
sleep over
|
stay
somewhere for the night (informal)
|
You should
sleep over tonight if the weather is too bad to drive home.
|
68
|
switch something off/on
|
Stop/start
the energy flow, turn off/on
|
The
light's too bright. Could you switch it off.
|
69
|
take after someone
|
resemble a family member
|
I take
after my mother. We are
both impatient.
|
70
|
take off
|
start to fly
|
My plane takes
off in five minutes.
|
71
|
think something over
|
consider
|
I'll have
to think this job offer over before I make my final decision.
|
72
|
throw something away
|
dispose of
|
We threw
our old furniture away when we won the lottery.
|
73
|
turn something down
|
decrease
the volume or strength (heat, light etc)
|
Please turn
the TV down while the guests are here.
|
74
|
turn something down
|
refuse
|
I turned
the job down because I don't want to move.
|
75
|
turn something off/on
|
stop/start
the energy flow, switch off
|
Your
mother wants you to turn the TV off and come for dinner.
|
76
|
turn something up
|
increase
the volume or strength (heat, light etc)
|
Can you turn
the music up? This is my favourite song.
|
77
|
turn up
|
appear suddenly
|
Our cat turned
up after we put posters up all over the neighbourhood.
|
78
|
wake up
|
stop sleeping
|
We have to
wake up early for work on Monday.
|
79
|
work out
|
be successful,
|
Our plan worked
out fine.
|
80
|
work something out
|
make a calculation
|
We have to
work out the total cost before we buy the house.
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