List 14 - Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal Verbs (Sentence examples: make away with – open up)
Phrasal Verb |
Meaning |
Example Sentence |
make away with |
To steal. |
I saw in a store a kid made away with a bar of chocolate. |
make for |
To move towards somewhere. |
We quickly made for the river bank when our boat started to leak. |
|
To produce a particular result. |
Knowing the same language makes for better communication. |
make into |
To change something so that it becomes something else. |
They made trash into adorable ornaments. |
make of |
To influence the formation or development of. |
Your life is what you make of it. |
To ask someone for their opinion. |
His last word before he died was about poison; what do you make of it? |
|
make off |
To leave hurriedly. |
The robbers made off when the alarm sounded. |
To take something away illegally. |
Police arrested a pickpocket who made off with ten wallets. |
|
make out |
To understand. |
She whispered in my ear, but I could not make out what it was. |
To see, hear or recognize with difficulty. |
I couldn’t make out the sign through the fog. |
|
To write out. |
He made out a cheque in payment of the fees. |
|
To portray someone in a particular way |
Why do they make him out to be a religious person when he is not? |
|
make over |
To transfer the ownership of something to someone else. |
He made over his entire estate to his only child. |
To restore to a good state. |
The family bought the old crumbling mansion and made it over into an imposing one. |
|
make towards |
To go in the direction of something. |
She made towards the exit when she had made all her purchases. |
make up |
To set something in order. |
The maid made up their bedroom when they were out. |
To invent something such as a story, excuse, etc. so as to deceive. |
It’s pretty obvious she made up that story about being attacked. |
|
To put something together. |
We made up a list of the tasks that are to be tackled in order of priority. |
|
To make good the amount that falls short of what is required. |
He saved as much as he could for the car, and his dad made up the deficit. |
|
To replace. |
They are making up for lost time by working overtime. |
|
To apply make-up. |
Each morning, she takes considerable time to make up before leaving for work. |
|
To form a part of a whole. |
Tips made up a large portion of his income. |
|
To restore friendly relations after a quarrel) |
The two neighbours mutually agreed to make up with a handshake. |
|
make up for |
To compensate. |
No amount of money could make up for the loss of her husband. |
make up to |
To do something that is to one’s advantage. |
Jack made up to Jill in hopes of keeping her as his girlfriend. |
mark down |
To reduce the price of something. |
The store attracts a big crowd as most items on sale have been marked down. |
mark off |
To use a mark to indicate an item has been dealt with. |
She marked off all the items she had bought. |
To use something to separate an area |
Police marked off the crime scene with tape. |
|
mark out |
To draw lines to indicate something. |
They have marked out the area for vehicles to park. |
mark up |
To increase the price of something. |
Flour is likely to be marked up as there will soon be a shortfall in supply. |
mete to |
To give punishment. |
His family felt that the sentence meted out to him was unjustly harsh. |
mix up |
To fail to distinguish between two or more persons or things. |
I called the wrong number when I mixed your telephone number up with another. |
To disarrange a group of things by putting them in the wrong order. |
Someone mixed those cards up when they should arrange the titles on the cards in alphabetical order. |
|
mop up |
To clean a surface by soaking up the liquid. |
The milk spilled across the floor, and who is to mop it up? |
move away |
To go to a different place to live. |
The children moved away as soon as they got married. |
move in |
To begin to occupy a new house. |
We moved in as soon as it was ready for occupation. |
move in on |
To go closer to a place in order to attack or seize control of it. |
The police have located the gang’s hideout and are moving in on them. |
move on |
To get going. |
We have already been here a couple of days; let’s move on to our next destination. |
To leave a place |
I pulled over but a traffic policeman waved to me to move on. |
|
move out |
To cease to live in a house. |
We decided to move out when the landlord increased the rent again. |
move over |
To change from one position to another so that more space is available. |
Let’s move over and let him sit down. |
nibble away at |
To make or become gradually less. |
All these tidbits are nibbling away at the money we brought along with us. |
nod off |
To doze off unintentionally. |
He often nods off while watching television. |
occur to |
To come to one’s mind. |
It never occurred to me that you really believe the world is flat. |
open into |
To lead to a particular place |
Like a hotel, each room in the mansion opens into the corridor. |
open up |
To begin firing. |
In the army barracks, a soldier went berserk and opened up with a machine gun. |
To start business. |
Every morning the stallholders in the new market open up well before dawn. |
|
To speak readily. |
After much persuasion, she finally opened up and revealed the truth about what happened that day. |
|
To perform a surgical operation. |
The surgeons opened the patient up and discovered what they had been suspecting all along. |
|
To convert land to a new purpose, especially by constructing buildings. |
The developer opened up the land for a housing estate. |
Phrasal Verbs (Sentence examples: pass around/round – polish up)
Phrasal Verb |
Meaning |
Example Sentence |
pass around/round |
To give something to everyone in a group. |
Please take a form and pass the others around. |
|
To offer something to everyone in a group. |
Please pass these drinks round. |
pass away |
To die. |
Grandpa passed away peacefully in his sleep. |
pass by |
To move past. |
The small child watched open-mouthed the parade passing by. |
To move past someone and not be recognized. |
I passed by her without being noticed by her. |
|
To go past someone or something |
We often sat on the river bank and looked at the barges passing by. |
|
pass down |
To hand something down from older people to younger ones. |
The centuries-old tradition still passes down from generation to generation. |
pass for |
To regard something as true. |
His mother-in-law in mini-skirt could easily pass for a teenager. |
pass off |
To falsely represent oneself as someone else. |
There is no reason for me to pass myself off as anyone else. |
To happen in a satisfactory way. |
The protest match against alleged vote rigging passed off peacefully. |
|
To deliberately cause someone to believe something that is not true or genuine. |
He was under investigation for passing off fakes as authentic documents. |
|
pass on |
To infect someone. |
You passed your cough on to me. See, I’m coughing now. |
To let someone else bear the cost of something. |
The restaurant owners threatened to pass the proposed increase in the service tax on to the consumers. |
|
To die. |
It’s exactly a year that he passed on. |
|
To pass something from one person to another |
He was not present, so no one passed on the message about the urgent meeting to him. |
|
pass out |
To briefly lose consciousness. |
During a heavy drinking session, he suddenly passed out. |
To give out something. |
He passed out the application forms to those who put up their hands. |
|
To successfully compete a training, especially in the armed forces. |
She was the only woman who passed out from one of the top police colleges in the country. |
|
pass over |
To be ignored or left out. |
Jane threatened to resign when she was passed over for promotion. |
To avoid mentioning something |
Certain facts were passed over, thus making the report misleading. |
|
pass up |
To reject. |
His parents thought he should accept it as the opportunity to work overseas is too good to pass up. |
To refuse to accept. |
He passed up a chance for promotion out of fear of new responsibilities. |
|
pay back |
To revenge oneself. |
I’ll pay him back one of these days for what he did to me. |
To repay someone. |
Can I now pay you back half of the amount I owe you? |
|
pay for |
To be punished. |
Let’s hope he will pay dearly for his evil deeds. |
pay in |
To put money into an account. |
I will pay this cheque in for you. |
pay into |
To put money into an account. |
I will pay this cheque into your account. |
pay off |
To bribe someone to keep quiet, especially about something that is illegal or dishonest. |
He wanted to pay me off substantially to keep quiet about something illegal he had done. |
To produce a good outcome. |
Our persistence really paid off as we got this thing done successfully. |
|
To make full settlement of one’s debt. |
We paid off the washing machine in four installments. |
|
pay out |
To give out money. |
A huge sum of money was paid out to the jackpot winner. |
To spend |
I don’t know how much I have to pay out to fix the leak in the roof. |
|
pay up |
To make a payment although not readily or eagerly. |
I was told to pay up by Monday or had my car repossessed. |
pick at |
To eat in small amounts, displaying no desire to satisfy one’s hunger or need for food. |
The patient picked at her breakfast. |
pick off |
To shoot someone or something one by one from a distance. |
We picked the moving toy ducks off one by one at the fun fair, and won some prizes. |
pick on |
To repeatedly choose the same person for unfair treatment. |
I don’t think she likes me; she’s always picking on me. |
pick out |
To easily recognize someone in a group. |
Anyone of us can pick out Rose’s father from the crowd because he is exceptionally tall. |
pick over |
To examine item by item, choosing the ones one wants. |
We picked over the apples before buying them. |
pick up |
To lift. |
We picked the broken pieces up off the floor. |
To collect. |
As we walked along the beach, we picked up empty sea shelves. |
|
To take on passengers or goods. |
Finally, the bus arrived to pick up commuters. |
|
To get or bring back something from somewhere. |
The mechanic called to ask me to pick up my car. |
|
To buy. |
The father picked up some items of food from a grocer’s shop. |
|
To buy something cheaply. |
She picked up some discounted dresses in the sale. |
|
To learn through practice. |
We could pick up French more quickly when we lived in France. |
|
To detain someone. |
He was picked up as a suspect from his home by the police. |
|
To accept to pay, especially a restaurant bill for food and drinks. |
The kind uncle offered to pick up the tab. |
|
To catch an illness. |
He picked up an unknown disease while on an overseas holiday. |
|
To increase or improve. |
We waited until the wind picked up before setting sail. |
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To improve. |
Sales are expected to pick up at the end of the year. |
|
To detect. |
One of the hounds had picked up the scent of a fox. |
|
pitch in |
To join in taking on a task or an activity. |
Bob pitched in to help complete the project before the deadline. |
To provide help or support. |
Some employers pitched in with financial help to get the training scheme going. |
|
pitch into |
To make physical or verbal attack against someone. |
He would pitch into anyone who commented that he was uncooperative. |
pitch up |
To turn up. |
By the time he pitched up, the evening was drawing to a close. |
plan on |
To decide on something and arrange it in advance. |
She plans on allowing only invited guests at her party. |
To prepare for a future event. |
They had not planned on having such bad weather. |
|
plan out |
To make thorough preparation. |
We have already planned out the schedule for a week’s outing to the seaside resort. |
play along |
To act so as to make it appear that you are cooperating when in fact you are not. |
He played along with her suggestion for the time being. |
play around |
To make small movements with something in the hand/s. |
He was playing around with a pencil when he talked to me. |
To enter into a casual sexual relationship with a woman |
She heard a rumour that her boss was playing around with his secretary. |
|
play at |
To play the role of someone. |
Some of the children love to play at cowboys and Red Indians. |
play back |
To replay something that has been recorded. |
She played back the tape-recorder to listen to her voice with a view to improving it. |
play down |
To minimize the true importance of something. |
The accused’s lawyers played down the seriousness of his offence. |
play off |
To play in a tie, the winner of which goes to the next stage of the competition. |
The two teams are playing off for a place in the Premier League. |
To give your support to a person or group to oppose another in a dispute so as to gain an advantage or benefit for yourself. |
The children are playing off one parent against the other. |
|
play on |
To exploit someone’s way of thinking or feeling in order to benefit oneself. |
He’s always playing on his friends’ generosity to get free treats. |
play up |
To give undue prominence to something. |
A pro-government newspaper played up the internal squabble of the main opposition party. |
play up to |
To please someone for their support. |
Many politicians are expert at playing up to the voters to gain their votes. |
play with |
To move something about with no useful purpose. |
He unconsciously played with his pen while talking to us. |
point out |
To inform someone of something. |
The leader pointed out the things we should and shouldn’t do while jungle trekking. |
To make someone notice a person. |
He pointed his teacher out to his parents. |
|
point to |
To reach a particular conclusion based on fact which is likely to be true. |
Available evidence points to pilot error as the cause of the crash. |
point up |
To draw attention to something. |
The report pointed up the definite weaknesses in the security arrangements. |
polish off |
To consume food or drink quickly. |
David could easily polish off seven different types of fruit at one sitting. |
To defeat. |
As expected, the underdog was polished off in straight sets. |
|
To kill. |
His family believed he was polished off by a hit man engaged by his ex-wife. |
|
polish up |
To improve on a skill. |
We intend to polish up our English in order to know her better. |
To make smooth and shiny by rubbing |
You need to polish up your boots. |
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