List 14 - Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal Verbs (Sentence examples: save on – serve out)
Phrasal Verb |
Meaning |
Example Sentence |
save on |
To not use something so as to avoid paying for it. |
We don’t turn on a light if we don’t need it to save on electricity. |
save up |
To set aside money for future use. |
We are trying to save up for our overseas holiday. |
scare away |
To frighten someone away. |
A supposedly haunted scene at the park scared many people away from the place. |
To keep something away by frightening them |
The farmer set up big scarecrows to scare birds away. |
|
scare into |
To frighten or threaten someone into doing something. |
The cult leader scared the members into following his instructions. |
scare off |
To make someone feel less confident or sure about doing something. |
The new tax scares off many would-be investors. |
scare up |
To obtain something in spite of difficulties. |
We have to scare up something to eat the night before someone come to our rescue. |
scrape along |
To earn just enough money to live on. |
With my first job, I had to scrape along on my small weekly wage. |
scrape by |
To get by. |
She lost her husband, so the family had to scrape by on her meager earnings. |
scrape in |
To just make it. |
He scraped in by a slim majority to become president of the club. |
scrape through |
To just pass or achieve something. |
I just scraped through my exams. |
scrape up |
To bring together with difficulty a number of or quantity of something. |
She scraped up enough money to pay off her father’s gambling debts. |
see about |
To deal with. |
One of us has to see about getting enough drinks for the party. |
To attend to. |
Let the doctor see about the pain on your leg instead of just worrying about it. |
|
see after |
To take care of). |
He asked me to see after his hamsters while he is overseas. |
see in |
To see a quality in something. |
The movie was supposed to be funny, but we couldn’t see the humour in it. |
To see a quality in someone. |
We can see an outgoing personality in him. |
|
To see something in someone. |
Her parents couldn’t understand what she saw in him. |
|
see of |
To spend time socially together with someone. |
We have seen very little of each other since her transfer to the headquarters in the city. |
see off |
To bid someone farewell at a particular place such as airport, railway station, etc. |
He was very happy see his mother-in-law off at the airport. |
To send an uninvited person away. |
His job is to see off unwelcome intruders. |
|
see out |
To accompany a guest to the door when he/she is leaving. |
There were no one to see us out when we left the office. |
To remain until the end of an event, etc. |
We saw out the entire firework display in spite of the light drizzle. |
|
see through |
To get on with a task until it is completed. |
They are determined to see the whole project through. |
To support someone through a difficult time. |
I need some money to see me through until I get another job. |
|
To realize the truth of something that is deceiving. |
We saw through his cunning act almost immediately. |
|
see to |
To attend to. |
When I was staying with them, her parents saw to all my needs. |
To deal with. |
The local council intends to see to it that no one gets away with littering the beach with bottles and cans. |
|
sell off |
To raise money to meet one’s need. |
He had to sell off his antique furniture to pay for his medical treatment. |
To sell something at an auctioned price. |
He sold off his luxury yacht to the highest bidder. |
|
sell out |
To sell one’s supply of goods or materials. |
They have sold out of all the units of the new computer model. |
To sell an entire stock of something. |
The latest batch of the book is completely sold out. |
|
To betray someone. |
Fellow gang members had sold him out. |
|
To abandon one’s principles. |
He sold out to the other side. |
|
sell up |
To sell all of one’s possessions. |
The family sold up and settled permanently in another country. |
send away |
To send someone to another place. |
She was sent away to live with her grandparents in her early teens. |
send back |
To return to the sender. |
The letter was delivered to a wrong address and was sent back to the post office. |
send down |
To imprison someone. |
He was not sent down as he was found innocent of the crime. |
To expel. |
The two students were sent down from their university for unacceptable behavior. |
|
send for |
To request to come. |
Someone has already sent for an ambulance for the accident victim. |
To request or order by post. |
She sent for a free sample of the shampoo as advertised. |
|
send in |
To involve someone in a difficult situation. |
When negotiation with the hostage-takers failed, the police sent in the snipers. |
send off |
To compel someone, especially a player to leave the field for violation of the rules. |
He was sent off for kicking another player’s backside. |
To cause something to be delivered by post. |
We sent off a letter of housing application and are still waiting for a reply. |
|
To move someone to another place. |
The mother sends the kids off to school each morning. |
|
send on |
To deliver something to someone so that they can deal with it. |
The report is sent on to the Attorney General for further action. |
serve out |
To spend a period in prison. |
He was released without having to serve out the full sentence because of good behavior. |
To present food or drink to each of the people or guests present. |
She served out the homemade apple pie. |
Phrasal Verbs (Sentence examples: set about – shoot up)
Phrasal Verb |
Meaning |
Example Sentence |
set about |
To begin to deal with something. |
We set about cleaning up the whole house after the flood. |
|
To start to do something in a determined way. |
The police set about gathering evidence in the house where the murder took place. |
|
To attack someone. |
The gang set about him with their punches. |
set against |
To offset something against another. |
The increases in our salaries have to be set against the rising cost of living. |
To cause someone to be in conflict with another. |
The dispute over inheritance has set sibling against sibling. |
|
set apart |
To display a quality that separates someone from other people. |
It is her diligence in her studies that sets her apart from her siblings. |
set aside |
To reserve something for a particular purpose. |
Every month we set aside a portion of our salaries for the purchase of a house. |
To reserve something for a particular purpose. |
We set aside an hour each day to do the yoga together. |
|
To declare invalid. |
The High Court set aside his conviction. |
|
To reconcile. |
We are going to persuade the two sides to set aside their differences. |
|
set back |
To delay the progress of something. |
The raining season will set back the completion of the building project. |
To cost considerably. |
The house renovation has set us back quite a bit. |
|
set by |
To keep something for future use. |
We must set money by in case it is urgently needed sometime in the future. |
set down |
To record in writing. |
I woke up and set down in detail the dream I just had. |
To let somebody get out of a vehicle. |
The taxi driver set us down at a wrong cinema. |
|
set forth |
To begin a journey. |
Together, they set forth for an unknown destination. |
To express in writing. |
She set forth her ideas of controlling human mind in her latest book. |
|
set in |
To begin to happen and seem likely to continue. |
Global warming has set in and with it more problems will arise. |
set off |
To cause (bomb) to explode. |
A police spokesman said the bomb was set off using a remote control. |
To cause (alarm) to go off. |
To ensure maximum security, any little noise can set off the alarm. |
|
To begin a journey. |
The family is setting off for the Far East. |
|
To cause to happen. |
An angry argument between rival fans set off a violent disturbance. |
|
set on |
To use an animal or get someone to attack someone else. |
He has vicious dogs ready to be set on those who trespass on his property. |
set on/upon |
To be violently attacked. |
He was set upon while walking home alone. |
set out |
To start a journey. |
The brothers set out on a journey across central Asia. |
To intend to do something. |
Police investigations revealed she deliberately set out to murder her husband’s lover. |
|
To undertake to do something. |
They set out as a group to uncover the truth about the haunted castle. |
|
To arrange and display for sale, exhibition, etc. |
Every evening along the street, the traders set out their wares for sale. |
|
To aim or attempt to do something. |
He set out to break the world’s record of becoming the oldest bullfighter. |
|
To specify precisely about something. |
The document set out clear guidelines on the use of chemicals in food production. |
|
set to |
To begin doing something in a vigorous and determined way. |
We set to and completed the work well before the deadline. |
set up |
To establish a business, organization, institution, etc. |
Jack and Jill have set up a business selling rabbit food. |
To establish. |
They set up an investment fund to provide money for their retirement. |
|
To be provided with enough money to last one's lifetime. |
Owning highly successful businesses has set the father and son up for life. |
|
To give someone the health or energy needed to do something. |
A good sleep has set him up for the day of long-distance driving. |
|
To make someone who is innocent seem guilty. |
He claimed he was set up when customs officers discovered some drug in his bag. |
|
To lay claim to being a particular person. |
He sets himself up as a leading authority on termites. |
|
To erect something. |
Following the escape of a prisoner, police set up road blocks round the surrounding area. |
|
To organize and implement something. |
The company is setting up a new system of stock control in the new year. |
|
settle down |
To start to live a steady life. |
She hopes to settle down before the age of 30, and have a family. |
To start to live a steady life. |
He felt he wasn’t yet ready to settle down. |
|
To become composed. |
She settled down for a quiet doze on the sofa. |
|
To adapt. |
It didn’t take her long to settle down in her new office environment. |
|
settle for |
To accept something that is less than the exact thing that you want. |
The dress of her favourite colour is out of stock, and she settled for a blue one. |
To accept less than what you really want. |
They were prepared to settle for a draw, knowing that their opponent was very difficult to play against. |
|
settle in/into |
To become used to a place. |
The kids settled happily into their new school. |
settle on |
To decide or agree on something. |
They have not settled on the date for their marriage. |
To transfer money or property to someone. |
He drew up a will to settle a yearly sum on each of his children. |
|
settle up |
To pay money owed or due. |
Let’s settle up and leave this bar for supper. |
shoot down |
To kill or injure someone by firing a gun at them. |
The rebels shot down a few villagers who they claimed were government agents. |
To bring down something by shooting it. |
Our antiaircraft gun shot down six enemy aircraft. |
|
To strongly oppose. |
The proposal was unanimously shot down in the meeting. |
|
shoot for |
To strive for a goal. |
The team is training hard as it shoots for a place in the final stage. |
shoot off |
To run quickly away. |
The rival gang members stopped the fight and shot off when informed that the police were approaching. |
shoot out |
To shoot at each other. |
The bank guards and the armed robbers shot it out in front of the bank. |
shoot up |
To increase sharply. |
Prices of most kinds of baby food have shot up. |
To grow quickly in size, height, etc. |
Their children have shot up and are now taller than their parents. |
|
To be full of bullet holes. |
That the house was severely shot up was clearly evident as its walls were heavily riddled with bullet holes. |
|
To introduce a drug into the body with a hypodermic syringe. |
They would often gather together in the abandoned house to shoot up. |
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