Phrasal Verb

Meaning

Example Sentence

dawn on

To begin to become known or obvious.

The truth finally dawned on him that she really meant what she said.

deal in

To trade in something.

My uncle’s business deals in genuine monkey skin.

deal with

To take action to solve a problem.

They seem unable to deal with the long-standing problem.

decide on

To make up one’s mind about something.

She can’t decide on the dress to wear for the occasion.

delight in

To get great pleasure out of something.

Jack delights in telling stories about his days in the prison.

depend on/upon

To need something in order to continue doing what one wants to do.

They know their future depends on their hard work, and not on their teachers.

die away

To become lesser until it disappears.

I could only sleep after the noise caused by thunderstorm died away.

die down

To subside.

The storm has died down and the sea become calmer.

die off

To decline in population.

A few plant species in the area were dying off when they started breeding goats. 

die out

To become extinct.

The old French custom of serving the vegetables separate from the meat has died out.

do away with

To get rid of. 

His wife wants him to do away with his vast collection of old magazines. 

To kill.

The gang threatened to do away with his entire family if he stood for the election.

do for

To provide for.

Employing a temporary worker will do for the time being.

do in

To tire out completely. 

Painting the house really did me in. 

To kill.

It is believed a hired killer did his boss in

do out

To clean or tidy out.

We need to do out the room before we can rent it out.

do out of

To cheat.

She was done out of $100 by a door-to-door salesman this morning.

do over

To do again or differently.

The report contains errors and the boss wants him to do it over.

do up

To make improvement through repairing or redecoration. 

He bought an old car and did it up. 

To do something to make oneself more attractive. 

She looks more beautiful when she did her hair up. 

To wrap something. 

He did the birthday present up in coloured shiny paper for her. 

To fasten.

Can you do up the zip at her back?

do with

To require something.

With this warm weather, I could do with a cold drink.

do without

To manage without something.

Our boat was adrift, and we had to do without solid food for two days. 

To prefer not to have something.

I wish she would keep quiet; I can do without all this grumbling.

draw away

To move further ahead.

After the third lap, the leading runner drew away from the pack.

draw in

To get involved.

The quarrel is between you two; don’t draw me in.

draw into

To involve someone.

Some of these kids get drawn into drug addiction by their peers.

draw off

To take off a small amount from a larger supply.

If you want some beer, you can draw off some from that barrel.

draw on

To make use of

Luckily, I have a savings to draw on to buy her a present.

draw out

To take money out of an account.

We don’t know why she drew out such a large amount of money from her account.

draw up

To draft a legal document. 

Thinking he’s going to die soon, he drew up a will. 

To come to a stop. 

The taxi drew up in front of me. 

To prepare a list.

The party drew up a list of candidates for the forthcoming election.

dream away

To pass time idly thinking of something.

At times, I couldn’t help but dreamed away the hours.

dream of

To pass time idly thinking of something.

He told me he had always dreamed of winning the first prize in the lottery.

dream on

To tell someone what they wish for is improbable or unrealistic.

When I asked if she’s going to help me with the cooking, she told me to dream on.

dream up

To invent mentally.

The professor dreamt up the possibility of building a new breed of robots that would think like him.

drive at

To really try to say something.

He didn’t say exactly what he meant, but we knew what he was driving at.

drive away

To behave in a way that forces people to stay away.

His bossiness has driven his relatives and friends away.

drive off

To leave in a car.

He was probably angry when without a word, he just got into his car and drove off.

drive out

To force someone or something to leave.

The new supermarket has driven out small retail shops from the area.

drive up

To force other things to go up.

The rise in oil price drives up other prices.

drop behind

To fall behind.

She dropped behind in her schoolwork during her illness.

drop by

To visit someone for a short time.

They dropped by their grandparents every weekend.

drop in

To stop in for a short visit.

He always drops in for a chat without prior notice.

drop off

To decrease. 

Sales usually drop off at this time of the year. 

To begin to fall asleep. 

After listening to the speech for five minutes, I was dropping off. 

To drive someone to a particular place.

He dropped us off at the post office.

drop out

To withdraw before completing something. 

He shouldn’t have dropped out of school, but he did. 

To leave before finishing something.

After three laps, he had to drop out because of injury.

dry off

To make or become dry.

We lay on the beach to dry off after a swim.

dry out

To make or become dry.

Our washing dried out very quickly in this hot weather

dry up

To have no more water.

The prolonged drought had caused some of the rivers to dry up.