- Phrasal Verbs (Sentence examples: hand around/round – hold up as)
- Phrasal Verbs (Sentence examples: lapse into – level with)
Phrasal Verb |
Meaning |
Example Sentence |
identify with |
To consider oneself as equivalent to someone else. |
He identified very much with the main character in the film. |
improve on |
To produce something better than. |
The second edition greatly improves on the first one. |
inform against |
To disclose incriminating information to an authority. |
A member informs against the other members of the armed gang. |
inform on |
To reveal incriminating information about someone. |
He was summarily arrested when his comrades informed on him. |
infringe on |
To encroach on someone or something. |
Discussing a politician’s divorce is tantamount to infringing on his personal life. |
inquire after |
To ask about the state of health of someone. |
Amy is deeply concerned about you; she’s always inquiring after your health and well-being. |
inquire into |
To investigate or gather information. |
The police are inquiring into his relationship with the terrorist group. |
inquire of |
To ask for information. |
The reporters inquired of the party leader when he would resign for his part in the bribery scandal. |
interfere with |
To prevent something from working effectively. |
Lack of confidence has seriously interfered with his performance at school. |
To sexually molest. |
A teacher was arrested for interfering with his young charges. |
|
invest in |
To spend for future benefit. |
The company invests heavily in research and development. |
To acquire something useful. |
Their old leaking house makes them feel the need to invest in a new one. |
|
invest with |
To provide with power or authority. |
The party constitution invested the party leader with the power to approve candidates for election. |
To endow someone or something with a particular quality or characteristic. |
He was invested with great charisma which few leaders in his country have had. |
|
issue forth |
To flow or come out from something. |
The relatives could hear the groans issuing forth from the dying patient. |
To come out |
From a long distance, we could see smoke issuing from a lone cottage chimney. |
|
To raise. |
The storekeepers wouldn’t dare jack up prices because of a new supermarket nearby. |
|
jack up |
To increase. |
This is the third time in two years the landlord has jacked up the rents. |
|
To use a jack to lift a heavy object off the ground |
We had to jack up the car to replace its punctured tyre/tire. |
join in |
To become a member of a group involved in an activity. |
They were clearing the beach and we joined in. |
join up |
To become a member of one of the armed forces. |
The three sisters thought the army was the right choice for them, and they joined up. |
To unite with other people to do something. |
We joined up with a vigilante group to patrol the neighbourhood. |
|
join with |
To come or bring together for a common purpose; to unite. |
They are asking anyone to join with them in their campaign for racial equality. |
jot down |
To write something hastily. |
I jotted her telephone number down on my palm. |
jump at |
To accept eagerly. |
He jumped at the chance to join the trip to the Niagara Falls. |
To act quickly as a reaction to something. |
She jumped at the bargain on offer. |
|
To make a verbal attack. |
The supervisor jumped at me for making the same mistake again. |
|
jump in |
To interrupt someone. |
That was not the first time he jumped in when I was still talking. |
jump on |
To express disapproval of. |
Her mother never failed to jump on her whenever she was home late. |
jump out at |
To appear highly noticeable. |
We felt the luminous billboard really jumped out at us especially when we pass by it in the dark. |
keep at |
To persist. |
We kept at it until we completed it ahead of schedule. |
|
To force someone to persist |
To complete the work on time, the employer kept the foreign workers at it until late at night. |
keep away |
To avoid going to a place. |
You should keep away from that fast-flowing river. |
To prevent someone from seeing someone else |
The villagers kept their children away from outsiders who happened to be there. |
|
keep back |
To not tell everything. |
I think she is keeping something back that she does not want us to know. |
To not use all. |
We can’t use all our savings to buy the car; we have to keep some back for emergency use. |
|
keep down |
To stop oneself from vomiting. |
Last night, I overate and couldn’t keep my food down. |
To prevent something from growing. |
Something has to be done to keep global population down. |
|
To bring under control. |
We are now in a library; please keep your voice down. |
|
keep from |
To not tell about something. |
He has only two months to live, so should we keep him from knowing? |
To stop oneself from doing something |
Some spectators couldn’t keep from booing loudly at the referee for not giving a free kick. |
|
keep in with |
To maintain friendly contact with someone that could prove beneficial in the future. |
He is keeping in with his former business mentor who he believes could one day help in steering his new business to success. |
keep off |
To not touch something. |
Keep your hands off my pizza. |
To refrain from doing or eating something that is harmful to one’s health. |
His doctor advised him to keep off excessive smoking in order to stay healthy. |
|
To stay away from a particular area. |
Why is he walking on the grass when the notice in front of him says ‘keep off the grass’? |
|
keep on |
To carry on doing or saying the same thing. |
She keeps harping on the one little mistake I made. |
To retain the employment of an employee. |
I was informed that they might not keep me on in the new year as the company will be downsizing. |
|
keep out |
To stop someone or something from being in a place. |
She should keep the baby monkey out instead of sleeping with it. |
To tell people to stay away |
At the construction site, there’s a big sign that read ‘keep out’. |
|
keep out of |
To not get involved. |
It’s not our business, so we had better keep out of it. |
keep to |
To stick to a subject. |
Why do you beat about the bush? Keep to what you want to say. |
To maintain a secret. |
Keep what I just told you to yourself, or I will never tell you anything again. |
|
To stay in a particular area, etc. |
Keep to this street for the time being, or we will get lost again. |
|
To adhere to. |
If we keep to our plan, nothing will go wrong. |
|
To not talk to or mix with other people |
If you keep to yourself all the time, you won’t know anybody or have any friend. |
|
keep up |
To keep someone awake. |
The furious barking of the neighbour’s dog kept me up the whole night. |
To continue to pay off. |
It’s really tough to keep up the monthly payments for the house. |
|
To continue doing something. |
The boss likes to tell me to keep up the good work, but I have not got an increment for two years. |
|
To prevent a high level from falling |
The factory is maintaining double shifts to keep up the volume of production. |
|
keep up with |
To be equal with someone else’s success or lifestyle. |
She’s always trying to keep up with her siblings. |
To be as good as someone else. |
He knows he has to work very hard to keep up with the rest of the class. |
|
To keep abreast of |
We only watch the news on television to keep up with what’s goes on in the outside world. |
|
knock around/about |
To treat with violence. |
This big bully would knock the smaller kids about. |
To travel through different places. |
I too would like to knock around the different countries on the Continent. |
|
To discuss or think carefully about something. |
We have been meeting to knock around the idea of starting our own business. |
|
To be lying somewhere that is not exactly known. |
After we bought a new lock, we found the one we were looking for knocking about in the storeroom. |
|
knock back |
To swallow a drink quickly. |
He knocked back his drink in one go and ordered another one. |
To cost a lot. |
We are getting a second-hand car; a new one will knock us back a large sum of money. |
|
knock down |
To hit with a vehicle. |
The speeding car knocked down a villager’s goat. |
To demolish. |
The old building was knocked down to make way for a block of apartments |
|
To reduce price. |
She bought a new dress which was knocked down to nearly half of its original price. |
|
knock off |
To stop working or doing something. |
My dad can’t knock off work at the same time every day. |
To reduce price by an amount. |
The seller knocked off thirty dollars because of a slight dent. |
|
To steal or imitate. |
He knocked off someone else’s invention and claimed it as his own. |
|
knock out |
To defeat an opponent in sports. |
The underdog knocked out his opponent in the last round. |
To become unconscious. |
The tourist was knocked out by a coconut that dropped on his head. |
|
To cause something to be not working. |
The storm knocked out the power lines. |
|
knock over |
To be hit by a vehicle. |
His dog got knocked over by a car as it ran across the street. |
knock together |
To assemble. |
He knocked together a birdhouse with whatever he could find in the storeroom. |
knock up |
To wake someone up by knocking at the door. |
He doesn’t own an alarm clock, but depends on the landlady to knock him up in the morning. |