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. |