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. |
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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. |
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To deliberately cause someone to believe something that is not true or genuine. |
He was under investigation for passing off fakes as authentic documents. |
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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. |
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To die. |
It’s exactly a year that he passed on. |
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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. |
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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. |
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To get or bring back something from somewhere. |
The mechanic called to ask me to pick up my car. |
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To buy. |
The father picked up some items of food from a grocer’s shop. |
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To buy something cheaply. |
She picked up some discounted dresses in the sale. |
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To learn through practice. |
We could pick up French more quickly when we lived in France. |
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To detain someone. |
He was picked up as a suspect from his home by the police. |
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To accept to pay, especially a restaurant bill for food and drinks. |
The kind uncle offered to pick up the tab. |
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To catch an illness. |
He picked up an unknown disease while on an overseas holiday. |
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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. |
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To detect. |
One of the hounds had picked up the scent of a fox. |
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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. |
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To kill. |
His family believed he was polished off by a hit man engaged by his ex-wife. |
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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. |