- Phrasal Verbs (Sentence examples: tear apart – tie up)
- Phrasal Verbs (Sentence examples: use up – yield to)
Phrasal Verb |
Meaning |
Example Sentence |
touch at |
To call briefly at a port. |
Our ship touched at Cape Town for a few hours. |
touch down |
To come or bring down to the ground. |
The big crowd cheered when the spacecraft touched down safely |
touch in |
To mark slightly with a brush, pencil, colour, etc. |
His painting is almost finished; he’s touching in some small details to improve on it. |
touch off |
To cause something to explode. |
The build-up of gas touched off a series of small explosions. |
To cause an action or a process to begin. |
The book touched off a storm of controversy. |
|
touch on |
To deal briefly with someone or something else when speaking or writing. |
In his lecture on the subject, he touched on the writer. |
touch up |
To make minor improvements. |
She touched up her face before meeting him. |
try for |
To make an attempt at achieving something. |
They tried very hard for an equalizing goal in the second half. |
try on |
To put on an item of clothing to see if it fits or suits. |
She tried it on, but it didn’t fit her. |
try out |
To undergo a competitive qualifying test. |
They tried her out for the supporting role in the comedy film. |
To test to see if you like it. |
When you are at the seaside resort, don’t forget to try out the seafood dishes. |
|
turn against |
To disagree with or become hostile to someone or something. |
His supporters turned against him when he defected to the opposition party. |
turn around |
To transform an unsuccessful business into a successful one. |
A new general manager was appointed to turn around the ailing company. |
turn away |
To refuse entry to someone. |
They turned a group of visitors away as it was closing time. |
To force someone to go somewhere else. |
The slow service of the restaurant turned away potential customers. |
|
To move your face so that you are not looking at the same thing. |
When I saw the blood at the accident scene, I turned away. |
|
turn back |
To go back in the direction, one has come from. |
We had better turn back as the sea is getting too rough for sailing in a small boat. |
turn down |
To reject. |
She turned down his proposal for the tenth time. |
To lower the volume, heat, etc. |
How many times do I have to tell you to turn down the radio? |
|
turn in |
To hand something over to someone. |
Someone turned my lost passport in to the police. |
To go to bed. |
It’s rather late; it’s time we turned in. |
|
To inform on. |
A gang member turned the leader in to the police. |
|
To make a return. |
This is the first quarter that the new company is expected to turn in a profit. |
|
To hand in. |
He was forced to turn in his letter of resignation, failing which he would be sacked. |
|
turn into |
To change something into something else. |
There was loud applause when the magician turned a carrot into a rabbit. |
To transform a place. |
The fishing village has been turned into a seaside resort. |
|
turn off |
To repel or make repelled. |
His arrogance really turned her off. |
To leave one road and enter another. |
We turned off the highway and went down a bumpy road to reach our destination. |
|
To stop something from operating. |
When you turn off the tap, you do it clockwise. |
|
turn on |
To excite or become excited, especially sexually. |
Girls with long hair really turn me on. |
To cause something to begin operating. |
It’s nearly dark already; why are you still not turning on your car light? |
|
To attack someone. |
Why turn on him when he has nothing to do with it? |
|
turn out |
To discover something previously unknown, or unexpectedly. |
It turned out that the butler was the one who committed the murder. |
To assemble as for a public event. |
An estimated ten thousand people turned out for the fireworks display. |
|
To be found out. |
The burglar who stole the diamond turned out to be the police inspector. |
|
To take part or to attend. |
The district has the highest number of people in the country turning out to vote. |
|
To produce something through a manufacturing process. |
With the new machine, they are able to turn out 500 packets per hour. |
|
To result in or have a particular outcome. |
Initially, none of us believed his story which turned out to be true. |
|
turn over |
To transfer someone or something to someone else. |
The abandoned baby was turned over to the welfare department. |
To make an amount of money in a given period. |
We think his new business is turning over at least a few thousand dollars a month. |
|
To switch to another television station or channel. |
If you are not watching, we are turning over to the other channel. |
|
To think about something. |
He couldn’t get to sleep as he kept turning the thought over in his mind. |
|
turn to |
To seek help from something. |
She turned to drugs to get over her depression. |
To look for a page in a book. |
If you turn to page 123, you will find the next page missing. |
|
To go to someone for advice. |
She turned to counseling for her depression. |
|
turn up |
To appear suddenly or unexpectedly. |
A woman who was reported missing a few weeks ago turned up at the press office. |
To find something. |
The police combed the entire area but turned up no clues to the murder. |
|
To be present publicly; to arrive. |
Less than half of the invited guests turned up for the event. |
|
To occur unexpectedly. |
He missed the appointment as something that required his urgent attention turned up. |
|
To increase the level of something such as heat, sound, light, etc. |
Don’t turn up the volume on the television; I want to take a nap. |