Phrasal Verbs

Verb | Meaning | Example |
ask someone out | invite on a date | Brian asked Judy out to dinner and a movie. |
ask around | ask many people the same question | I asked around but nobody has seen my wallet. |
add up to something | equal | Your purchases add up to $205.32. |
back something up | reverse | You'll have to back up your car so that I can get out. |
back someone up | support |My wife backed me up over my decision to quit my job. |
blow up | explode | The racing car blew up after it crashed into the fence. |
blow something up | add air | We have to blow 50 balloons up for the party. |
break down | stop functioning (vehicle, machine) | Our car broke down at the side of the highway in the snowstorm. |
break down | get upset | The woman broke down when the policetold her that her son had died. |
break somethingdown | divide into smaller parts | Our teacher broke the final project downinto three separate parts. |
break in | force entry to a building | Somebody broke in last night and stole our stereo. |
break into something | enter forcibly | The firemen had to break into the room to rescue the children. |
break something in | wear something a fewtimes so that it doesn't look/feel new | I need to break these shoes in before we run next week. |
break in | interrupt | The TV station broke in to report the news of the president's death. |
break up | end a relationship | My boyfriend and I broke up before I moved to America. |
break up | start laughing (informal) | The kids just broke up as soon as the clown started talking. |
break out| escape | The prisoners broke out of jail when the guards weren't looking. |
break out insomething | develop a skin condition | I broke out in a rash after our camping trip. |
bring someone down | make unhappy | This sad music is bringing me down. |
bring someone up | raise a child | My grandparents brought me up after my parents died. |
bring something up | start talking about a subject| My mother walks out of the room when my father brings up sports. |
bring something up | vomit | He drank so much that he brought his dinner up in the toilet. |
call around | phone many different places/people | We called around but we weren't able to find the car part we needed. |
call someone back | return a phone call | I called the company back but the offices were closed for theweekend. |
call something off | cancel | Jason called the wedding off because he wasn't in love with his fiancé. |
call on someone | ask for an answer or opinion | The professor called on me for question 1. |
call on someone | visit someone | We called on you last night but you weren't home. |
call someone up | phone | Give me your phone number and I willcall you up when we are in town. |
calmdown | relax after being angry | You are still mad. You need to calm down before you drive the car. |
not care forsomeone/something | not like (formal) | I don't care for his behaviour. |
catch up | get to the same point as someone else | You'll have to run faster than that if you want to catch up with Marty. |
check in | arrive and register at a hotel or airport | We will get the hotelkeys when wecheck in. |
check out | leave a hotel | You have to check out of the hotel before 11:00 AM. |
checksomeone/somethingout | look at carefully, investigate | The company checks out all new employees. |
check outsomeone/something | look at (informal) | Check out the crazy hair on that guy! |
cheer up | become happier | She cheered up when she heard the good news. |
cheer someone up| make happier | I brought you some flowers to cheer youup. |
chip in | help | If everyone chips in we can get the kitchen painted by noon. |
clean something up | tidy, clean | Please clean up your bedroom before you go outside. |
come acrosssomething | find unexpectedly | I came across these old photos when I was tidying the closet. |
come apart | separate | The top and bottom come...