100 Most Common Phrasal Verbs List with Meaning
Take out sth
Meaning; to remove sth from a place
Example; The dentist has to take out this tooth.
Take after sb
Meaning; to resemble sb in appearence
Example; She takes after her mother.
Take on sth
Meaning; to accept job or responsibility
Example; Don’t take on more responsibilities than you can handle.
Put up with
Meaning: sb/sth means to tolerate
Example: I don’t know why she puts up with him.
Put something(sth) on
Meaning: means to dress
Example: Put your shoes on – We are going out.
Put somebody(sb) down
Meaning: means to insult
Example: My boss is always putting me down.
Put somebody(sb) off
Meaning: means to distract
Example: Don’t put me off – I’m trying to concentrate.
Put something(sth) away
Meaning: means to tidy.
Example: Put your toys away now.
Put somebody(sb) through
Meaning: to connect sb by phone
Example: Could you put me through to him, please?
Put something(sth) by
Meaning: means to save money
Example: We’ll start to put by extra some pounds every month.
Definition: Cook something by frying
Example Sentence: Let’s fry some eggs up for dinner.
Definition: Eat a large amount of food
Example Sentence: During the weekend she pigged out on fast food.
Definition: Make something warm
Example Sentence: I’II warm up some meat for dinner.
Carry on with
Example Sentence; I want you to carry on with the work while I am out of country.
Example Sentence; Carry on. I didn’t mean to interrupt you.
Carry on about
Definition; Continue in an annoying way
Example Sentence; She kept carrying on about how much money she makes.
Definition; Succeed, win
Example Sentence; He carried off the first prize in the tennis tournament.
Definition; Continue past a certain point
Example Sentence; The meeting carried over into lunch time.
Definition; Perform a task
Example Sentence; I would like to carry out the plan.
Definition; Behave badly
Example Sentence; My son annoyed me by carrying on all day.
Take up sth
Meaning; to begin a new hobby
Example; I’m not very good at basketball. I only took it up recently.
Meaning; to begin flight
Example; The plane will take off in two hours.
Take in sth
Meaning; to comprehend sth
Example; I didn’t take in much of the teacher said.
Read sth off
Meaning; to read sth. aloud from a list
Example; When he read your name off, come up to the stage.
Read (sth) back ( to sb)
Meaning; to read some information back or again to the person who has just given it
Example; I will read the telephone number back to you to make sure.
Meaning; to believe that an action, remark, or situation has a particular importance or meaning, often when this is not true
Example; Her speech is very clear. Don’t try to read anything else into it.
Meaning; to read something quickly from the beginning to the end
Example; You should read over your exam paper when you have finished.
Read for sth
Meaning; to study for something
Example; We are reading for our exams.
Read up on/about sth
Meaning; to spend time reading in order to find out information about something
Example; You should read up on this issue before going for an interview.
Read sth out
Meaning; to read something aloud
Example; Please read the names out so everyone can hear you.
Definition; Let someone come in
Example Sentence; She opened the window to let in the air.
Definition; Make clear, evince
Example Sentence; You don’t want to let on how rich you really are.
Definition; Cause to explode or release
Example Sentence; Stand back when you let off fireworks.
Definition; Fail to support or help
Example Sentence; My friend, don’t let me down this time.
Definition; Make bigger
Example Sentence; I need to let out this skirt.
Example Sentence; My father is a tailor, so he can let my pants down.
Look after sb/sth
Meaning; to watch or take care of someone or something
Example; I look after my friend’s fish when she is away.
Meaning; to think about what may happen in the future
Example; They need to look ahead to make a decision for their company.
Look round/around somewhere/sth
Meaning; to visit a place and look at the things in it.
Example; I will spend all day looking around the city.
Look at sth
Meaning; to think about a subject carefully
Example; We are looking at the various possibilities.
Meaning; to think about something that happened in the past
Example; When I look back, I’m filled with happiness.
Look down on sb
Meaning; to regard oneself as superior to somebody
Example; He looks down on her because he has a good job.
Look forward to sth
Meaning; to anticipate something with pleasure
Example; She is looking forward to visiting her family this weekend.
Meaning; to search for someone or something, to seek
Example; I am looking for Susan. Have you seen her?
Look in ( on sb/sth )
Meaning; to check briefly on someone or something
Example; I can look in on the child before I go to the bed.
Look into sth
Meaning; to try to discover the facts about something such as a problem or an issue.
Example; The president has promised to look into the case.
Meaning; to watch what is happening without participating.
Example; The mother cat is just looking on while the kittens are playing each other.
Go about sth
Meaning; to deal with something
Example; I want to solve this problem but I don’t know how to go about it.
Go after sth
Meaning; to try to get something
Example; He is planning to go after his friend’s project.
Go after sb
Meaning; to try to catch or stop someone
Example; We should go after her and tell her the truth.
Go against sth/sb
Meaning; to oppose or to disagree with someone or something
Example; The people’s votes went against us.
Meaning; to start or to continue to do something, especially after waiting for permission
Example; Why don’t you go ahead and eat it?
Go ahead with
Meaning; to start or to continue with plans to do something
Example; It is good idea. We should go ahead with the plan and see what happens.
Get (sth) across
Meaning; to make people understand something
Example; The teacher couldn’t get her ideas across to the students.
Get along / Get on / Get on with
Meaning; If people get along, they like each other and they have a good relationship.
Example; I can’t get along with the neighbors any more.
Meaning; to be successful in the work
Example; I will get ahead at work with this project.
Get at sth
Meaning; to touch or to reach something
Example; The child can’t get at the books on the high shelf.
Get at sb
Meaning; to criticize someone repeatedly
Example; The boss always get at me. I don’t know why he behaves like that.
Meaning; to leave or to escape from a place or a person
Example; She usually gets away from the crowds.
Definition;Hurry away, escape
Example Sentence; The thieves made off before the police arrived.
Definition; Forgive each other
Example Sentence; Alex and Mary angry yesterday, but they made up this morning.
Definition; Move towards
Example Sentence; He already made for home when I arrived.