English we speak vocabulary Flashcards
to thrive
progresser
Bring up
To mention something. (Note: The two parts of this phrasal verb can be separated.)
“Mark was sick and had to miss the party, so please don’t bring it up, I don’t want him to feel bad for missing it.”
Bring on
To cause something to happen, usually something negative. (The two parts of this phrasal verb can be separated by what’s happening.)
“His lung cancer was brought on by years of smoking.”
Bring it on! — To accept a challenge with confidence.
“You want to have a race? Bring it on! I can beat you!”
Call on
This can mean either to visit someone, or to use someone’s or something’s knowledge.
To visit someone: “I’ll call on you this evening to see how you’re feeling.”
To use someone’s knowledge: “I may need to call on the university’s excellent professors in order to answer your question.”
Call off
To cancel something.
“The picnic was called off because of the rain.”
Come up (with something)
To think of an idea.
“I came up with this idea for a TV show about a woman living with her best friend and daughter. I call it ‘Two and a Half Women.’”
Come up
To bring up a topic, or when something happens unexpectedly.
To bring up a topic: “I wanted to tell her that I got a new job but the chance never came up.”
Unexpected occurrence: “I was going to meet my friends for dinner, but something came up so I had to cancel.”
Come in
To enter.
“‘Come in, the door is open!’ said the grandmother to the wolf.”
Come across
To meet or find by chance.
“I was cleaning the attic and I came across my high school uniform. Can you believe it still fits?”
Come forward
To volunteer information about something, like a crime.
“The police are encouraging people to come forward with any information about the kidnapped girl.”
Cut off
This phrase can be used in several ways, but its general meaning is “to interrupt or stop something.” (Can be separated.)
While driving, to get in front of another car suddenly: “That red car just cut me off and I almost crashed into it.”
To stop supplying things to or communicating with someone: “His father is rich but he cut him off without any money of his own.”
Cut (it) out
This phrase has the same meaning as saying “Stop it.”
“Hey, cut it out! I was watching that movie, so stop changing the channel!”
Cut in
To interrupt someone when they are speaking.
“I was about to ask that girl on a date, but her friend cut in and I lost the chance.”
Drop by/in
To stop by for a visit, for a short time.
“Andrew is such a great boyfriend, when he heard that his girlfriend had a cold he dropped by to bring her some soup.”
Drop off
To leave something or someone in their destination. (Can be separated by the object being dropped off.)
“I can give you a ride and drop you off at work.”
Fall apart
This phrase means “to break into pieces,” but it can be used to talk about things that are not physical, like a marriage or a person.
“They tried to save their marriage by going to therapy but in the end if fell apart anyway.”
Fall down
To drop to the ground, usually by accident.
“My friend slipped on a banana peel and fell down. I thought that only happened in cartoons!”
Fill (someone) in
To give someone the details about something. (Is usually separated by the person getting filled in).
“Quickly, let’s go! There’s no time to explain, I’ll fill you in on the way.”
Fill up
To become completely full.
“The little girl filled up on candy before dinner, and didn’t want to eat any of the chicken.”
Get away
To escape. You may have heard the phrase “getaway car.” That’s the car used by criminals to run away from a crime scene, like a bank robbery.
“Carmen’s neighbor tried to show her pictures of all her cats, but Carmen managed to get away.”
Get around
To solve a problem by avoiding the main issue. This phrase can also be used very informally to refer to someone who has many sexual partners. As you can imagine, it’s not very nice to say that someone “gets around”!
“Some people know all the different ways to get around tax laws.”
