English With Lucy - Arthur’s Tea Shop Flashcards
set something up
to formally establish a new company, organization, system, way of working, etc.:
- A committee has been set up to organize social events for the students.
- She plans to set up her own business.
- They’ve set up a fund for victims of the earthquake.
to arrange for an event or activity to happen:
- We need to set up a meeting to discuss the proposals.
- The government has agreed to set up a public enquiry.
set someone up
**(ESTABLISH) **
** to establish someone or yourself in a business or position:**
- After he left college, his father set him up in the family business.
- She set herself up as an interior designer.
(BENEFIT)
to provide the money that someone needs for an important task or activity that is expected to last a long time:
- Winning the lottery has set them up for life.
to provide someone with the energy or health that you need for a particular period of time:
- A good breakfast really sets you up for the day.
(DECEIVE)
to trick someone in order to make them do something, or in order to make someone seem guilty of something that they have not done:
- They claimed that they weren’t selling drugs, but that they’d been set up by the police.
set something/someone up
to provide someone or something with all the necessary things for a particular activity or period of time:
- I think we’re set up with everything we need for the journey.
- We went on a shopping trip and got him all set up for the new term.
set (something) up
to prepare something for use, especially by putting the different parts of it together:
- We only had a couple of hours to set up before the exhibition opened.
- I need one or two people to help me set up the equipment.
whip something up - phrasal verb with whip verb
/wɪp/
(EMOTION)
to encourage or cause people to have strong feelings about something:
- She criticized the organization for trying to whip up anti-immigrant prejudice.
- He was trying to whip up some enthusiasm for the project.
(FOOD)
to make food or a meal very quickly and easily:
- I have just enough time to whip up an omelette.
turn something/someone down - phrasal verb with turn verb
/tɝːn/
to refuse an offer or request:
- He offered her a trip to Australia but she turned it/him down.
- He turned down the job because it involved too much travelling.
turn down | BUSINESS ENGLISH
if the economy or market turns down, there is less business activity and fewer opportunities to make money:
- When the market turns down, recruitment is one of the first areas companies look at to make savings.
turn sb/sth down
to refuse an offer, a job, or a request:
- The rival energy company’s bid of 640p a share was turned down.
- turn sb down for sth He was turned down for the job because of insufficient experience.
work something out - phrasal verb with work verb
/wɝːk/
(CALCULATE)
to do a calculation to get an answer to a mathematical question:
- We need to work out the total cost of the project.
(UNDERSTAND)
to understand something or to find the answer to something by thinking about it:
- [ + question word ] There will be a full investigation to work out what caused the accident.
- [ + that ] Investigators needed several months to work out that a fraud had been
(EXERCISE)
to exercise in order to improve the strength or appearance of your body:
- Huw works out in the gym two or three times a week.
(RESULT)
to be the result of a calculation:
- These figures work out differently each time I add them.
- work out at The safe load for a truck of this size works out at nearly 20 tons.
- In fact the trip worked out cheaper than we’d expected.
(DEVELOP)
to happen or develop in a particular way:
- How is the new monitoring procedure working out?
- work out well Let’s hope this new job works out well for him.
work someone out
to understand the reasons for someone’s behaviour:
- Why does he behave like that? I can’t work him out at all.
work (something) out
If a problem or difficult situation works out, it gradually becomes better or satisfactory, and if you work it out, you make it better or satisfactory:
- all work out Don’t worry about anything - it’ll all work out (for the best) in the end, you’ll see.
give up on someone/something - phrasal verb with give verb
/ɡɪv/
to expect someone or something to fail:
- Most people gave up on him when he dropped out, but he went back and earned his degree two years later.
take something on - phrasal verb with take verb
/teɪk/
took | taken
to accept a particular job or responsibility:
- She took too much on and made herself ill.
take on something
to begin to have a particular quality:
- Her voice took on a troubled tone.
take someone on
(EMPLOY)
to employ someone:
- take someone on as a something She was taken on as a laboratory assistant.
(FIGHT)
to compete against or fight someone:
- The government took on the unions and won.
take on something
an opinion about something:
- We’d love to hear your take on this issue.
- Most people would be upset at this sort of criticism, but Louis has a different take on it.
- He was eager to share his take on the outcome of the recent elections.
- She had a really weird take on what happened.
- My take on this is that Jenkyns didn’t really want the job.
take on something
a version of something that shows someone’s attitude towards it:
- The restaurant offers a new take on traditional French cooking.
- Her novels offer an unusual take on the traditional vampire story.
- The game is a new take on Monopoly.
- The dessert is a more modern take on sherry trifle.
- His jacket was a stylish take on the sort of tweed his father would have worn.
dust something off - phrasal verb with dust verb
/dʌst/
to prepare something for use, especially after it has not been used for a long time:
- It’s time to dust off the old chemistry books and start studying.
- UK They brought out the old ambulances, dusted them down and put them back into service.
figure something/someone out - phrasal verb with figure verb
/ˈfɪɡ.jɚ/
to finally understand something or someone, or find the solution to a problem after a lot of thought:
- [ + question word ] I can’t figure out why he did it.
- I find him really odd - I can’t figure him out at all.
- Can you figure out the answer to question 5?
figure out | BUSINESS ENGLISH
to understand or solve something:
- figure out how/why/what, etc. If they know the cause of the problem, they might be able to figure out how to prevent it happening again.
- It takes most people some time to figure out new software.
to calculate an amount:
- It is difficult to access funding before the elements of an outline business plan have been figured out.
catch someone up on something - phrasal verb with catch verb
/kætʃ/
to give someone the latest news or information about something:
- Can someone catch me up on the latest developments?
to get up to date or reach the same level as
others:
- After missing a few classes, Lisa needed to catch up on her oursework.
tell someone off - phrasal verb with tell verb
/tel/
to speak angrily to someone because they have done something wrong:
- The teacher told me off for swearing.
faff about/around - phrasal verb with faff verb
/fæf/
to spend your time doing a lot of things that are not important instead of the thing that you should be doing:
- I wish you’d stop faffing about and do something useful!
scone - noun [ C ]
a small, round and usually slightly sweetened bread or cake, often served with tea:
- She baked fresh scones and served them with clotted cream and jam.
dilapidated - adjective
/dɪˈlæp.ə.deɪ.t̬ɪd/
old and in poor condition:
- The hotel we stayed in was really dilapidated.
- a dilapidated old car/shed
- They decided to renovate the dilapidated old mansion.
turn the tables - idiom
to change from being in a weaker position in relation to someone else to being in a stronger position:
- The plaintiff’s lawyer turned the tables this morning by producing some strong new evidence.
eat humble pie - idiom informal (US also eat crow)
to admit that you were wrong:
- After boasting that his company could outperform the industry’s best, he’s been forced to eat humble pie.
