Phrasal Verb Flashcards
Make it up to
to do something to repay someone if you upset them
Sorry if I didn’t come to your house, I promise I’ll make it up to you.
Strike out
to hit violently or criticize somebody/something
In his interview he struck out at his critics.
Wind up
to find yourself in a particular place or situation
I don’t want to partake in a brawl, or else I’ll wind up in jail.
Wear off
to gradually disappear or stop
His interest in the subject starts to wear off.
Pull up
(vehicle or driver) to stop
He pulled me up telling me to fight him on a busy highway.
Crop up
to appear unexpectedly/suddenly
I need to go. Something cropped up at my work.
Iron out
to get rid of/ to remove
• They’re ironing out redundant items in the inventory.
• Too many big words and unnecessary phrases. Try to edit it and iron out what I marked.
• There are lots of things to iron out so I’d better start now, so that I don’t have anything to do tomorrow.
Pack in
to stop doing something
I liked learning about geography, but I eventually packed in.
Take up
to start
I took up learning animation.
Ache for
to desire strongly/ to long for
I ache for more Playstation games.
Drag on
to last longer than necessary
This meeting has dragged on for 5 hours.
Do away with
to remove, stop, abolish (usually talking about obligations: law, rule, tax, restriction, etc.)
I think it’s time to do away with face masks for vaccinated people.
It set me back
it costs a lot of money
• It set me back a lot of money
• This item set me back ten thousand blood echoes.
Slip up
to make mistakes
It’s totally okay to slip up on your first try.
Take away
to remove
I can’t do what I say I’ll do. If only I can take away my procrastination.
Put off
to postpone
- Every so often, I put off my learning schedule just to do what I really want.
- The school put off the examination day to Friday.
- His birthday is on wednesday but he puts the celebration off on friday so his friends can attend.
to cause someone to lose interest, sometimes because of what they said or did
- His date seems to have been put off by his monotone voice.
- Making mistakes makes him put off trying.
- I used to be put off by her cackles.
to distract or disturb the concentration of someone
- His friends were making funny gestures to put him off during recitation.
- Cut it off, kid! Don’t put your mother off at work.
- The clamors outside put him off doing homework.
Cut down on
to reduce
I stare at the screen for a long period of time. I need to cut down on my screentime.
Pull off
to succeed in doing something difficult
• You seldom see a person who can pull that off.
• I thought we were going to lose the match but, luckily, we were able to pull it off.
• That’s impossible. Nobody can pull that off.
Talk out
to discuss something thoroughly in order to make a decision, solve a problem, etc.
• We need to talk out the issue before anything else.
• The two intellectuals have talked out the issues about equality.
• Whatever the problem is, we can talk it out.
Churn out
to produce something quickly and in large amounts
• To my surprise, he’s able to churn out false information in just two minutes.
• The investigators are striving to locate the scammers that churn out spurious documents.
• This channel churns out propaganda videos every three hours.
Mouth off
to talk or complain loudly about something
• People would mouth off on social media but they’ll be reasonable in the end.
• A song that mouths off about the fans who get upset at their new style.
• They love mouthing off at everything and everyone.
Come away
come away (from something)
to become separated from something
• The car door came away from the car.
• The plaster has started to come away from the wall.
• The protester’s slogan comes away from the handle for shaking it too much.
Come away with
come away with (something)
to leave a place with a particular feeling or impression
• You should tag along so you can come away with a possible solution to your problem.
• They are hoping for them to come away with valuable information after the trip to the Netherlands.
• After watching the gameplay demo, all they can come away with is whether the game is real footage or not.
Revel in
to enjoy something very much
• They seem to revel in travelling the country that they forget the real reason they went there.
• He revels in breaking the promises he made.
• The kid reveled in all the gifts he received.