Phrasal Verb

Question 1

Make it up to

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

Strike out

Answer 2

to hit violently or criticize somebody/something

In his interview he struck out at his critics.

Question 3

Wind up

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

Wear off

Answer 4

to gradually disappear or stop

His interest in the subject starts to wear off.

Question 5

Pull up

Answer 5

(vehicle or driver) to stop

He pulled me up telling me to fight him on a busy highway.

Question 6

Crop up

Answer 6

to appear unexpectedly/suddenly

I need to go. Something cropped up at my work.

Question 7

Iron out

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

Pack in

Answer 8

to stop doing something

I liked learning about geography, but I eventually packed in.

Question 9

Take up

Answer 9

to start

I took up learning animation.

Question 10

Ache for

Answer 10

to desire strongly/ to long for

I ache for more Playstation games.

Question 11

Drag on

Answer 11

to last longer than necessary

This meeting has dragged on for 5 hours.

Question 12

Do away with

Answer 12

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.

Question 13

It set me back

Answer 13

it costs a lot of money

• It set me back a lot of money
• This item set me back ten thousand blood echoes.

Question 14

Slip up

Answer 14

to make mistakes

It’s totally okay to slip up on your first try.

Question 15

Take away

Answer 15

to remove

I can’t do what I say I’ll do. If only I can take away my procrastination.

Question 16

Put off

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

Cut down on

Answer 17

to reduce

I stare at the screen for a long period of time. I need to cut down on my screentime.

Question 18

Pull off

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

Talk out

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

Churn out

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

Mouth off

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

Come away

come away (from something)

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

Come away with

come away with (something)

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

Revel in

Answer 24

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.

Question 25

Wean off

wean somebody off/from something

Answer 25

to make someone gradually stop doing or using something

• He tried to wean his friend off smoking.
• By learning the negative effects of too much screentime, I weaned myself off using the phone for long periods of time.
• The family managed to wean the father off drinking too much alcohol.

Question 26

Ascribe to

Answer 26

to consider that something is caused by a particular thing or person

• He ascribed his brother’s resentment on him to his laziness.
• She ascribes her boyfriend’s annoyance to her unfaithfulness.
• They ascribed their defeat to one of their teammates.

Question 27

Pounce on

Answer 27

to quickly notice something that someone has said or done, especially in order to criticize it

• I knew, I somehow felt, that you’re going to be the first one to pounce on my remark.
• He immediately pounced on her actions.
• After the law was passed, the opposition pounced on and spread lies in order to create paroxysm of trepidation and hate.

Question 28

Ram into

Answer 28

to hit against something or to make something hit against something with force

ram into something | ram something into something
• He’s been pondering how he will tell his dad what happened after ramming his car into a wall.
• He accidentally rammed the shopping cart into another’s cart.
• Their getaway vehicle rammed into a tree, severely injuring the criminals.

Question 29

Peter out

Answer 29

to gradually become smaller, quieter, etc. and then end

• I’m sure the number of his supporters hasn’t been the same as before and petering out.
• I hate it when a conversation starts to peter out.
• The town peters out into a gloomy place.

Question 30

Tamper with

Answer 30

to make changes to something without permission, especially in order to damage it

• Somebody must’ve tampered with my account.
• My account password was tampered with, and I haven’t got my account returned.
• It seems that our project has been tampered with by some scornful individual.

Question 31

Rub off

Answer 31

(of qualities, habits, or behavior etc) to develop the person’s character after you spend time with them

rub off (on/onto somebody)
• His passion for playing guitar has rubbed off on me.
• I hope some of his artistic skills rub off on me.
• His friend’s habit of exercising every morning and a healthy diet has begun to rub off on him.

Question 32

Chime in

Answer 32

to join or interrupt a conversation with an opinion or remark

• When I heard them discussing the problem, I had to chime in with my solution.
• “This game is very easy.” I said.
“ No sweat!” He chimed in.
• He overheard the two folks talking about the latest news in their town, so he chimed in.

Question 33

Emanate from

Answer 33

v. to come from something or somewhere

• They heard a thud that emanated from the ceiling.
• The cold wind emanated from the door ajar.
• A terrifying screech of a woman emanating from the locked, disused room of the apartment.

Question 34

Talk into/out

Answer 34

to persuade someone to do/not to do something

talk somebody into/out of something
talk somebody into/out of doing something
• She’d like to go on a date with him but her parents talked her out of it, for they have an inkling that he may do something bad to her.
• They talked him into joining the group.
• I talked myself into believing that this is an ideal decision to make.

Question 35

Tip off

Answer 35

to warn or give information about something that has happened or is going to happen

tip somebody off (about something)
- The police were tipped off about a commotion near the market.
- These peculiar, sudden changes in her behavior weren’t enough to tip him off that she’d been scheming.
- Two are arrested after someone tipped the police off about the robbery.

Question 36

Stave off

Answer 36

to prevent something from affecting you for a period of time; to delay something

• They had managed to stave off the catastrophe.
• The company was able to stave off bankruptcy for another few years.
• They’re going to find supplies to stave off hunger for a few weeks.

Question 37

Derive from

Answer 37

to get something from something

• The abusive parents derive pleasure from punishing their children.
• He derives excitement from seeing his crush.
• People could derive happiness in life from knowing your purpose.

Question 38

Ferret out

Answer 38

to discover information or to find someone or something by searching thoroughly, asking lots of questions, etc.

ferret somebody/something out
- Talking to him makes him uncomfortable because he seems to ask very specific questions as if to ferret out something that could be useful for him.
- First I have to ferret out the ways to get over this horrific situation.
- They go from house to house to ferret out a missing person who has been missing since June.

Question 39

Water down

Answer 39

to make something less strong, less intense, or less effective

• You should’ve watered down your essay; the teacher might think you’re being impudent.
• He has to water down his comment, so as to make it less provocative.
• The proposal handed to him have to be watered down.

Question 40

Plunge into

Answer 40

to experience or make someone or something experience something unpleasant

• The circumstances have combined to plunge both of them into emotional crisis.
• After the lengthy war, the country has plunged into severe economic crisis.
• A decision that has plunged him into great distress.