Phrasal verbs Flashcards
To originate
Stem from
To suddenly realize the reality of something
Down on
To do a piece of work badly
Botched up
To take something or someone somewhere else suddenly and quickly
Whisked away
To get warm
Thaw out
Example: Come thaw out over here by the fire.
I was planning on thawing some chicken breasts
To spread a story that is uncertain or untrue
Putting about
To improve someone´s behaviour
Straighten out
To give more information or detail in order to make something complete
Flesh out
Example: I can’t judge your story in its current state—you need to flesh it out more and then resubmit it.
To compete for the best position
Jockey for
To ask someone questions to find out their views
Sound out
Be nice to someone in order to get them to do what you want
Butter up
A student tried to butter the teacher up.
To spend a lot of money
Shell out
To have a strong desire for something
Hanker after
Example: I hanker after a nice big beefsteak for dinner.
To deal with a problem without letting it affect you
Rise above
To encourage people to get emotional about something
Whipping up
To make a lot of progress
Forged ahead
Example: The start of my presentation did not go as I had hoped, but I had to just forge ahead and keep talking.
To be written in a particular type of language
Couched in
Example: He tended to couch his explanations in arcane vocabulary. She couched her words in an overly polite manner.
To support
Prop (me) up
To suddenly attempt to hit someone
Lash out
To find someone and force them out of their hiding place
Flush out
To sell a business/
To set something apart from a group
Hive off
To avoid dealing with a question or issue
Skirt around
Example: He always skirts around the issue whenever I bring up pay raises for the people on my team.
To want something very much
Yearn for
Example: I grew up in a tiny town in Kansas, yearning for the day I’d get a chance to move somewhere exciting
To move ahead with something
Plough/plow ahead
To act as if you’re superior to someone else
Lord over
The same as
Every bit as
To be eradicated
To be stamp out
To make weaker or less controversial
Water down
To force a change of behaviour
Imping on
To reduce the price of something
Mark down
To tell someone about something which is happening, that others want to keep secret
Tip off
To supply money for something, often reluctantly
Stump up
To have fun being silly
Lark about
Succed in doing something that is difficult
Pull of
Examine something carefully
Scope up
Emptied out from the inside
Hollowed out
Start doing something with vigour or determination
Set about
To interfere or try to change something when others do not want you to
Meddle with
Example: I would have gotten away with the money laundering if you hadn’t gone meddling with the financial accounts!
To lose consciousness
Black out
Discuss in detail in order to find a solution
Thrash out
Example: We had to stay an extra two hours thrashing this issue out.
We’re organizing a committee to thrash out the homelessness crisis in the city.
To achieve a victory
Chalk up
To be prevented from doing what you want to do by something
Hemmed in
Example: The terms of this contract really have me hemmed in—even my lawyer can’t see a way out.
To be given a task or responsability that is unwanted
Saddled with
Something bad happened to someone but they were not responsible for the fact it happened
Through no fault of someone´s own
To steal
Knock off
Offering to help someone immediatly they ask for it
Say the word
Tell someone about something that has been troubling you
Get something off your chest
Tell someone directly how angry you are
Give someone a piece of your mind
To keep talking about an unpleasant memory that someone would prefer to forget
Rake over
Example: I don’t want to rake over past arguments. They insisted on raking the story over many times.
To try many methods of solving a problem
Grapple with
To send someone off somewhere in a hurry
Bundled off
Example: Unfortunately, I had to bundle my wailing son off to my sister so that I wouldn’t miss my flight.
Suggest that they will deal with it
Make all the right noise
To spend time doing something while waiting for something to happen
Whiled away
To become familiar with
Acquaint with
To extend a business into new areas
Branch out
To encourage someone to do something
Coax into
To sell to the highest bidder
Auction off
To rely on
Bank on
To use more resources or money than was expected
Eat into
To end in a disappointing way
Fizzle out
To go to different shops to compare prices before buying
Shop around
To gradually discover or deduce the truth about something
Piece together
To be full of emotion or feeling
Brim over
To think or speak about a subject a great deal
Dwell on
To form a business partnership or working relationship with them
Go in with
To hide a difficulty or a mistake
Paper over
