Phrasal verbs

Question 1

accede to sth

Answer 1

to agree to do what people have asked you to do:

He graciously acceded to our request.

Question 2

brush up (on) sth

Answer 2

to improve your knowledge of something already learned but partly forgotten:
I thought I’d brush up (on) my French before going to Paris.

Question 3

give away

Answer 3

to tell information or facts that you should keep secret

If captured, they might give away vital military secrets.

Question 4

live up to sth

Answer 4

to achieve what is expected, esp. high standards:

We expected a lot of her, and her performance lived up to our expectations.

Question 5

play sth down

Answer 5

to make something seem less important or less bad than it really is:
Military spokespeople tried to play down the seriousness of the disaster.

Question 6

gear sth to/towards sb/sth

Answer 6

to design or organize something so that it is suitable for a particular purpose, situation, or group of people:
Most public places are simply not geared to the needs of people with disabilities.

Question 7

set out

Answer 7

to start an activity with a particular aim:
She set out with the aim of becoming the youngest ever winner of the championship. He set out to become chief executive.
I don’t set out to annoy him - it just seems to happen.
He set out to crush all his enemies.

Question 8

get (a lot) our of something

Answer 8

to obtain something (especially a good feeling) by doing something. We use this expression to say that someone will benefit from a certain experience.

Question 9

end up doing something

Answer 9

to finally be in a particular place or situation

Question 10

go on to do something

Answer 10

continue, but in a different direction or with a different activity. After her early teaching career she went on to become a doctor.

Question 11

get on with something

Answer 11

to make progress with something. to start or continue doing something, especially work:
Stop talking and get on with it.
I like to be left to get on with the job.

Question 12

keep up sth

Answer 12

to continue without stopping or changing

Question 13

look up to someone

Answer 13

to admire and respect someone. Kids look up to ballplayers, and we need to let kids know that it is not OK to cheat.

Question 14

to take over

Answer 14

to get control of something else

Question 15

tussle with sth

Answer 15

to try hard to understand or deal with a difficult idea or problem:
It’s an idea that I’ve been tussling with for quite a while.

Question 16

take up sth

Answer 16

to begin to do something:

I’m not very good at golf – I only took it up recently.

Question 17

board up something

Answer 17

to cover a door or window with wooden boards:

Stores are boarding up their windows in case rioting breaks out.

Question 18

to bump into somebody/something

Answer 18

to meet someone unexpectedly:

We bumped into Kayla in a shop.

Question 19

come across someone/something

Answer 19

behave, to behave in a way that makes people believe that you have a particular characteristic:
She comes across really well (= creates a positive image) on television.
He comes across as a bit of a bore in interview.
to find something or someone by chance:
He came across some old love letters.

Question 20

pad sth out

Answer 20

to add words, information, etc. to make something seem longer or better:
She had to pad the presentation out to make it last half an hour.

Question 21

see off someone

Answer 21

to watch someone leave on a trip:

My parents saw me off at the airport.

Question 22

stop over

Answer 22

to stay at a place for one night or a few nights on the way to somewhere else or before returning home:
They’re stopping over in Malaysia for a couple of nights on the way to Australia.
UK Come round for dinner one night and you can stop over.

Question 23

touch down

Answer 23

When an aircraft touches down, it lands.

Question 24

spur someone on

Answer 24

to encourage someone