PHRASAL VERBS
1. Account for: Give good reason for
Ex: You must account for what you spend.
2. Allow for: Take into account
Ex: You must allow for damages during production.
3. Ask in: Invite somebody into the room or house
Ex: I asked the guests in and offered them seats.
4. Ask for: Ask to speak to, request, demand
Ex: I asked for the principal of the college.
5. Ask out: Invite somebody to an entertainment or a meal
Ex: I asked my friends out and requested them to share a meal with me.
6. Back away: Step or back away slowly
Ex: When Aminu saw a snake in the garden she backed away in fear.
7. Back out: Withdraw, refuse
Ex: He promised to help me but he backed out later.
8. Back up: Support morally
Ex: The government backed up the women in the implementation of prohibition on liquor.
My friend did not back me up in my difficulty.
9. Be in: Be at home, in the house
Ex: Please find out whether your father is in.
10. Be out: Be at home, in the house
Ex: Please find out whether your father is in.
11. Be away: Be away from home
Ex: I am not sure whether my sister is out or in the garden.
12. Be back: Return from
Ex: Wait! I will be back soon.
13. Be for: Be in favour of
Ex: My mother is always for women education.
14. Call at: Visit
Ex: I called at my friend yesterday.
15. Call for: Ask someone to give an explanation
Ex: The principal called him for an explanation.
16. Call in: Drop in, send for to offer service
Ex: The technician called in and rectified the defect of our television set.
17. Call on: Visit a person, ask someone to do something
Ex: The Minister called on the president yesterday.
The president of Nigeria called on the scientists to contribute their quote to the national development.
18. Call off: Cancel something
Ex: The workers called off the strike.
19. Call out: Call someone
Ex: She called out her son.
20. Call up: Summon for a military service, telephone
Ex: The government called up the young men to join the army.
I called up Bukola yesterday.
21. Care about: Take interest
Ex: She doesn't care about her dress.
22. Care for: Like, look after
Ex: I always cared for my sick uncle.
23. Carry on: Continue
Ex: I carried on my research for five years.
24. Carry on with: Continue
Ex: I carried on my research for five years.
25. Carry out: Perform, obey fulfill
Ex: You must carry out my orders.
He carried out the hazardous task and won the appreciation of all.
Catch up with: Overtake
Ex: The lorry driver tried to catch up with the car.
Malians must try to catch up with other nations in technology.
27. Clean out: Clean a room/cupboard/drawer
Ex: She cleaned out the room and arranged the things in order.
28. Clean up: A mess
Ex: I asked Tayo to clean up the stains on my Shirt.
29. Deal in: Trade in a commodity
Ex: My uncle deals in books.
30. Deal out: Distribute money/justice/things
Ex: He dealt out the sweets among the children.
31. Deal with: Tackle a person
Ex: She does not know how to deal with her husband.
32. Die away: Become gradually fainter till inaudible
Ex: The song died away and I felt very dissatisfied.
33. Die down: Become gradually calmer and finally disappears (riots, fires)
Ex: I heard the cries of the patients and they died down soon.
34. Die out: Become extinct (customs, races, species, animals)
Ex: Some tribal races died out completely long ago.
35. Do away with: Abolish
Ex: We must do away with the dowry system in marriages.
36. Do without: Manage in the absence of
Ex: I can do without comforts.
37. Draw back: Retire, recoil
Ex: She drew back in fear at the sight of a snake.
38. Draw up: Make a written plan, agreement
Ex: The government of Nigeria drew up several schemes for the benefit of people.
39. Drop in: Pay a short visit
Ex: Whenever you have time, please drop in.
40. Drop out: Withdraw, retire from scheme or plan
Ex: Shola has dropped out of school.
41. Enter: Become a condidate for
Ex: Her childhood memories will fade away soon.
43. Fall back: Withdraw retreat
Ex: When I went to my friend for help, he fell back.
44. Fall back on: Make use of in the absence of something better
Ex: You have yo fall back on lower pay for sometime.
45. Fall behind: Fail to keep up
Ex: Developing countries have fallen behind in space technology.
46. Fall in with: Accept, agreed with plans
Ex: I fell in with my friend on the issue.
47. Fall in: Of troops, get into line
Ex: The commander ordered the soldiers to fall in (a line).
48. Fall out: Leave the line, quarrel
Ex: The crowd fell out in different directions.
He fell out with his wife.
49. Fall on: Attack violently
Ex: The soldiers fell on innocent people and killed them without cause.
50. Fall on: Attack violently
Ex: The soldiers fell on innocent people and killed them without cause.
51. Fall through: Fail to materialize
Ex: All my schemes fell through for want of money.
52. Be fed up with: Bored with
Ex: I am completely fed up with her behavior.
53. Feel upto: Feel Strong enough to (do) something
Ex: I very mush feel up to a writing career.
54. Fill in/up: Complete the forms
Ex: I filled in the blanks with appropriate prepositions I filled up the application neatly.
55. find out: discover with effort
Ex: can you find out the solution to this mathematical problem?
I will try to find out what his name is.
56. Fix up: arrange
Ex: we fixed up the date of our sister's wedding.
57. Get away: Escape, be free to leave
Ex: they tried to get away from police cell.
58. Get away with: perform some illegal act
Ex: they are getting away with their smuggling activities.
59. Get back: recover, tea home
Ex: I tried to get my money back from him.
Please wait here, l will get back soon.
60. Get off: receive no punishment
Ex: they wanted to get off the imprisonment.
61. Get on with: make progress, live work amicable with someone
Ex: she is getting on well with her husband.
I have been getting on with my research for five years.
62. Get out: escape, leave
Ex: I asked him to get out of the room.
63. Get out of: free oneself from an obligation
Ex: they make all possible efforts to get out of the danger.
I tried to get out of my responsibilities.
64. Get over: recover form likeness,distress mental
Ex: I got over my tension and worry on hearing of the safe arrival of my brother.
She got over her difficulties and is now a happy mother of tow children.
65. Get round: convince someone
Ex: it is a polish to get him round because he has no common sense.
66. Get through: Finish, succeed in an exam
Ex: They got through the construction of the hospital building.
I got through the examination with distinction.
67. Get up: Organise, arrange, rise from bed
Ex: I usually get up from bed at six.
She does not get up early in the morning.
68. Give away: Give something
Ex: The chief guest gave away the prizes to the winners.
I gave away all the money to my friend.
69. Give back: Restore
Ex: please give my book back tomorrow evening.
70. Give out: Announce, distribute, issue
Ex: Fatima gave out the news of her marriage.
He gave out the answer sheets to the students.
72. Hand down: Bequeath or pass on
Ex: The mantle of leadership has been handed down to us from generation to generation.
73. Hand in: Give by hand
Ex: I handed in my application at the University office.
74. Hand out: Distribute
Ex: The secretary of the organization handed out the booklets to the members.
75. Hand over: Surrender authority
Ex: He handed over the charge to the newly elected charman.
76. Hand round: Give or show to each person
Ex: The Minister handed round the party manifesto at the meeting.
77. Hang about/around: Loiter, wait
Ex: Why are you hanging around my house?
78. Hang back: Show unwillingness to act
Ex: My friend hung back, when I asked him for help.
79. Hang on to: Retain, keep
Ex: My father wanted to hang on to the old house because he was born there.
80. Hold off: Keep at a distance, stay away
Ex: Don't go there, please hold off.
He held off at the sight of a snake.
81. Hold on: Wait
Ex: Please hold on, I will go with you.
We have to hold on till the toad is safe and then we can cross the road.
82. Hold up: Stop, delay (usually is passive voice)
Ex: We were held up by heavy traffic yesterday.
83. Join up: Enlist
Ex: You must join up in the club to get a license.
84. Jump at: Accept
Ex: They jumped at the offer happily and asked the state government to finalize the project.
85. Keep back: Restrain, hinder, prevent
Ex: When I asked him to speak at the meeting, he kept back.
The boy wanted to swim in the sea but his parents kept him back.
I noticed her attempt to keep something back.
86. Keep down: Repress, control
Ex: We must try to keep down terrorism in the world.
87. Keep in: Punish
Ex: The boy was kept in for his rudeness.
88. Keep on: Continue
Ex: I kept o. writing letters to Maryam.
90. Keep out: Prevent from entering, stay outside
Ex: He was kept out because he had no permission to enter the office.
The security officer kept me out at the gate and asked for my identity card.
91. Keep up: Maintain
Ex: He tried hard to keep up his courage when he lost his wife and daughter in an accident.
92. Keep up with: remain abreast of
Ex: We must keep up with other nations in the promotion of education.
93. Knock off: Stop work for day
Ex: As we were very tired, we knocked off.
94. Knock out: Hit someone hard
Ex: They were knocked out completely by the police.
He knocked out his wife in anger and left.
95. Lay in: Provide oneself with sufficient quality
Ex: He laid in a lot of money for his son's marriage.
96. Lay out: Plan gardens, building sites
Ex: The engineeerin experts laid out the plans of the children's park.
97. Lay up: Store carefully
Ex: The merchant laid up a large quantity of suger and rice to sell in black market.
98. Leave off: Stop
Ex: They left off the work and went away
99. Let down: Lower, disappoint
Ex: My friend always tries to let me down in everything.
100. Let in: Allow to enter, admit
Ex: I asked him to let me in.
We let them in the house.
101. Let off: Leave, refrain from punishing
Ex: The judge let the thief off and declared that he was innocent.
102. Let out: Make wider, allow to leave, release
Ex: The government let the criminal out for their good conduct.
103. Listen to: Hear
Ex: I listened to the radio very attentively.
104. Live on: Eat, depend on food
Ex: We live on vegetables.
105. Lock up: Put in the house, close
Ex: The police locked him up in the cell.
I locked up the room and went to office.
107. Look after: Take care of
Ex: My mother looked after me well when I was ill.
The nurse looked after the patient with love and care.
108. Look ahead: Consider the future
Ex: She looked ahead and thought of her daughter's future.
109. Make for: Travel
Ex: She is making for Abuja next week.
110. Make off: Run away
Ex: The thief made off from the cell at the police station.
111. Make out: Discover the meaning, understand
Ex: She cannot make out the poetry of Shelly.
I tried hard to make out her words.
112. Make up: Come to a decision, end a quarrel, invent, put together, beautify, compose
Ex: I made up my mind to help Binta.
They made up their quarrel and became friends.
She made up a story to convince her father.
113. Make up for: Compensate for
Ex: We must make up for the loss.
114. Move in: Move oneself from a flat, room
Ex: This flat is very small so let us move into a specious one.
115. Move out: Leave a house, flat
Ex: We have no water facility here so we must move out from this house.
116. Move on: Advance
Ex: The army moved on and reached the capital city.
117. Order about: Give oders to
Ex: She orders me about as if I were her servant.
It I really foolish to order everyone about.
118. Pay back: Repay
Ex: I shall pay you back when I get my salary.
119. Pay back: Revenge oneself
Ex: She insulted me before her friends and I shall pay her back one day.
120. Pay up: pay money in full
Ex: Don't worry about your money, I will pay up soon.
She paid up all her hotel bills.
121. Pick out: Choose, select
Ex: She requested me to pick out a nice dress for her.
We must pick out appreciate words to express our views clearly and effectively.
122. Point out: indicate, show
Ex: I pointed out several spelling mistakes in her easy.
The easiet thing in the world is to point out others' mistakes.
124. Pull down: Demolish
Ex: The government decided to pull down the building.
The Town planing Authority pulled down the shopping complex illegally built by traders.
125. Pull off: Succeed
Ex: The electronic company pulled off the project and earned huge profits.
126. Pull through: Recover
Ex: She pulled through her illness completely and felt better.
127. Pull up: Stop
Ex: The train pulled up at the station right on time.
128. Put aside/by: Save
Ex: He put aside some money for his son's marriage.
You must put by something for your future.
129. Put away: Remove
Ex: She put away the books and cleaned the table.
130. Put back: Replace
Ex: I put back the book on the shelf.
She prefers putting things back in their proper places.
131. Ring up: Telephone
Ex: Maryam rang me up in the afternoon.
132. Ring off: End a telephone call
Ex: Before I could tell her something, she rang off.
133. Round up: Drive, bring together
Ex: I rounded up the letter in two paragraphs.
She rounded up the city in a car.
A large crowd of people rounded up on the road and watched the accident in fear.
134. Rub out: Erase marks
Ex: Aisha rubbed out the entire sentence and rewrote it.
I requested Dayo to rub out the stain on my shirt.
135. Rub up: Revise one's knowledge
Ex: I rubbed up my English by watching television and reading novels.
136. Run after: Pursue
Ex: The cleric advised us not to run after earthly pleasures.
The police ran after the prisoner.
137. Run away: Flee, desert
Ex: When he saw a snake in the garden, he ran away.
On seeing her father, Laila ran into the house in fear.
Please don't run away, I want to tell you something.
138. Run away with: A person or idea
Ex: Zaynab ran away with her friend and returned home after a week.
139: Run down: Disparage, criticism
Ex: My brother always runs me down in everything.
Why are you running down your sister? You should encourage her.
140. Be run down: Poor in health
Ex: My uncles was run down completely due to heavy work.
Don't eat so much, you will be run down. soon.
141. Run in: Drive slowly
Ex: She is running the car in very carefully.
143. Run into: Collide with
Ex: She is running the car in very carefully.
144. Run into: Drive slowly
Ex: She is running the car in very carefully.
145. Run out of: Consume all
Ex: We ran out of sugar and rice in the house.
I have run out of stationery in my office.
145. Run over: Drive over, overflow with water/milk
146. Sec about: Make inquiries or arrangements
Ex: My father asked me to see about my sister's wedding.
You must see about accommodation for the guests.
147. See about: Make inquiries or arrangements
Ex: My father asked me to see about my sister's wedding.
You must see about accommodation for the guests.
147. See off: Accompany someone to a train/boat/plane.
Ex: I saw my friend off at the airport.
147. See out: Accompany someone to a train/boat/plane
Ex: I saw my friend off at the airport.
148. See off: Accompany a departing guest to the door
Ex: I saw out Maryam and expressed my hope to see her again.
149. See over: A house/building, meet a person at a place.
Ex: Please see me over at my place.
150. See through: Discover a hidden attempt
Ex: He tried to harm his wife but she saw through his cruel intention.
151. See to: Make arrangements, put right, repair
Ex: You must see to it that my tape recorder is repaired.
The government should see to it that fees in colleges are abolished.
152. Sell off: Sell cheaply
Ex: He decided to Del off his house because he needed money urgently.
153. Sell out: Sell all
Ex: All the tickets for the film were sold out.
154. Be sent down: Be expelled from the university do misconduct
Ex: Some student were sent down from the university because they we're selling narcotic drugs in the campus.
He was sent down from the party because he misused the party funds.
155. Sent for: Summon
Ex: Please send for the doctor immediately.
We sent for the electrician.
156. Send in: Send for somebody
Ex: Please send in a television technician.
They sent in the office boy to me.
157. Send on: Forward, send after a person
Ex: must send someone on your wife because she may miss the train.
158. Set in: Begin
Ex: The spring sets in and all the tress are full of flowers.
159. Set off: Start a journey.
Ex: We set off on our journey in the morning.
160. Set up: Achieve, establish, start a new business
Ex: I have a desire to set up a degree college in the name of the mother.
The State Government decided to set up a small scale industry for women.
161. Settle down: Become accustomed, continue in a new place or job
Ex: We wanted to settle down in Canada.
He settle down in a teaching career.
162. Take after: Resemble
Ex: Amina takes after her mother
163. Take back: Withdraw
Ex: She decided to marry me but she took her decision back later.
164. Take down: Write
Ex: I told her to take down my dictation and type it neatly.
165. Take for: Attribute wrong identity or qualities to someone
Ex: I took Susan for Amira because the two sisters at identical with each other.
166. Take in: Remove, leave the ground
Ex: I took off my clothes and went to bed in my undergarments.
The plane took off at the airport and flew to New York.
168. Take on: Undertake the work
Ex: I took on writing another novel.
169. Take out: Remove, extract
Ex: She took out money from her husband's pocket.
170. Take over: Assume responsibility for, control of
Ex: She took over the office of the principal.
171. Take to: Begin a habit
Ex: She took to narcotic drugs.
172. Take up: Begin a business/work/job/profession
Ex: She took up journalism as her career.
I took up writing to magazines.
173. Talk over: Discuss
Ex: The heads of the two countries talked over a number of international issues.
174. Think over: Consider
Ex: We have to tho over financial assistance for our project.
He thought over his sister' s wedding plans.
175. Throw away/out: Discard
Ex: She threw away her old shoes.
He threw away the old newspapers.
176. Throw up: Abandon suddenly
Ex: Damilola threw up her teaching profession and become a secretary in a private concern.
177. Tie up: Bind hands and feet
Ex: The police tied him up with chains and threw him into the cell.
178. Wait on: Attend, serve
Ex: Our family doctor instructed me to wait on my mother attentively.
180. Wash up: Wash the plates after a meal
Ex: She washed up after dinner and cleaned the dining table.
181. Watch out: Look out
Ex: Watch out! How gracefully Kunle walks.
Watch out! Our servant is an unreliable person.
182. Watch out for: Look out for
Ex: The police are watching out for the criminal.
Our company is watching out for young and dynamic people for our sales department.
183. Wear away: Gradually reduce, make smooth
Ex: The metal will wear away soon.
Her car types were worn away.
184. Wear off: Disappear gradually
Ex: The gold coating will wear off in a year.
185. Wear out: Use till no longer serviceable
Ex: My shoes were worn out completely so I threw them away.
The door paint was worn out and looked ugly.
186. Wind up: Bring/come to an end
Ex: We must wind up our discussion and come to an agreement.
The meeting will wind up in an hour.
187. Wink at: Ignore purposely, pretend not to notice
Ex: Susan winked at her studies and went to sleep.
Most politicians wink at poverty in developing countries.
188. wipe out: Destroy completely
Ex: Several village were wiped out by floods.
The armed robbers wiped out the innocent people in the village.
189. Work out: Find solution to some problem, find answer by calculation
Ex: We must work ok unemployment completely.
Bukola worked out all questions on Mathematics in the examination.
190. Wait for: Await a person/thing/chance
Ex: The powerful medicine worked upon him.
192. Wish for: Desire for a thing
Ex: Everyone of us wishes for a comfortable life.
193. Work at: A place
Ex: She works at the reception counter in a five star hotel.
194. Watch over: Look carefully
Ex: She decided to watch over her servant.
195. Watch for: Look for
Ex: We are watching for a good secretary.
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