English Phrasal Verbs

(BRING) bring about

bring about [1]

to cause something to happen.

• He brought about his company’s collapse by his reckless spending.
• One way they can bring about political change is by putting pressure on the country.

(COME) come down to

come down to [1]

If a problem, decision, or question comes down to a particular thing, that thing is the most important factor involved.

• Walter Crowley says the problem comes down to money.
• I think that it comes down to the fact that people do feel very dependent on their automobile.
• What it comes down to is, there are bad people out there, and somebody has to deal with them.

(COME) come up with

come up with [1]

If you come up with a plan or idea, you think of it and suggest it.

• Several of the members have come up with suggestions of their own.
• Einstein came up with the theory of relativity on a cycle ride.

If you come up with a sum of money, you manage to produce it when it is needed.

• If Warren can come up with the $15 million, we’ll go to London.

(GET) get away

get away [1]

(1) to leave or escape from a person or place, often when it is difficult to do this.

• We walked to the next beach to get away from the crowds.
• I’ll get away from work as soon as I can.

(2) to go somewhere to have a vacation, often because you need to rest.

• I just need to get away for a few days.

(GET) get by

get by [1] [2]

• I don’t earn a huge salary, but we get by.
• Sometimes they had to get by on very little.
• I can get by with little money.
• that book will never get by the authorities.
• Are you just getting by? Tell me, are you just getting by, by, by? [3]

(GET) get into

get into [1]

(1) to enter a place, especially when this is difficult

• The door was locked and we couldn’t get into the house.

(2) to arrive at a place.

• What time do we got into New York?

(3) to be allowed to be a student at a university, college, etc.

• She got into UCLA.

(4) to be made a member of a team.

• Do you think you might get into the Olympic team this year?

(5) to start doing or feeling something, or being in a particular situation.

• He’s started getting into trouble at school.
• My parents were always terrified of getting into debt.
• She got into the habit of going for long walks by herself.
• He got into a terrible temper and started throwing things around.

(6) to begin to be involved in doing something.

• How did you first get into script writing?
• She was starting to get into politics.

(7) informal, to begin to enjoy something or be interested in something

• I first got into jazz when I was at college.

(8) informal, to put on a piece of clothing, especially when this is difficult because the piece of clothing is too small for you.

• I don’t know how she managed to get into those trousers.

(9) spoken, used to express surprise that someone is behaving very differently from the way they usually behave

• I don’t know what’s got into Sally recently.

(GIVE) give in

give in [1]

(1) to finally agree to do or accept something that you had at first opposed, especially because someone has forced or persuaded you to.

• Eventually I gave in and accepted the job on their terms.

(2) to accept that you are defeated in a game, fight, competition etc. (=surrender)

• The rebels were eventually forced to give in.
• We will carry on fighting to the end. We will never give in.

(GIVE) give up

give up [1]

(1) to stop doing something, especially something that you do regularly

• give up something
  • Darren has decided to give up football at the end of this season.
• give up doing something
  • I gave up going to the theatre when I moved out of London.
• give it up
  • The ground was too hard to dig so I gave it up as a bad job.

(2) to allow yourself or someone else to be caught by the police or enemy soldiers

• give somebody up
  • The siege ended peacefully after the gunman gave himself up.

(GIVE) give one’s word

give one’s word [1]

to promise

• He gave his word that he would marry her and she had no cause to doubt him.

(HAND) hand over

hand over [1]

If you hand something over to someone, you pass it to them.

• He also handed over a letter of apology from the Prime Minister.
• ‘I’ve got his card,’ Judith said, handing it over.

When you hand over someone such as a prisoner to someone else, you give the control of and responsibility for them to that other person.

• They would just catch the robbers and hand them over to the police.
• This morning the American was formally handed over to the ambassador.

If you hand over to someone or hand something over to them, you give them the responsibility for dealing with a particular situation or problem.

• The present leaders have to decide whether to stand down and hand over to a younger generation.
• I wouldn’t dare hand this project over to anyone else.
• They would like to hand over their financial affairs to another body.

(HANG) hang out

hang out [1]

to spend a lot of time in a place or with someone.

• (hang out at) You still hang out at the pool hall?
• (hang out with) I’ve been hanging out backstage with the band.

(HESITATE) never hesitate to do something

never hesitate to do something (don’t hesitate to do something; have no hesitation in doing something) [1] [2]

used to tell someone that it is correct or right for them to do something and they do not have to worry about offending anyone.

• Don’t hesitate to contact me if you need any more information.

If you say that you have no hesitation in doing something, you are emphasizing that you will do it immediately or willingly because you are certain that it is the right thing to do.

• The board said it had no hesitation in unanimously rejecting the offer.
• Some of us had careers, but we had no hesitation in giving them up to work alongside our wives.

(HOOK) hook sb up (with sb/sth)

hook sb up (with sb/sth) [1]

to arrange for someone to meet or work with another person or organization.

• We videotape applicants in practice interviews and hook them up with employers.

(LAY and LIE) Lay vs. Lie

Lay vs. Lie [1]

• LAY
  • to place (something or someone) down in a flat position.
  • transitive verb: it requires that the verb have an object; there has to be a thing or person being placed, like ‘Lay it down’.
  • tenses: lay, laying, laid, have laid.
• LIE

  • to be in a flat position on a surface.

  • intransitive verb: It’s for something or someone moving on their own or something that’s already in position: ‘You can lie down there’. ‘You can lie there all day.’

  • tenses: lie, lying, lay, have lain.

    tenses (for unrelated verb meaning “to tell an untruth.”): lie, lying, lied, have lied.

(LAY and LIE) lie at the heart/centre/root of something

lie at the heart/centre/root of something [1]

to be the most important part of something, especially the main cause of it.

• the issue that lies at the heart of the present conflict.
• That view lies at the root of a government drive against the racist right.
• Basic compassion, not just for the old but for the younger generation too, lies at the heart of this idea.

(LAY and LIE) lay something on

lay something on [1] [2]

(1) to provide something such as food, entertainment, or transport for a group of people.

• They laid on a buffet for his farewell party.
• A bus has been laid on to take you home.

(2) to ask someone to do something, especially something that is difficult or something they will not want to do.

• Sorry to lay this on you, but we need someone to give a talk at the conference next week.

(3) lay on/upon; lain on/upon; lying on/upon; lies on/upon: to affect (someone) in a specified way.

• Sorrow lay heavily on him.
• Guilt lies on his conscience.
• She keeps herself healthy so her years lie lightly upon her.

(LOOK) look into

look into [1]

(1) to examine the facts about a problem or situation:

• We’re looking into the possibility of merging the two departments.

(2) to try to find out about something:

• I’ll look into the reasons for the decision.

(LOOK) look up

look up [1] [2]

(1) to become better:

• I hope things will start to look up in the new year.
• Our financial situation is looking up at last.

(2) to try to find a piece of information by looking in a book or on a computer (if you look up information in a book, on a computer etc, you try to find it there)

• If you don’t know what the word means, look it up in a dictionary.
• The software looks up words automatically.
• You could try looking him up in a dictionary of biography.
• I’ll just look up the train times.

(3) to visit someone you have not seen for a long time when you are visiting the place where they live:

• Look me up next time you’re in Los Angeles.
• Don’t forget to look me up when you come to Atlanta.

(PUT) put it

put it [1]

When you put an idea or remark in a particular way, you express it in that way. You can use expressions like to ‘put it simply’ and to ‘put it bluntly’ before saying something when you want to explain how you are going to express it. (Synonyms: express, say, state, word.)

• I had already met him a couple of times through–how should I put it–friends in low places.
• He doesn’t, to put it very bluntly, give a damn about the woman or the baby.
• If I was auditioning for a vocalist, let me put it this way, he wouldn’t get to sing in my band.
• He admitted the security forces might have made some mistakes, as he put it.
• You can’t put that sort of fear into words.

(PUT) put someone to something

put someone to something [1]

to cause someone to experience or do something.

• Your generosity puts me to shame.
• I’ve put the children to work clearing the snow from the path.
• I hope we’re not putting you to any inconvenience.

(SIT) sit back

sit back [1]

If you sit back while something is happening, you relax and do not become involved in it.

• They didn’t have to do anything except sit back and enjoy life.
• American firms handed over technologies to their partners and then sat back to enjoy the cash flow.

(STAND) stand down

stand down [1]

If someone stands down, they resign from an important job or position, often in order to let someone else take their place.

• Four days later, the despised leader finally stood down, just 17 days after taking office.
• Profits plunged and he stood down as chairman last January.
• The present leaders have to decide whether to stand down and hand over to a younger generation.

(STAND) stand sb. up

stand sb. up [1]

to fail to meet someone when you said you would.

• He’s stood me up twice now.

(STICK) stick around

stick around [1] [2]

to stay somewhere for a period of time; If you stick around, you stay where you are, often because you are waiting for something.

• You go - I’ll stick around here a bit longer.
• Stick around a while and see what develops.
• I didn’t stick around long enough to find out.

(TAKE) take away

take away [1]

(1) If you take something away from someone, you remove it from them, so that they no longer possess it or have it with them.

• They’re going to take my citizenship away.
• ‘Give me the knife,’ he said softly, ‘or I’ll take it away from you.’
• In prison they’d taken away his watch and everything he possessed.

(2) If you take one number or amount away from another, you subtract one number from the other.

• Add up the bills for each month. Take this away from the income.

(3) To take someone away means to bring them from their home to an institution such as a prison or hospital.

• Two men claiming to be police officers called at the pastor’s house and took him away.
• They were taken away in a police bus.
• Soldiers took away four people, one of whom was later released.

(THROW) throw oneself at sb.

throw oneself at sb. [1] [2] [3]

If someone throws themselves at you, they make it very obvious that they want to begin a relationship with you, by behaving as though they are sexually attracted to you. (to try very hard to attract someone’s attention because you want to have a sexual relationship with them)

• I’ll say you started it, that you threw yourself at me.
• I don’t know what it is about John, but women just seem to throw themselves at him.

(TRIP) trip up

trip up [1] [2]

If someone or something trips a person up, or if they trip up, they fail or make a mistake.

• Your own lies will trip you up.
• He will do all he can to trip up the new right-wing government.
• The two occasions she tripped up tell you nothing about how often she got away with it.