phrasal verbs Flashcards
(90 cards)
ask sb out
æsk/ verb
to invite someone to come with you to a place such as the cinema or a restaurant, especially as a way of starting a romantic relationship:
She’s asked Steve out to the cinema this evening.
You should ask her out sometime.
bring about (on) something phrasal verb with bring US /brɪŋ/ verb [ T ] past tense and past participle brought /brɔt/
to make something happen, especially to cause changes in a situation
Harold’s working to bring about changes in the industry.
Social changes that have been brought about by new technology
Major spending is required to bring about substantial improvements in housing.
bring up something
— phrasal verb with bring US /brɪŋ/ verb [ T ] past tense and past participle brought /brɔt/
(TALK)
to talk about something:
I hate to bring up business at lunch.
call back
to return to a place in order to see someone or collect something:
She said she’d call back later to pick up that report.
call back (someone)
to telephone someone who has telephoned you, often to answer a message the person has left, or to telephone again:
He called her three times but she never called the guy back.
I’ll call back later.
call off something
to decide that a planned event will not happen:
cancel
Union leaders called the strike off at the last minute.
call on someone
to ask someone to do something:
She called on Americans to be more tolerant of each other.
To call on someone in a group is to ask that person to speak:
The teacher called on me, and I didn’t know the answer.
to come to see someone; visit:
She went to the hospital to call on a sick friend.
call up (someone)
to telephone someone:
He used to call me up in the middle of the night .
I just wanted to call up and say “thanks.”
call-up
us also draft an order to join a military organization:
She was very upset when her boyfriend received his call-up (papers).
an invitation to play in an official, especially national, team:
Le Tissier was delighted when he received his England call-up.
catch up
to reach the same quality or standard as someone or something else:
Will Western industry ever catch up with Japanese innovations?
He was off school for a while and is finding it hard to catch up.
to do something you did not have time to do earlier:
She’s staying late at the office to catch up with/on some reports.
to learn or discuss the latest news:
Let’s go for a coffee - I need to catch up on all the gossip.
a meeting at which people discuss what has happened since the last time that they met:
I’m seeing my boss for a catch-up next week.
to reach someone or something by moving faster than the other person or thing:
She is really fast, and I couldn’t catch up with her.
fig. We’re a young, growing company, and we’re trying to catch up to the competition.
to talk with someone you know in order to exchange news or information:
By the time coffee came, R.J. and Angelo had caught up a little bit.
to do something you did not have time to do earlier:
catch up on sth We’re trying to catch up on paperwork this week.
catch up with sth Sam drove straight to the office to catch up with the mountain of work she had waiting for her.
I find the backlog of freelance work sometimes builds up, and I always seem to be catching up.
check into something
to try to find out more information about a particular subject
I’ll check into the tours and see how much they cost.
cheer up
to become less sad, or to make someone feel less sad
I tried to cheer him up, but he just kept staring out of the window.
clean up
to make a place completely clean and tidy
We really ought to make a start on getting this place cleaned up.
I’m going to clean up in here this afternoon.
come across
to meet someone, or to find something by chance
I came across a wordc I’d never seen before.
Have you ever come across such a horrible person in all your life?
cross out
to draw an X or a line through writing because it is wrong or because you have decided to write something else
Just cross out the old address.
cut out
stop an annoying activity
Will you cut it out – I’m trying to sleep here!
do something over
to do something again from the beginning, especially because you did it badly the first time
OK, we’ll do it over, but try to sing the right words this time.
done over
[USUALLY PASSIVE] BRITISH if your house has been done over, thieves have got into it and stolen things from it, usually causing damage
As soon as I opened the door, I could see the place had been done over.
to attack someone and hit and kick them
He was done over by a gang of kids.
drop by/drop in
to make a short visit somewhere
Why don’t you drop by for coffee some time?
drop in on: On the way back, we dropped in on my parents.
To visit a person or place, or to be visited by someone:visit, go around, call…
drop off
to take someone or something, esp. by car, to a particular place:
I’m about to leave – can I drop you off somewhere on my way home?
drop out
to not do something that you were going to do, or to stop doing something before you have completely finished:
He dropped out of the race after two laps.
If a student drops out, they stop going to classes before they have finished their course.
figure out
to understand or solve something:
figure out how/why/what, etc. If they know the cause of the problem, they might be able to figure out how to prevent it happening again.
It takes most people some time to figure out new software.
to calculate an amount:
It is difficult to access funding before the elements of an outline business plan have been figured out.
fill out
to add information such as your name or address in the empty spaces on an official document
It took me several hours to fill out the application form.
find out
to discover a fact or piece of information
We may never find out the truth about what happened.
