A2 English Phrasal Verbs

To recover from an illness or a shock.

“It took me a week to get over the flu.”

Synonyms: recover from, shake off

To start to suffer from an illness.

“I think I’m coming down with a cold.”

Synonyms: catch, fall ill with

To bring food up from the stomach; to vomit.

“The child threw up after the long car journey.”

Synonyms: be sick, vomit

To lose consciousness; to faint.

“He passed out in the summer heat.”

Synonyms: faint, black out

To do or use less of something.

“The doctor told me to cut down on salt.”

Synonyms: reduce, cut back

To get rid of something by being active.

“She worked off the big meal with a long walk.”

Synonyms: burn off

To appear suddenly on the skin.

“He broke out in a red rash.”

Synonyms: erupt

To stay in bed later than usual.

“I love to lie in on Sunday mornings.”

Synonyms: sleep in

To fall asleep, often by accident.

“I nodded off in front of the television.”

Synonyms: doze off, drift off

To prepare your body for exercise.

“Always warm up before you go running.”

Synonyms: limber up

To accept some work or responsibility.

“She took on a difficult new project.”

Synonyms: accept, undertake

To do or complete a task.

“We carried out the plan exactly as agreed.”

Synonyms: perform, execute

To give something or someone to another.

“He handed over the report to his manager.”

Synonyms: pass on, transfer

To do work you should have done earlier.

“I need to catch up on my emails today.”

Synonyms: get up to date

To make progress in your career.

“She works hard to get ahead at the office.”

Synonyms: advance, progress

To take control of something.

“A new manager took over the team last week.”

Synonyms: take charge of

To arrange or start something.

“They set up a meeting for Monday morning.”

Synonyms: arrange, establish

To organise or solve a problem.

“I’ll sort out the schedule before lunch.”

Synonyms: organise, resolve

To examine or check something carefully.

“Let’s go over the figures one more time.”

Synonyms: review, check

To write something in a full, final form.

“Please write up your notes after the meeting.”

Synonyms: record, document

To return money you owe.

“I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”

Synonyms: repay, refund

To give money to buy something.

“She kindly paid for the whole meal.”

Synonyms: cover the cost of

To keep money for a future purchase.

“We are saving up for a summer holiday.”

Synonyms: put aside

To create a large bill or debt.

“He ran up a huge phone bill last month.”

Synonyms: rack up

To pay part of the price in advance.

“We put down a deposit on the new car.”

Synonyms: deposit

To sell all of something so none is left.

“The concert tickets sold out in minutes.”

Synonyms: be snapped up

To cheat someone by charging too much.

“That tourist shop totally ripped me off.”

Synonyms: overcharge, cheat

To compare prices in different shops.

“Shop around before you buy a new laptop.”

Synonyms: compare prices

To spend or use less than before.

“We had to cut back on spending this month.”

Synonyms: economise

To spend a lot of money on a treat.

“They splashed out on a brand-new sofa.”

Synonyms: splurge

To begin a journey.

“We set off for the coast at dawn.”

Synonyms: depart, start out

To register at a hotel or airport.

“We checked in at the hotel before lunch.”

Synonyms: sign in

To pay and leave a hotel.

“Please check out of your room by eleven.”

Synonyms: leave

To go somewhere for a short holiday.

“We got away to the mountains for the weekend.”

Synonyms: escape

To go with someone to say goodbye.

“They saw us off at the railway station.”

Synonyms: send off

To collect someone in a vehicle.

“I’ll pick you up at eight o’clock.”

Synonyms: collect, fetch

To take someone to a place and leave them.

“I’ll drop you off at school on my way.”

Synonyms: take, deliver

To return from somewhere.

“We got back very late last night.”

Synonyms: return, come home

To stay somewhere briefly during a journey.

“We stopped over in Dubai for one night.”

Synonyms: break the journey

To arrive and stop (of a train or car).

“The express train pulled in right on time.”

Synonyms: arrive, draw in

To have a friendly relationship.

“I get on really well with my sister.”

Synonyms: get along, click

To argue and stop being friends.

“They fell out over a silly misunderstanding.”

Synonyms: quarrel

To become friends again after a quarrel.

“They argued, but they soon made up.”

Synonyms: reconcile

To invite someone on a date.

“He finally asked her out for dinner.”

Synonyms: invite out

To begin a calm, settled life.

“They settled down in a quiet little town.”

Synonyms: put down roots

To become an adult.

“I grew up in a small village in Spain.”

Synonyms: mature

To admire and respect someone.

“She has always looked up to her grandmother.”

Synonyms: admire, respect

To meet socially.

“Let’s get together for coffee next week.”

Synonyms: meet up, gather

To visit someone without an appointment.

“Drop in whenever you are passing.”

Synonyms: pop in, call by

To spend time relaxing somewhere.

“We like to hang out at the park.”

Synonyms: chill out

To eat at a restaurant instead of at home.

“We eat out at our favourite café on Fridays.”

Synonyms: dine out

To cut something into smaller pieces.

“Please cut up the vegetables for the soup.”

Synonyms: chop up, slice

To make food or drink hot.

“Heat up the soup while I lay the table.”

Synonyms: warm, reheat

To boil and flow over the side of a pot.

“Watch the milk so it doesn’t boil over.”

Synonyms: spill over

To cook food quickly in hot fat.

“He fried up some bacon for breakfast.”

Synonyms: cook up

To swallow food or pills with a drink.

“She washed down the tablet with some water.”

Synonyms: flush down

To start eating something with enthusiasm.

“Tuck in, everyone, before it gets cold!”

Synonyms: dig in

To eat a very large amount of food.

“We pigged out on pizza and ice cream.”

Synonyms: gorge, stuff yourself

To put food onto plates to serve it.

“Dad dished up a huge plate of pasta.”

Synonyms: serve up, plate up

To pour a drink for someone.

“She poured out the tea for her guests.”

Synonyms: serve

To enter your details to use a system.

“Log in with your username and password.”

Synonyms: sign in

To finish using a system safely.

“Always log out when you finish online banking.”

Synonyms: sign out

To connect a device to electricity.

“Plug in the charger before the battery dies.”

Synonyms: connect

To fill a battery with power.

“Remember to charge up your phone tonight.”

Synonyms: power up, recharge

To change to a different channel or system.

“Let’s switch over to the news at nine.”

Synonyms: change over

To make a sound or device louder.

“Could you turn up the music a little?”

Synonyms: raise, crank up

To make a sound or device quieter.

“Please turn down the television; it’s too loud.”

Synonyms: lower, quieten

To move down through text on a screen.

“Scroll down the page to read the reviews.”

Synonyms: move down

To make a spare copy of computer files.

“Back up your files before you update the laptop.”

Synonyms: save a copy

To make an image look bigger and closer.

“Zoom in on the photo to see the details.”

Synonyms: magnify

To start a new hobby or activity.

“I took up painting during the winter.”

Synonyms: begin, get into

To stop doing an activity for good.

“He gave up football after the injury.”

Synonyms: quit, drop

To choose or decide to do something.

“Let’s go for a long walk this afternoon.”

Synonyms: opt for, choose

To spend time playing without a purpose.

“The children messed about in the garden all day.”

Synonyms: fool around

To wait or spend time somewhere idly.

“We hung around the square until the film started.”

Synonyms: loiter, linger

To behave so people notice your abilities.

“He loves to show off his new bicycle.”

Synonyms: boast, flaunt

To shout encouragement to someone.

“We cheered on our team from the stands.”

Synonyms: root for, support

To spend time somewhere in a relaxed way.

“They knocked about the beach all afternoon.”

Synonyms: hang about

To start an activity with a clear aim.

“She set out to learn the guitar in a year.”

Synonyms: aim, intend

To be involved in an activity with others.

“We took part in the village charity race.”

Synonyms: participate, join

To take action to solve something.

“We must deal with this problem straight away.”

Synonyms: handle, tackle

To happen or arise, often unexpectedly.

“A serious problem came up during the meeting.”

Synonyms: arise, crop up

To happen in a particular way in the end.

“In the end, everything turned out fine.”

Synonyms: end up, prove

To move something to a later time.

“They put off the trip until next month.”

Synonyms: postpone, delay

To cancel something that was planned.

“The referee called off the match because of rain.”

Synonyms: cancel, scrap

To fail to happen as planned.

“Our holiday plans fell through at the last minute.”

Synonyms: collapse

To continue with a plan as intended.

“We decided to go ahead with the wedding.”

Synonyms: proceed

To decide not to do something promised.

“He backed out of the deal at the last moment.”

Synonyms: withdraw, pull out

To confuse one thing with another.

“I always mix up their names.”

Synonyms: confuse, muddle

To do something badly or wrongly.

“I really messed up the maths test.”

Synonyms: botch, spoil

To become or make someone happier.

“Cheer up — things will get better soon.”

Synonyms: brighten up

To become quiet and relaxed after stress.

“Calm down and tell me what happened.”

Synonyms: settle, relax

To become less angry or excited.

“He stormed off to cool down for a while.”

Synonyms: cool off

To react with sudden fear or panic.

“She freaked out the night before the exam.”

Synonyms: panic, lose it

To lose control and start crying.

“He broke down in tears at the news.”

Synonyms: fall apart

To become more cheerful and lively.

“She perked up as soon as the music started.”

Synonyms: brighten, liven up

To talk freely about your feelings.

“He finally opened up about his worries.”

Synonyms: confide, share

To attack someone suddenly with words.

“She lashed out at her best friend in anger.”

Synonyms: snap, hit out

To hide strong feelings instead of showing them.

“Don’t bottle up your anger; talk to someone.”

Synonyms: suppress, hold in

To suddenly look happy and excited.

“Her whole face lit up when she saw the gift.”

Synonyms: beam, glow