PHRASAL VERBS

PHRASAL VERB	SYNONYM	SENTENCE EXAMPLE
DO AWAY WITH	put an end to something	They will do away with tax on home heating fuel.
DO IN *	murder	The mafia did him in.
DO IN *	injure	This hot weather will do us in.
DO IN *	cheat or swindle	The car buyer was done in by the fly-by-night salesman.
DO OVER *	redo over repeat	I had to do my homework over because I had too many mistakes.
DO OVER *	redecorate	We did our kitchen over to modernize it.  (also: made over)
DO UP *	make fancy	She did up her hair in a pretty bow.
DO UP *	finish	Do up the work before you leave.
DO WITH	benefit from	We could do with less talk and more action.
DO WITHOUT	manage, survive	I could not do without my cell phone.
GET ABOUT	move, be active	Even though he's ninety, he gets about pretty well.
GET AT	hint, insinuate, imply	I don't know what the lawyer was getting at, but I didn't like it.
GET AT	discover, find	We wanted to get at the root of the problem.
GET AWAY	escape from confinement	The prisoner tried to get away, but the office caught him.
GET AWAY WITH	do something without detection	He tries to get away with cheating, but they keep catching him.
GET BY	manage, survive	We got by even though we didn't have much money.
GET DOWN *	depress, discourage	The cold, rainy weather got me down after a couple of months.
GET DOWN	enjoy, dance	Let's have a little fun and get down tonight!
GET IN	arrive	When does you plane get in?
GET IN	enter a private vehicle	We got in the car and sat down.  (get on - public vehicle)
GET OFF	exit a public vehicle	We got off the bus at the last stop.
GET OFF *	escape from punishment	He was charged with public indecency, but the lawyer got him off
GET OFF	boldness, effrontery	Where do you get off telling me I'm fat.  Look at yourself.
GET ON	to work or perform in harmony	They got on well together.
GET ON	to mount, to board (public transportation)	He got on his bicycle and rode away. He got on the bus.
GET IT ON *	to have a romantic or sexual connection	"Let's get it on."  -- Marvin Gaye song
GET ON *	to wear	He got on his shoes.  See get passive
GET OVER	recover	It took him a week to get over his cold / his divorce.
GET THROUGH	to succeed in contacting	I had trouble getting through to you because my phone had bad reception.
GET UP	wake up and get out of bed	What time did you get up this morning?
GIVE  AWAY *	give as a present	He was feeling so confident, he gave away all his money.
GIVE AWAY *	reveal a secret	Be careful not to give secret away.
GIVE IN	surrender, acknowledge defeat	At first he said, "no", but then he gave in.
GIVE OF	devote or contribute	To give of one's self is the greatest gift.
GIVE OFF	to put forth, emit	The light bulb gave off an amazing amount of light.
GIVE OUT *	emit, distribute	They gave out fliers in front of the playhouse.
GIVE OUT	to become exhausted, used up	After running four miles, his legs gave out.
GIVE OVER *	transfer, release to someone else	He will give over the ownership of his property to his grandchildren.
GIVE UP	to abandon,	She never gave up hope that he would get well.
GIVE UP	discontinue	He gave up smoking.
GIVE (IT) UP *	applaud; clap  (slang)	Let's give it up for Beyonce!
GO ABOUT	perform one's duties	Every day, he goes about checking our work.
GO AFTER	pursue	If you really want it, go after it.
GO AGAINST	to conflict with	He never thought his son would go against him.
GO AHEAD	proceed	Go ahead.  We'll catch up with you later.
GO ALONG	agree to follow	He went along with his idea even though he wasn't convinced.
GO AROUND	accompany	They always go around with the same people.
GO AROUND	be enough for everyone	They brought enough food to go around.
GO AT	attack	They went at each other viciously.
GO BACK	return	He went back home after work.
GO BACK ON	fail to keep to	He went back on his word and started smoking again.
GO BY	to be disregarded, not taken advantage of	He let his best chance go by.
GO DOWN	suffer defeat	They went down fighting.
GO DOWN	be remembered	This will go down in history as an unforgettable moment.
GO FOR	try hard for	Go for the gold!  (Olympian expression)
GO IN WITH	join	He went in with them on an investment scheme.
GO OFF	explode	The gun went off and runners began the race.
GO OFF	ring	My phone always goes off when I'm in class.
GO ON	continue	When life is hard, you have to go on.
GO OUT	extinguish	If the lights go out, light some candles.
GO OUT WITH	accompany or date	Amelia goes out with her friends. She is going out with a new guy.
GO OVER	review	After we go over the plans, we can discuss what to do.
GO OVER	to meet approval	Did your proposal go over well?
GO THROUGH	experience	We had to go through hard times during the war.
GO THROUGH WITH	persevere to the end	He decide to go through the operation to repair his heart.
GO UNDER	fail, ruin	The bank went under due to bad business practices.
GO UP	be under construction	A new building is going up in place of the old one.
GO UP	be consumed by fire	The old building went up in flames.
GO WITH	look good or fashionable with	His striped shirt didn't go with his jacket.
HAVE  AT	to go at; attack	It's time to have at my homework.
HAVE ON *	to wear	What do you have on?
HAVE ON *	to host a guest on TV	Who does David Letterman have on tonight?
HAVE X OUT	settle	She and I had it out last night and came to an agreement.
HAVE OVER *	entertain	We'd had our friends over for dinner.
HAVE X TO DO WITH	be associated with	His lack of confidence had a lot to do with his not getting the job.
LET DOWN *	disappoint	He let us down when he didn't do as he said he would.
LET IN *	to admit	The door man let us in to the nightclub.
LET IN *	share a secret	I'll let you in on a little secret.  I won the lottery.
LET OFF *	release by exploding	The fireworks let off a whistling sound.
LET OFF *	to free from duty	They let him off jury duty.
LET OFF*	excuse with little punishment	The judge let the youth off with just a warning and a promise.
LET ON	reveal	Please don't let on that you already know his secret.
LET OUT	terminates, release from confinement	School lets out in June.
LET OUT	release from restraint	The dog let out a loud yelp when its owner left.
LET OUT *	enlarge	I had to let my pants out after the holiday meals.
LET UP ON	ease up ; treat less severely	His mother let up on him after she realized he was trying his hardest.
LOOK AFTER	take care of; foster	They looked after him when his parents couldn't.
LOOK DOWN ON	regard with scorn or contempt	Those people look down on everyone else as being inferior.
LOOK IN ON	visit briefly	The nurse looked in on each patient several times a day.
LOOK INTO	investigate	The police are looking into the crime.
LOOK ON	to be a spectator	The fans looked on while their team battled to win.
LOOK OUT	to be on guard, to take care	Look out or you might get hurt.
LOOK OUT FOR	to be concerned	We need to look out for our health.
LOOK OUT ONTO	to have a view	Our hotel room looked out onto the town's plaza.
LOOK OVER *	review	The mechanic looked the car over to see if there were any problems.
LOOK UP *	research, find in a reference book	Always look up the words that you don't know.
LOOK UP TO	admire, regard highly	She had always looked up to her older sister.
MAKE  AWAY WITH	steal	The dishonest CEO made away with millions of dollars.
MAKE OFF WITH	steal, take	The bear made off with our picnic basket.
MAKE OUT *	to write or complete	After you make out the check, put it in the mail.
MAKE OUT *	be able to distinguish or read	It was hard to make out the words on the old memorial stone.
MAKE OUT	succeed	With a lot of hard work, you too can make out in life.
MAKE OUT	show affection; kiss	They made out in the front seat.
MAKE OVER	redo, redecorate	The film producer decided to make over the actor's appearance
MAKE UP	invent	Did you make that story up?  I don't believe it.
MAKE UP	to put on cosmetics	Women make up their faces before going to parties.
MAKE UP	to settle or reconcile	We've quarreled for two years, but we made up last night.
MAKE UP	repeat	I had to make up a course in which I had gotten an unsatisfactory grade.
MAKE UP FOR	compensate	His boss offered him vacation days to make up for his overtime hours.
MAKE UP OF	constitute	The United States is make up of fifty states.
MAKE UP TO	become friendly with	He was trying to make up to every woman in the class. (informal)
PUT ABOUT	turn in a different direction	The ship put about and headed back to shore.
PUT ABOUT	to start a rumor	The opposition put about a rumor that we had accepted a bribe.
PUT AWAY *	put in its place	We put away the food after shopping.
PUT AWAY *	consume	He can put away five hamburgers!
PUT AWAY *	euthanize	We had to put our dog away when it became too old to survive.
PUT AWAY *	jail	The murderer was put away for life.
PUT DOWN *	write	The Red Cross put me down for a one hundred dollar contribution.
PUT DOWN	regard or categorize	He was put down as a complainer
PUT DOWN *	to insult or criticize	My older sister always put me down when she was with her friends.
PUT DOWN *	to place a down payment	We put down forty per cent on the house.
PUT DOWN	land and aircraft	The plane put down in a wheat field.
PUT IN	enter a port	The ship put in before sunset.
PUT IN FOR	apply or request	He put in for a transfer to a different division.
PUT OFF *	delay or postpone	He tends to put off doing his taxes.
PUT OFF	repel, distance, perturb	The artist's use of dead animals put off his viewers.
PUT ON *	to wear	He put on his pants
PUT ON *	produce or perform	They put on a wonderful play.
PUT OUT *	extinguish	The firemen put out the fire
PUT OUT *	be bothersome; inconvenience	Yes, I'd like a cup of coffee, but I don't want to put you out.
PUT UP *	put items in their places	Please put up your toys.
PUT UP WITH	tolerate	I can't put up with his terrible behavior
TAKE  AFTER	resemble	His daughter takes after him in business sense.
TAKE  AFTER	pursue	The dog took after the little boy who tried to run away.
TAKE BACK *	retract	I take what I said back.  i shouldn't have said it.
TAKE DOWN *	write or record	Take these measurements down.
TAKE DOWN *	capture, control	They took down their opponents.
TAKE FOR *	to assume to	I took his word for the truth. / I took for truth his word.
TAKE IN *	provide lodging or a home	His uncle took him in after his father died.
TAKE IN *	alter, make smaller	She had her dress taken in after she had her baby.
TAKE IN	trick or deceive	The insurance salesman took in the unsuspecting buyer.
TAKE IN	observe and make sense of	We listened to his lecture.  There was a lot to take in.
TAKE OFF *	remove clothing	Please take off your coat and sit down.
TAKE OFF	depart from earth	The airplane took off on time.
TAKE OFF	remove from a job or position	I was taken off one project to work on another.
TAKE OFF	humorous imitation (noun)	The movie was a take off on news anchormen.
TAKE ON *	undertake	President Obama took on the difficult job or restoring the economy.
TAKE ON *	hire	They took him on as their financial officer.
TAKE OUT *	date	He took her out to the movies.
TAKE OVER *	assume management	The stronger company took over the weaker one.
TAKE UP *	to begin to study	He took up piano.
TAKE UP	occupy	The grand piano took up most of the room.
TAKE UP *	continue	Let's take up where we left off yesterday.
TAKE UP *	begin discussion or a subject	Today, I will take up the subject of a raise in my salary.
TAKE UP WITH	become friends	He began to take up with the wrong  crowd.
Pop-Q "Idol Talk"
THINK ABOUT	consider, think for a while	I would like some time to think about your business proposal.
THINK ABOUT	have an opinion or judgment	What  do you think about the new no-smoking law?
THINK OF	create, devise, come up with	How did you think of this clever idea?
THINK OF	have an opinion or judgment	What  do you think of your phone?
THINK OF	remember, come to mind	I suddenly thought of his name.
THINK ON	consider, think for a while	I'm not ready to buy it now.  I'll have to think on this for a while.
THINK OUT *	think toward reaching a solution	Think it out before you act.
THINK OVER *	consider, think for a while	Please think it over carefully before you sign the contract.
THINK THROUGH *	think toward reaching a solution	If you think the through math problem, you'll find the solution.
THINK UP *	create, devise come up with	She thought up our logo design.
TRY ON *	put on clothing to see if you like it	Try the pants on. / Try on the pants.   If you like them, buy them.
TRY OUT *	experiment with something	We tried out a new method of using the cell phone.
TRY OUT *	an audition, performance before judges	He tried out before the American Idol judges. They held try outs today