Phrasal verbs

To talk at length in a boring, monotone way

The manager gave another of his boring speeches today and must have droned on for an hour at
least.

To gradually develop an appetite

After a nice walk in the hills well have worked up an appetite.

To decide that a course of action is impossible

The bus and train strike ruled out any possibility of us going shopping.

To start a friendship with someone

I struck up a friendship with a lovely Brazilian woman on holiday.

To depend on something in order to be successful

The deal is almost complete. It all hangs on the Chairman agreeing to sign.

To persuade someone, through logical argument, to agree with you or do something

We cant afford to lose such valuable colleague. Cant we reason with her not to resign?

To make a lot of progress

The company have forged ahead with their expansion plans and their share price is evidence of
their success.

To be written in a particular type of language

The contract was couched in legal jargon and was very difficult to understand.

To support
I was feeling very dizzy and a friend had to prop me up to stop me from fainting

To get liquid out of a container with a tube

I put the wrong petrol in my car this morning and had to siphon it all off.

To move ahead with something

The company deciden to plough ahead with the takeover plan even though the market was in
decline.

To steal
He was caught knocking off clothes from a department store.

To close down a business

A decision was made to wind up the business as it was very close to being bankrupt.

To renovate an old building

Im thinking of buying a dilapidated house and doing it up myself.

To remove money from a source

He was suspended from work following allegations that he was siphoning off money from the
company accounts.

To have more work to do than you can manage

Im sorry I cant make the meeting today. Im snowed under with projects to finish.
To face a person in a way that is threatening
The two boxers squared up to each other at the start of the fight.

To be given a job that you do not want

I got saddled with a load of extra work today because Frank was off sick.

To make arrangements for something

The original sales estimates now look over-optimistic, especially as we did not provide for a slump
in the economy.

To give out
Ive got this really irritating colleague at work who is always dishing out advice when it is not
wanted.

To lower the intellectual quality of something in the aim of appealing to the general public
I really do feel that the TV networks are dumbing down the news. Most of the features are so
trivial.

To be damaged beyond repair

Have you heard? Dannys written his car off in an accident. Fortunately he wasnt hurt but his car
is a wreck.

To stay in bed later than usual in the morning

I wont be getting to bed until the early hours of the morning so I thing Ill lie in tomorrow.

To protrude
The building consists of a patchwork of balconies jutting out from flat, featureless walls.

When a sports match is cancelled

The football was rained off much to the fans disappointment.

To obtain a lot of money

Hes been raking in lots of money since he set up his own business.

To become unnoticed
The army uniform is designed so that the soldiers blend in with their surroundings.

To show that you are not connected to someone or something to avoid trouble
The company were very keen to dissociate themselves from the shamed director to avoid any
bad publicity.

To revise
I'm staying in tonight to swot up on phrasal verbs before tomorrow's test.

"To think about something for a period of time

I wouldn't brood on the bad news if I were you. Just forget it and get on with your life.

To warm yourself up
I was freezing cold and as soon as I got in I sat in front of the fire to thaw out.

To become less angry

It took him quite a while to simmer down after their argument.
To get support
The union ocial has been talking to all the workers and trying to drum up support for the idea of
strike action.

"To remove from somewhere quickly

The celebrity was whisked away from the theatre before the journalists had the chance to
question her.

"To be old and no longer working properly

This TV is totally clapped out I can't even get a picture.