Phrasal Verbs! A phrasal verb is a name given to an English verb which is composed of two or three words.
Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs: Environment
1. wipe out – destroy something completely
Whole villages were wiped out by the floods.
2. break down – decompose, when something slowly reduces to its smallest parts
Plastics do not break down quickly. It takes hundreds of years for a plastic bottle to decompose.
3. scale back – reduce the amount or size of something
The country has scaled back its use of fossil fuels and has started investing in renewable energy.
4. use up – finish a supply of something
I worry that we will use up the world’s non-renewable resources.
5. freeze over – become frozen
The lake has frozen over.
6. chop down – make a tree fall down by cutting it with a sharp tool
Large areas of rainforest are being chopped down every day.
Phrasal Verbs: Health
1. break out – start suddenly
I’ve broken out in a rash.
2. fight off – free yourself from an illness
Elaine’s fighting off a cold.
3. come to – become conscious
Has he come to yet?
4. get over – recover from something
It’s taken me ages to get over the flu.
5. come down with – become sick
I think I’m coming down with a cold.
6. throw up – be sick, vomit
Georgia was bent over the basin, throwing up.
Phrasal Verbs for Business
1. Branch out – Expand or extend one’s interests
The supermarkets have branched out into banking.
2. Break into – Enter (with effort or force)
It’s always been his ambition to break into broadcasting.
3. Carry on – Continue
He moved to New York to carry on his work
4. Back up – Make a copy of information
It’s a good idea to back up your files onto a memory stick.
5. Carry out – Do and complete a task
The building work was carried out by a local contractor.
6. Find out – Discover a fact or piece of information
Can you find out what our customers think of their local bus service?
7. Call off – Cancel something
With the weather worsening, they have called off their field trip.
8. Drop in – Make a short visit somewhere
I will drop in tomorrow morning.
9. Fill out – Complete (a form)
It took me several hours to fill out the application form.
10. Bail out – To rescue somebody from a difficult situation, especially financial problems
Some local businesses have offered to bail out the museum.
Phrasal Verbs about Food and Cooking
1. Bake off – Finish baking partly baked food
She baked off the cakes in the oven.
2. Boil away – Cause liquid to evaporate completely by boiling
The soup’s almost boiled away.
3. Boil over – Cause liquid to rise and flow over the side of the container
The milk was boiling over on the stove behind her.
4. Bolt down – Eat a large amount of food very quickly
She bolted down her lunch and rushed back to work.
5. Cut up – Cut something into small pieces
He cut the pie up into little pieces.
6. Eat out – Eat in a restaurant instead of at home
Do you feel like eating out tonight?
7. Slice off – Cut something from a larger piece
She sliced off a piece of sausage.
8. Whip up – Quickly make a meal or something to eat
She whipped up a delicious lunch for us in 15 minutes.
Travel Phrasal Verbs
1. Check out – Leave the hotel after paying
We checked out at noon.
2. Set off – Start a journey
We set off for Paris just after ten.
3. Get in – Arrive (train, plane)
The train got in late.
4. Take off – When a plane departs or leaves the ground
The plane took off an hour late.
5. Check in – Arrive and register at a hotel or airport
Please check in at least an hour before departure.
6. Get off – Leave a bus, train, plane
We get off at the next station.
