Phrase Example
A
agree to I wish she would agree to my proposal.
agree with I agree with him on that point.
ask after Mr. Smith asked after John.
B
back off* She was told to back off.
be in Are your parents in?
be off* I`m off now.
bear with Please bear with him for a moment while he tries to put this straight.
bend over Bend over and pick it up yourself!
black out And then she just blacked out.
blame on Don`t blame it on her.
blow up The bomb might have blown up.
bowl over Her reaction simply bowled me over.
break away
break free
break loose At last, the hostage could break away from his captors.
break down Finally her car broke down.
break up Sue and Tim broke up last year.
bring along This year has brought along some significant changes.
bring down The president was brought down by this scandal.
bring in My job brings in 400 dollars per week.
bring up (1) She was brought up in Wisconsin.
(2) Why do you have to bring that up?
build up He needs to do some exercises to build himself up.
burst in with She burst in with the bad news.
butt in* How can we talk when you keep butting in all the time?
C
call in He called Kelly in.
call off I had to call off the barbecue because of the bad weather.
calm down Please calm down.
carry on Please carry on with your homework.
check out I will check it out.
check up (on) There is no need to check up on me.
close down The shop was closed down by the police.
close in (on) +
person She closed in on them quietly.
close down The restaurant was closed down by the health department.
come around* I knew he would come around in the end.
come back Will the good old days ever come back?
come by (1) My aunt came by yesterday.
(2) I hope he came by this money honestly.*
come in Can`t you just come in for a few minutes?
come over Why don`t you come over next weekend?
cool down It began to cool down after the thunderstorm.
count (up) on Can we count on you?
cut back (on) I have to cut back on the water usage.
cut out* Cut it out!
D
decide (up) on I decided on the iced tea.
The court has not yet decided on a ruling.
die off/out That species died out million years ago.
do again I probably wouldn`t do it again.
do in He tried to do his father in.
do up Please do your buttons up.
do without I guess I will have to do without lunch today.
draw near As the time drew near,...
drink up* Drink up, and let`s going.
drive on We drove on till night.
drive off I said good-bye and drove off.
drop by* I hope you guys can drop by our house some time.
drop in (on)* I can`t believe who dropped in on us last night.
drop off You can drop me off at the next red light.
dry out The clothes finally dried out.
E
ease off The storm eased off a little.
eat up Eat up, and let`s go.
edge away The students laughed and edged away from him.
end up How will this end up?
even out The surface of the road was evened out.
F
face up (to) You have to face up to challenges.
fall apart The whole thing falls apart.
fall back on/
rely on I had to fall back on my savings.
fall behind
get behind He`s falling behind with his car payments.
fall through I hope the house signing doesn`t fall through.
feel for I really feel for you.
fight back (at) It`s hard for him to fight back.
fight down I fought down the anger.
figure out* I just can`t figure her out.
fill in 1) I`d better fill the cracks in with something.
(2) Would you fill in the form, please?
fill in (for) I will have to fill