A Clue To Understand The Meanings Of Phrasal Verbs

Chapter II

A Clue to Understand the Meanings of Phrasal Verbs

As it was presented so far, English Phrasal Verbs are combinations of a verb root and a particle, for example drink up, figure out, put off. Naturally, one and the same form has several meanings, many of which are unpredictable from the central meanings of the verb root and the particle.

Phrasal Verbs have a large vocabulary challenge because most of them are idioms. Therefore, the meaning of a Phrasal Verb as a unit is typically very different from the meanings of the individual verb and the particle.

There are some Phrasal Verbs which have only metaphorical meanings. For example, to breeze in/into means to enter a place confidently, without seeming to care what other people think (E.g Jason breeze into the meeting and took charge.) Maybe the attitude and the action reminds us of the movement of a breeze (= a light wind). Similarly, to rope someone in means to persuade someone to do something that they do not really want to do (E.g Bill, see if you can rope in your little sisters.)

When someone digs up information, they discover it and the procedure seems similar to the way in which dogs find bones that have been buried in the ground (E.g. The press are still trying to dig everything they can up on her.)

Get back has the meaning to return from somewhere, as in the next example 'We got back yesterday' and return something from someone after it was lost, stolen or lent as in 'I got my money back from my brother.'

To get away means to go on holiday or to escape (E.g. I am looking forward to get away in India this Christmas!), but it can also mean to escape from someone or something (E.g. The house robbers were able to get away from the police).

The next one we are going to take a look at is to get across, whose meaning is to be able to explain a meaning when maybe the information is quite difficult (E.g. Agnes got her point across by giving lots of examples.)

To get by means to survive with what you have, despite your circumstances (E.g. I am running short on money for one month, but I was able to get by.), but it can also have the meaning of wanting to pass by someone, or through someone, or something. (E.g. Excuse me, Madam! May I get by you? )

As well as the above Phrasal Verbs with 'get', get off has a few different meanings. One of them is to get down from a plain, a train, a bus, or maybe a carnival ride (E.g. Andrea is going to get off at the next bus stop.) and it can also mean for someone to go without punishment for a crime (E.g I got off scot-free! This means I was free without having to pay the penalty. )

'The plane touched down' is not the same as 'the plane touched' or 'the plane touched downward', even though down and downward could be considered synonyms. Thus, in the Phrasal Verb touch down, touch and down combine, losing some of the meanings they have outside this Phrasal Verb, to form a lexical item approximately equivalent to the verb land.

Let’s have another example with another Phrasal Verb, namely pass out. For example, 'The teacher passed out the papers to the students', which means to give, distribute is different in meaning from 'I was so nervous at my final exam that I felt like I was going to pass out.' ( to faint, lose consciousness).

In the following example 'Her parents died when she was 10, so her grandparents brought her up', ‘brought up’ means raise, care for and educate a child, while this sentence 'That’s a great idea. You should bring it up at tomorrow’s conference.' can be understood as to introduce a topic into a conversation or discussion.

It is very important to say that bring up can’t be confused with grow up. 'A child grows up (gets bigger, older, taller)' and 'The adults bring up the child'.

Take out is another Phrasal Verb to be discussed in our research. 'He took his phone out of his pocket' is understood as to remove something from inside a place, but 'I took out five library books' means to borrow something. In the last example, take out is used with the meaning of taking out books from the library and taking out a loan (money) from the bank. Take out also has the meaning to bring someone on a social encounter, may or may not be romantic (E.g. Take your girlfriend out to the films.)

In 'The airplane took off', take off is not used with the same meaning as in 'Danielle takes off the Prime Minister actually well'. The first means that the plane leaves the ground and starts flying and in the second example, take off means to imitate someone in a humorous way.

A helpful characteristic of some very frequent 'take' Phrasal Verbs is that they use the verb with its most basic sense, 'to get and carry something with you when you go somewhere' and it is supposed to be easier to guess their meaning when the students hear about them for the first time.

For the Phrasal Verb take back, the meaning is to return something that you have bought to a shop (E.g. If the pullover is too small, Victor can take it back and get his money back.).

Take up means to fill or occupy time or space in the following example 'The conference took up a whole day.' and in 'I have just taken up swimming– I have had three lessons so far' means to start a sport, activity, or hobby.

The next Phrasal Verb, take away, means to remove something from a place (E.g. Someone needs to come and take the old chair away.).

The next Phrasal Verb is back up, which signifies to make an extra copy of computer data (E.g. Helen should back up her files so she won’t lose them if her computer crashes.)

Back up, when it is composed of two words is a verb and when it is composed of one word is a noun, back-up suggesting the extra copy of the information (E.g. Michael crashed his car into a tree while backing-up.)

Back up also means to move backwards (E.g. My brother can back up in a car or while walking.), but it has the meaning of giving moral/emotional support for someone’s position (E.g. My coworkers backed me up when I protested that the boss was giving us too much work.)

To blow up something means to fill it with air (E.g. Can you blow these balloons up for the party, please?), but when something blows up (or when somebody blows something up), it explodes (E.g. When a bomb blows up, it bursts loudly and with great force, often causing a lot of damage.)

Give away has two meanings: one is to betray (E.g Her false identity documents gave her away.) and the other is to give something to someone for free (E.g. I don’t want to give away the end of the movie.)

Work out means to be engaged in strenuous exercise for physical conditioning like in 'My sister-in –low needs to lose weight, so she is going to work out at least three times a week.' and to resolve, have a positive outcome, usually after difficulties or challenges as in 'There were a lot of problems during the project, but everything worked out in the end'.

To make up something is to invent a story or excuse (E.g. Irwin didn’t know the answer to the question, so he just made something up). This can be something written or said so as to deceive (a lie), a story or game to amuse. Make up also means to restore a good relationship after an argument or a fight (E.g. After not speaking to each other for two months, my daughter and her sister finally made up.) and to compensate for an error (E.g. I bought my girlfriend a nice gift to try to make up for missing her birthday party.), to compensate for a bad behavior etc.

It will be noted that the word make-up based on one word refers to cosmetics. (E.g. Some women wear no make-up at all.)

Now let’s consider another example: 'She never sends back all mail from these college places.' In this example, the meaning of send joins with the meaning of back. Send expresses the idea that the mail can be delivered and back points that it can be delivered in a reverse route, or returned.

Let’s have the following examples: 'Jeremy looked up the directions' and 'Anna looked up the road.' In the first example, the preposition up is a piece of the Phrasal Verb looked up, an element meaning to locate information in reference materials. The meaning of the sentence changes if the two words are not working together. In the second sentence, up the road is a prepositional phrase, thus in this sentence, looked up is not functioning as an entity.

We know what the verb 'ring' means to make a sound and we also know what the preposition 'up' means by itself, usually toward a higher point, but as with many Phrasal Verbs, when we put the elements together, their meanings can suffer modifications.

Ring up means to use a special machine to calculate the cost of something, such as goods or services (E.g. The cashier rang up our acquisitions.), but it can also mean to achieve something (E.g. The corporation rang up huge profits last quarter.) or to make a telephone call to someone (E.g. I will ring my doctor up tomorrow.).

In the next example, give up means surrender and doesn’t show to connect to the meaning of give or up (E.g. I learnt not to give up.) If you give up something that is bad for you, for example alcohol, smoking, etc. you bring to an end doing it or having it (E.g. Erika gave up smoking two years ago.).

If a machine breaks down, it stops working (E.g. Raul’s truck broke down near the train tracks.), but it can be also interpreted as someone inability to control his or her feelings and he or she starts to cry (E.g. Sarah broke down when she heard the sad news.).

On the other hand, breakdown, as a noun, expresses a physical or mental collapse (E.g. Savannah had a nervous breakdown after her son was kidnapped.).

To pick up something or somebody is to lift something or somebody by using your hands as in 'Maria picked her children's clothes up off the floor'.

We also use pick up for buying casual things (E.g. I picked up some bargains at the shop.), but we can use this Phrasal Verb with the meaning of learning, usually quickly and casually, not in a formal classroom atmosphere (E.g. When we moved to Italy, my kids picked up Italian within 4 months.)

The Phrasal Verb come back means to return to a place one has been before or to return to an earlier activity (E.g. Come back to Paris soon, I will miss you while you are away.). This verb can also mean to return to or recover a past success after a period of misfortune (E.g. Italy came back to beat Spain after being down 1-0 all game.)

The combination come on is the most common Phrasal Verb in any register. This verb has three main functions:

1. as an exclamation in a call for action:

E.g. Come on, let Andrew do it!

2. as a pre-departure call to move:

E.g. Come on, we better go.

3. as the main verb in a phrase, meaning to start or become activated:

E.g. The heating didn’t come on this morning.

The intransitive Phrasal Verb go on is also very common. Go on is similar to come on in having a number of different functions. However, unlike come on, go on is used often in both written and spoken registers.

as an exclamation in a call for action

E.g. It’s alright, rub it in. Go on!

To express continuation:

E.g. I just ignore her and went on. I didn’t have time to talk.

To mark continuation of some general action:

E.g. Ben went on to study the newspapers of 12 countries.

To mark an unspecified activity, with the meaning similar to ‘’happen’’.

E.g. Think what’s going on. It’s dreadful!

Several important 'go' Phrasal Verbs have meanings which are not so easy to be deduced. If a piece of work goes ahead, it starts or happens (E.g. If the project goes ahead, we will need more staff.), but if we say that something stops or disappears, it may be said to go away (E.g. That horrible smell seems to have gone away.)

Go and after taken as a Phrasal Verb, go after, means to try to get something that other people are also competing for (E.g. Our company is going after the software market in western Europe.), but this verb has a totally different meaning in the next example 'It would be dangerous to go after the murderer on your own'. In this sentence, go after can be interpreted as to try to catch someone in order to arrest or attack them and it is alike with the verb to pursue.

We say that time goes by, meaning that it passes (E.g. Several days went by and still we didn’t hear from our friend.) and we may say that a bomb goes off, meaning that it explodes (E.g The bomb went off in the center of the town.)

It is often said to go up when the level of something increases (E.g. Food prices are going up all the time) and we can also say that food or drink goes off, meaning that it stops being good to eat because it is too old (E.g. The meat is gone off – it smells awful!).

We may also talk about a light or a machine going off, meaning that it stops working (E.g. The heating just went off.) and lastly, if someone goes through a difficult time, she or he suffers during it (E.g. William’s going through a hard time at work.)

One meaning of check in is to show your ticket at the airport so that the airline knows you have arrived and they can put your bags on the aircraft (E.g. We have to check in at 8 o'clock.) and the other is to arrive at a hotel reception desk, tell the hotel staff who you are and collect your room key (E.g. We need to check into our hotel before 10 pm.)

To hang around somewhere is to spend time there doing very little (E.g. Will you stop hanging around the living-room and go and do something useful!), whereas to hang around with someone is to spend time with them (E.g. She hangs around with Jerry and Paige.)

One of the meanings of hang up is to suspend something, attach it at the top and let the lower part free (E.g. Your clothes are so untidy; why didn’t you hang them up last night?) and the other, mentioned by the dictionary, is to put down the telephone, end the conversation (E.g. Michel forgot to ask for her number before I hung up.)

On one hand, to move in means to start living in a new place and to put all your furniture and personal possessions into your new house (E.g. Mark and Alexandra have bought a new house and they are moving in next week.), on the other hand, to move in together is to start living with someone else (E.g. Peter and Carol got engaged yesterday and they plan to move in together next month.)

To sell out of something has the meaning to sell all of it and have no more left for people to buy (E.g. We are selling out of computers very fast. We must order some more.), but when all the tickets to a play, film, concert, or other public acts have been sold the event is sold-out, which is an adjective (E.g. Sebastian tried to buy tickets for opera’s concert but it's sold-out.)

When you come from a place, you were born there or lived there previously (E.g. Pauline comes from Alaska, so she is used to cold weather.), but when you come from a family or a social situation, your past knowledge helps to clarify your present attitudes and behavior (E.g. Amanda had a complicated childhood. She came from a broken home).

Figure out is another Phrasal Verb which has two meanings. One of its meanings is to be capable of understanding something or to solve a problem (E.g. I had to figure out the connection between the two events.) and the other is to understand what someone is like and why they behave in the way they do (E.g. Johanna is so unfriendly all the time. I can't figure her out.).

Another Phrasal Verb to be discussed here is to show up. This verb has many understandings, one of them being to arrive in a place where people are expecting (E.g. We will be very surprised if Diane and Sheila show up on time.)

The others significations of show up are to behave in a way that makes someone you are with feel embarrassed (E.g. Katy’s always boasting about how much money she's earned on clothes – like she's trying to show me up.) and to be clearly visible (E.g. The writing didn’t show up very well on green paper.)

Point out can be used in two ways in English. First of all, we can used this verb to indicate where something is by pointing (E.g. I don’t know which this street is. Could you point it out to me, please?) and on the other hand, we can use this Phrasal Verb for someone to indicate a problem with someone else’s idea ( E.g. It was pointed out to me that we don’t have enough money to buy a new house.)

We can use point to when we indicate people or things with our hand or our finger (E.g. Can you point to the man you saw carrying the gun?), but when a situation or occurrence causes us to consider something else, it points to that thing (E.g. These terrible test scores point to a need for some major changes in our Romanian educational system.)

Set up has a few meanings. Let’s describe them! One of its meanings is to assemble or prepare something for use as in the following example 'Can you help me set up the clock? I don’t know how to do it.', another connotation is to frame someone for a crime (E.g. I didn’t kill Mark’s wife! Mark killed her and then set me up!); it also means to start a business (E.g. I want to set up my own business, but I know it’s going to be hard.). To establish someone else in business is the meaning in this example 'I was set up in the construction business by my father' and to arrange a blind date for someone is the last sense taken by this Phrasal Verb (E.g. Can you set me up with your brother? I think he’s really pretty.)

Add up means make sense in 'Her behavior that day doesn’t add up.' and means count in this sentence 'He waits until he gets home to add up his tips'.

One of the interpretations of fill in is to complete (E.g. Be sure to fill in every blank on the third page.) and the other is to substitute (E.g. The boss asked me to fill in for her at the meeting.)

Tuck in and tuck away are the next two Phrasal Verbs to be analyzed. Tuck in means to put a child into bed and make sure they are warm and comfortable by covering them well (E.g. Sally tucked the children in and said goodnight.), but it also has the sense of eating food with enthusiasm because you like it or because you are hungry (E.g. The pizza is ready, come on, guys, let’s tuck in.) and it can be interpreted as putting the end of something such as a piece of clothing under or behind another piece in order to make it tidy (E.g. Tuck your dress in!)

Tuck away shows up the putting of something in a place where it is not easy to find or see (E.g The candy was tucked away on the top shelf.), but it can be interpreted as well as to put money in a safe place so that someone can use it later (E.g I bet Grandpa’s got quite a bit tucked away.).

Put out has several meanings in English. One of them being to extinguish something, frequently a fire or a cigarette (E.g. Please, put out the campfire before you go to bed.) To publish something, usually a magazine or newspaper is another sense of this Phrasal Verb (E.g. A brand new magazine for women is being put out by this publisher.), but it can also be understood as to cause an inconvenience for someone (E.g . My friend was late for our meeting, so he really put me out.) It has also the meaning of annoying someone (E.g. My boyfriend really put me out when he told me he didn’t like the gift I gave his mother.), to place something outside, often a pet (E.g. Darling, it’s time to go to bed. Can you put the cat out for the night?) and to make an effort to do something (E.g. I notice that you have really been putting out an attempt to improve sales.)

The dictionary called Macmillan Phrasal Verbs Plus gives 6 meanings of put off, which is a common Phrasal Verb: make somebody not want or like something (E.g. Lack of parking space was putting possible customers off.), delay something you do not want to do (E.g. Irene can’t put the decision off any longer.); another sense is to make something happen later (E.g. They had to put their wedding off because of an accident.), but it is very different from arranging to see somebody later ( E.g. We’ll have to put Paul off if your mother‘s coming on Saturday.) and totally different from preventing somebody from concentrating (E.g Stop laughing – you will put David off.). The last meaning is to let a passenger get off (E.g. I don’t put off any more passengers until I reach Spain.)

The Phrasal Verb put up can have the essential sense of putting an object into a higher position than that which it formerly occupied (E.g My friend has put me up for the position of chairman.), but it can also have the sense of giving money (E.g. The family has put up $14,000 towards the cost of their child’s medical treatment.) or showing your ability (E.g. Manchester united put up a marvelous performance thought the game.)

'He let me down' can be understood as 'he disappointed me' or as 'I was in the attic or in a tree and he helped me to get down'. The meaning is usually revealed by the context, but it will not always be immediately clear.

Turn up and turn around are also two difficult Phrasal Verbs. Turn up will be found in the dictionary with two meanings, one of them being to increase the volume (E.g. Turn up the TV so my grandmother can hear it.) and the other being to appear (E.g. Victoria didn’t expect you to turn up here.)

Turn around is also found in the dictionary with two meanings, to be exact with the meaning of stop being unsuccessful, get to be successful (E.g. We hope the new director will turn around our failing business.) and to reverse the direction of something or someone (E.g. Turn around and let my mother dust your back.)

The Phrasal Verb turn down carries the familiar meaning to decrease the volume as in 'He turned down the radio', but it can be interpreted as to reject as in 'Another corporation offered me a job but I turned them down'.

As the above Phrasal Verb, turn in carries the familiar meaning to go to bed (E.g. It’s late; we’d better turn in, good night.) or go to sleep and to tell the police about someone (E.g The thief had been hiding for mouths, but finally he decided to turn in.)

Leave out means to omit or exclude (E.g. Tell me what happened and don't leave out any details.) We can use it when we do not include information in a clarification or report, or when we do not include a person in an activity (E.g. It's not nice to leave your sister out of your games.).

We can use find out when we get news of something for the first time (E.g. Natalie just found out that she is pregnant.) and it is often used in a passive way to discover that someone has been dishonest or has tricked you (E.g. Mila knew she would be found out sooner or later.)

Put away means to put an object in its proper place as in 'The children don't like to put away their toys'.

Tear off means to remove with force, separate by tearing (E.g. Tear off a slip over there to get your number for queuing.), but it also has the meaning of remove clothes quickly (E.g. When they reached the oasis, the girls tore off their dresses and jumped into the water.)

One of the most frequently used Phrasal Verbs are those formed with the perceptional verb 'think'. When you think about something, you have a thought in your head concerning that thing. For example, let’s consider the next sentence 'Selena is thinking about how much enjoyable it is to go kayaking'. This means she might have a picture in her head of a kayaking trip she once took.

Sometimes, think about means to consider a possibility. In this use, think about is often followed by the '-ing' form of a verb (E.g. Have you thought about studying Japanese?, Peter and Dave thought about opening a toy store.)

The Phrasal Verb think of can be closed to the sense of think about. The difference is that when we think of something or someone it is more likely to be a passing thought (E.g. Isabel thought of calling his brother, but she didn’t.)
When we think about something or someone it is more likely a sustained period of reflection (E.g. I thought of you when he played your favorite song.)

Another signification of think of is to apply your memory or intelligence in order to provide some needed information (E.g. Can you think of any cause to refuse her application?) and it is also mean to have an opinion about someone or something (E.g. What do you think of the new shop in our town?)

To think ahead means to be thinking about the future, to be thinking about plans or arrangements (E.g. That friend of yours, Sean, seems to live from minute to minute. He never thinks ahead.), whereas think back refers to thinking about the past (E.g When I think back to my childhood, I realize my parents were very happy together.)

To think out means to analyze carefully (E.g. Paige usually takes the time to think out her choices.) and it is often followed by a clause beginning with 'what' (E.g. Eliza and Juliet thought out what they had to do.).

The meaning of think through is to make a careful analysis and it is regularly interchangeable with think out (E.g. Let’s think through our choices.)

To think over and think up are the last Phrasal Verbs which carry in their structure the verb "think". Think over means to consider carefully before deciding (E.g. I want you to think over my proposals.) and think up means to create a new idea of any type (E.g. Did Alex just think that up?)

Sit down and sit up both mean to assume a seated position; however the former is used in the general circumstances of taking a seat from a standing posture (E.g. Please, sit down and make yourselves comfortable.), whereas the latter is used in less frequent circumstances of changing a position from lying to sitting, in an upward manner (E.g. Would you like to sit up and read this article for a while?)

When we believe in something or somebody we are sure that something or somebody exists (E.g. I still believe in fairies.), but to believe in something is to have a strong belief that something is good or right (E.g. Their grandparents believed in working hard and helping others.) and it has a different interpretation when we believe in somebody, meaning we have confidence that they are a good trustworthy person, or that they can do something well (E.g. Angela wants to believe in her husband, but he lied her about everything.)

It is well known that wash up something means to clean the dishes, saucepans and cutlery that you have used for cooking and eating a meal (E.g. Can you help Tom washes up these dishes, please?), but it has the meaning of cleaning our hands with soap and water (E.g. Lunch is ready – go and wash up, please., but when something washes up it is carried to land by the sea or a river, and left there (E.g. The aged boat washed up on the beach in the hurricane.)

Run into (something or someone) and spring for (something) are the next Phrasal Verbs to be discussed here. Run into has the sense of accidentally bump into something or someone (E.g. Jason was typing on his phone while walking and he ran into a street mark.) or to meet someone out in public by chance and spring for is defined as to agree to pay for something (E.g. Angelina and Adele worked a lot of overtime last week, so their boss is going to spring for lunch for the staff on Friday.), or to buy a treat for someone (E.g. The new dress was expensive but it was so gorgeous that I sprang for it anyway.)

Cut down, cut off and cut out are the next Phrasal Verbs which are the most commonly used. Cut out is defined in all Phrasal Verbs’ dictionaries either as shape or form by cutting (E.g. She cut her dress out of some funny old material.), or to delete, remove, leave out (E.g. We think the director should have cut out the part with the unclothed old man on the beach.)

Cut down shows that something is going to be reduced (E.g. My mother needs to cut down on shopping this month.) and the other sense is to chop something down. (E.g. That man cut down trees from the forest.)

Cut off shows that something stopped suddenly (E.g. Our phone call was cut off when I drove into a subway.) and it is also mean that someone is interrupting you when you are speaking (E.g Don’t cut me off when I am explaining these exercises.)

Use up and usher in are two Phrasal Verbs which are not used by the students in their speaking or writing activities. The first means to finish, to consume all of something (E.g. Please, don't use the flour up; our grandmother wants to bake a cake later.) and the latter means to start a period of time in which a particular activity or process will take place (E.g. The talks ushered up in an era of international co-operation). Usher in is used mostly in journalism.

Save on and save up are those Phrasal Verbs which students use a lot in their writing and speaking, because their meaning is easier to be discovered. Save on means to reduce costs (E.g Mia uses Facebook to save on her phone bill.), while save up means to save for a specific purpose (E.g. David is saving up for a new computer).

To knock off is defined as to stop something (E.g. 'Knock it off!' she shouts at her kids who were riding their bikes through the flowers yard.) and the second sense which the dictionaries gave it is to reduce the price of something (E.g. My friend would only buy the bookcase at the yard sale once they knocked five dollars off the price.)

Hold back means to refrain from doing something or to restrain (E.g. Sue held back the curtain in her hand to get a better look out the window.)

Another Phrasal Verb to be discussed here is to lay off, which means to stop employing a worker, especially for a period of time in which there is not much work to do (E.g. The corporation announced they were laying off two hundred workers.)

There are also some Phrasal Verbs which students don’t use in their every day speaking or writing, such as snow under, kick off, boil over and drop off. Snow under has the next definition: to have too much work to do and it is frequently used in the past tense (E.g. I am totally snowed under at work these days.), whereas to kick off means to start something, to begin something in a certain way (E.g. Helene kicked the party off with some festive music.) Boil over is to overflow the sides of a pot while cooking (E.g. Be sure not to put too much water in the pot or it will boil over.) and finally, drop off has several meanings, namely to slowly decline (E.g. Transactions have dropped off considerably.), to fall asleep (E.g. My husband drops off every time when we watch a romantic movie.) and to deliver something, like doing an errand (E.g. Please, drop this parcel off at the post office for me!)

To rub out something is to remove writing from a surface by rubbing or wiping it with an eraser or a piece of cloth (E.g. The child made a mistake so he rubbed it out.) and rule out has two meanings, namely to eliminate from consideration, exclude (E.g.The choice of starting over again has been ruled out.) and prevent, make impossible (E.g. The snowstorm ruled out our rehearsal.)

The verb to fall can form several Phrasal Verbs with different meanings. To fall over is to fall to the ground from an upright position (E.g. The marathon runner fell over.), while to fall down to drop or to come down under the influence of gravity (E.g. He watched the leaves falling down.) To fall asleep means stop being awake, changing to a sleeping state (E.g. He always falls asleep early.)

When you hurry up you do something more quickly (E.g. Hurry up! We will be late for school.)

To join in something is to become involved in an activity with other people (E.g. Anns is very shy. She never joins in with the other children's games.)

To meet up is to meet someone, or a group of people, in order to do something together (E.g. Can we meet meet up for lunch next week to discuss your plans for the business?)

To queue up for something is to wait in a line (a queue) in order to get something, do something, or go somewhere (E.g. We had to queue up for more than an hour to get a taxi home.) and to be queueing up to do something is to want to do it very much (E.g. If people are queueing up for something or to do something, a lot of them want to do it or have it.)

Do up means to make something look good (E.g. Aurora did up her makeup before she went to the dance.), do (something) over means do again (E.g. You didn't get a good grade on the homework assignment. You need to do it over.) and do (someone) in has the meaning of killing someone (E.g. The robbers tried to steal my money and then do me in.)

When you fall into a light sleep, you doze off (E.g. I went to a movie last night, but it was so boring I dozed off.), when you recover from a serious illness or injury, you pull through (E.g. The doctor didn't think his chances were very good, but he pulled through.) and when people throw up, they vomit (E.g. Amber was so sick that she threw up all over my shoes.)

When you cheat on your sexual partner, you have sex or a romantic relationship with another person (E.g. Sarah filed for divorce after she caught George cheating on her.) and when you do something dishonest so that you can do better on a test, you cheat on the test (E.g. The teacher caught Melissa cheating on the exam.)

When you give someone money in exchange for something, you pay for it or pay someone for it (E.g. Can you pay for this stuff with a credit card?), but when you are punished for something, you pay for what you have done (E.g. Dorian caught the guy who's spreading these false rumors about his, and he paid for ruining his reputation.)

When you enclose an object in some kind of paper, usually gift wrapping paper or packaging paper, we wrap it up (E.g Daniel has to wrap this gift up before he goes to the party.)

When a building or other structure burns down or someone burns it down, we say that it is completely destroyed by fire (E.g. Though most of Chicago burned down in 1871, a few buildings survived.)

When things increase in number and start to form a pile, they pile up (E.g The snow piled up so high that I couldn't open my door.) and the other sense is when work or something else that must be done increases faster than you can do it (E.g I'm really worried about money. My bills are piling up faster than I can pay them.)

Hold up, as a Phrasal Verb, is used when a wall, a column or other structure supports the weight of something above it, such as a ceiling (E.g. The house was held up by jacks the foundation was repaired.) and it is also used when you prevent something from happening or cause it to happen late (E.g. When things or people delay you, they hold you up.)

When we talk to someone to get permission for something or to arrange something, we see about (E.g. Is Luisa going to see about changing her flight from the fifth to the sixth? ), but when we are upset about a change or a new policy, and we want to say that we will take some action or talk to someone in authority to prevent or reverse the change or new policy, we say 'I will see about that'.

When a fire, candle, or other flame stops burning because it has no more fuel, it burns out (E.g. We need more wood; the fire has burned out.) This Phrasal Verb is also used when a light bulb stops producing light because it has reached the end of its useful life (E.g. These new bulbs are guaranteed not to burn out for ten years.). It also has the meaning of forcing people to leave their home or some other shelter or hiding place because of fire or fire damage (E.g. The only way to get the enemy soldiers out of the tunnels was to burn them out.)

On one hand, when you fight back, you fight, either physically or with words, someone or something that attacked you first (E.g. The soldiers fought back bravely, but the situation was hopeless.), on the other hand, when you fight back an emotional response, such as tears or fear, you try very hard to overcome the emotion (E.g. My grandma fought back tears when she saw the little white coffins.)

When you learn about something for the first time, you hear of it (E.g. Do I know Fred Grey? No, I have never heard of him.) and the second sense is when you learn information about something that makes you angry and you say you will not hear of it, you mean that you will not tolerate or allow it (E.g. Our daughter wants to fly to America with her boyfriend? I won't hear of it!).

To pick out is when you choose something from a group because you prefer it to the others in the group (E.g Have you picked out a dress to wear to the party yet?) and it is also used when you are able to find and recognize something in a group (E.g. The police detective asked me if I could pick the mugger out from a group of photos.)

Chicken out is used when you do not do something because you are afraid (E.g.We was going to ask Heather to go to the dance with us, but we chickened out.)

Hook up has two meanings: one is when you connect one electronic device to another (E.g. I hooked my sound system up to my TV, and now the TV is in stereo.) and the second is when you meet people somewhere, usually after you have done some things separately (E.g. You do your shopping, Tina goes to the post office, and you will hook up around 2:30, okay? )

When you kick back money to businesspeople or government officials, you illegally and secretly give them a percentage of the money that they spend with your company as a reward for giving you the business (E.g. She offered to kick back 10 percent if I'd switch to her company.) and the other sense is to relax (E.g. Let's kick back and watch the football game tonight.)

Screw up is a Phrasal Verb which is not normally used by the students and it is used when you damage something or do something wrong or badly (E.g. Angelo sent his wife a letter that he wrote to his girlfriend. He sure screwed up.) and the second meaning is when people make a mistake that causes a problem for you (E.g. The travel agent forgot to reconfirm my flight, and it really screwed me up.)

Heat up is used when something or someone makes something hotter (E.g. Sometimes the sun heats up the desert to 100 degrees.)

When people or things block a narrow passage, such as a pipe, drain, or hole, so that nothing can flow through it, they plug it up (E.g. Don't pour bacon grease in the sink; it'll plug up the drain.)

Crack down means to enforce rules and laws more than you enforced them before or you make new, stronger rules and laws (E.g. The chief of police said he was going to crack down on car robbery.)

When something upsets, shocks, or frightens you badly, it shakes you up (E.g. Seeing all those dead bodies sure shook me up.), but it is also means to mix something by shaking it (E.g. Gina have to shake up Italian dressing before you open the bottle.) and we can also use it to make major changes in an organization or business (E.g The new CEO shook up management at his company, and a lot of people lost their jobs or were transferred.)

Trade in means to give an old car or other piece of expensive equipment to someone you are buying a new car or piece of equipment from in order to get a lower price, you trade the old car or piece of equipment in (E.g. I will get a good price on my new photocopier if I trade in my old one.)

When you wear something, such as an item of clothing, perfume, or cosmetics, you have it on (E.g Sarah had red pants and a blue shirt on.) and when you have an electrical device on, you are using it (E.g. Last summer was so cool that my uncles had the air conditioner on only two or three times.)

Lighten up means to relax and become less serious (E.g. You have been criticizing me all day. Will you please lighten up?) The other meaning is to change the subject of a conversation from something serious to soemthing more cheerful and pleasant (E.g. Lighten it up — you have been talking about death all night long.)

When you plan ahead, you plan for a future situation or activity so that you will not have a problem then (E.g. Danielle is a good manager. She always plans ahead in case there's a problem.). Plan ahead is similar to think ahead.

Settle for is to accept something even though it may not be exactly what you want or need (E.g. The strikers wanted an 10 percent pay increase, but they settled for 5 percent.).

When you shut off an electrical or mechanical device, you cut the power going to it so that it stops operating (E.g. Tim's mother told him to shut off the TV and go to bed.) Turn off and switch off are similar to shut off.

It is well known that the Phrasal Verbs are an interesting linguistic phenomenon – syntactically, morphologically and semantically.

Firstly, they are very frequent in every-day conversation, and non-native speakers, who desire to sound natural when speaking this language, need to learn their grammar in order to know how to produce them correctly. Secondly, the custom of inventing Phrasal Verbs has been the basis of great improvement of the language.

By means of Phrasal Verbs it is depicted the greatest variety of human actions and relations.

For example, people can be, taken down, taken off, taken up taken in or one can keep in with people, one can set people up or down, or hit people off. Thus there is barely any action or attitude of one human being to another which cannot be communicated by means of these Phrasal Verbs.

It is also well known that English has some hundreds of Phrasal Verbs, each a combination of verb plus preposition which has a different sense or not so different from the individual meanings of verb and preposition. Consequently, that it must be seen as a free lexical item.