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Phrasal Verbs with UP 3

If you make a mess, you need to 'clear it up'.

• It was your party. You clear up the mess.
• Don't expect me to clear up after you.

If you need some support, you need somebody to 'back you up'.

• If you report it, I'll back you up.
• Nobody would back me up when I complained.

If there is none left, you have 'used it all up'.

• The ketchup bottle is empty. We must have used it all up.
• We must stop for petrol (or gas!) . We've used it all up.

On a special occasion, you put on fine clothes – you dress up.

• Do we need to dress up for the party?
• I like dressing up and going somewhere fancy.

If you fall behind in your studies, you need to 'catch up'.

• He was ill for two months and is struggling to catch up.
• I need to put in some work to catch up on what I missed.

If you go to bed late, you 'stay up'.

• My student daughter stays up until 3 every day.
• I cannot stay up late. I've got to start early tomorrow.

Perhaps my daughter's parents didn't 'bring her up' correctly.

• She was brought up very strictly.
• He's been very well brought up.

When it's time to finish drinking, you tell everybody to 'drink up'.

• Drink up. We have to leave now.
• It's time to go so drink up.

If you like vegetables as I do, you 'eat them all up' and don't leave any on your plate.

• If you eat up all your carrots, you can have some ice cream.
• I ate up all the chocolate that we had.

If you need some information, you should 'look it up' on Google.

• I looked up the name of the capital of Scotland. It is not Glasgow.
• Can you look up his phone number for me, please?

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Phrasal Verbs with UP 4

If someone 'beats you up', they hit and kick you and hurt you a lot.

• The muggers beat him up badly.
• I was beaten up so badly that I was off work for a month.

If you 'bottle up' a feeling or emotion, you suppress them and don't express them.

• If you bottle up your feelings, you will make yourself ill.
• I was angry but I bottled up my feelings during the meeting.

If you 'call someone up', you phone them.

• I tried to call you up earlier but there was no answer.
• Call me up when you get a chance.

If something 'crops up', it happens unexpectedly.

• Something has cropped up. I am going to have to work late.
• If a problem crops up when I am away, give me a call on my cell phone.

If you 'freshen up', you wash and make yourself more presentable.

• I need a minute to freshen up before we meet them.
• When they arrive, they will probably need a few moments to freshen up after the journey.

If your eyes 'light up', they become excited.

• Her eyes lit up when she saw the dress.
• His eyes lit up when he saw her wearing the dress.

If you 'own up', you confess to something.

• Nobody has owned up to starting the fire.
• He owned up to being a big fan of Britney.

If you 'polish something up', you improve it.

• The basic report is fine but you need to polish it up a bit.
• I must polish up my Japanese before we go to Tokyo.

If you 'speed up', you go faster.

• We need to speed up production. It is taking too long.
• Can you speed up a bit? I am going to miss my train.

If you 'tighten up' something, you make it more secure.

• We need to tighten up security in the light of these threats.
• We need to tighten up our quality control system. There have been too many mistakes.

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Phrasal Verbs with UP 5

If you 'do up' your coat, you fasten it.

• Do up your jacket. It looks untidy.
• Can you do up my coat for me? My hands are frozen.

'Do up' can also mean to decorate or make repairs to something.

• Buy me the paint and I will do up my room.
• I'm going to do up my car so that I can sell it.

To 'hold up' can mean to delay.

• We were held up by a traffic accident.
• I don't mean to hold you up but we must finish this discussion.

To 'keep up with' can mean to go at the same speed as.

• It is difficult to keep up with all the changes they are making.
• I don't know how you keep up with all the news.

To 'keep up' can mean to maintain.

• It is difficult to keep up the payments on my new car.
• I can't afford to keep up an apartment in town and a house in the country.

If you 'kick up a fuss', you complain loudly about something.

• He will kick up a fuss when he finds out that he is not invited to the meeting.
• The restaurant had given away our table so I kicked up a fuss and got another one.

If you 'stir up' trouble, you cause it by agitation.

• She is always stirring up trouble about some grievance or another.
• Some shareholders tried to stir up trouble about the sale of the factory.

If you 'sum up', you briefly restate the main points of a meeting or discussion.

• I'd like to sum up my presentation with this quote from Winston Churchill.
• Could somebody sum up what you talked about this morning?

If you 'turn up' a dial, you increase it.

• Could you turn up the volume? I cannot hear it.
• That's the brightest I can make the picture. I've turned up the control to the maximum.

If you 'turn up' somewhere, you arrive, sometimes unexpectedly.

• John turned up at the party, even though he wasn't invited.
• He's always turning up for work an hour late.

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Phrasal Verbs with OUT 1

If you 'ask someone out', you invite them out on a date (with the hope of romance between you.)

• I want to ask her out but I am too shy.
• He asked me out on Friday but I told him I had to wash my hair.

If you 'cut something out', you no longer do it/ eat it etc.

• My doctor told me to cut out dairy products.
• I cut out going to the gym because I did not have the time and now I am fat.

If you 'eat out', you go to a restaurant.

• He never cooks and always eats out or has a takeaway.
• For my birthday, I would like to eat out somewhere nice.

If you 'jump out', you come out quickly and suddenly.

• I was walking quietly down the street when this young man jumped out in front of me.
• Stop the car at the corner and I will jump out.

If you 'keep someone out', you prevent them from entering.

• There is extra security today to keep the protestors out.
• Please keep out of my office. I need some peace and quiet.

If you 'leave something out', you do not mention it.

• Did you leave anything out or is that the whole story?
• It is just a summary. I left out a lot of the details.

If something 'slips out', it escapes quickly and quietly.

• I have slipped out of the meeting for a few minutes but I must get back.
• I did not intend to tell him. It just slipped out.

If you 'squeeze something out ' , you get it out using force or pressure.

• I can never squeeze out that last bit of toothpaste from the tube.
• I managed to squeeze out of her that the job was offered to Alain.

If you 'stay out', you do not come home.

• I stayed out all night and I feel terrible.
• We stayed out celebrating until the early hours.

If you 'walk out' , you leave as a sign of protest.

• When we heard their derisory offer, we walked out of the meeting.
• This presentation is dreadful. I have a good mind to walk out.

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Phrasal Verbs with OUT 2

When you finish your stay in a hotel, you have to 'check out' at reception and pay your final bill.

• I need to check out of my hotel room by 11.
• You check us out whilst I order a taxi for the airport.

If you 'lock yourself out', you close a door without having the key to get back in.

• Richard managed to lock himself out of his hotel room stark naked.
• I've left the keys in the car and locked myself out.

If you 'pick something out', you choose it, often with some care.

• Harry has picked out all the cashew nuts and left only the peanuts for me.
• From the thirty candidates, we've picked out seven to interview.

If you 'reach out' for something, you extend your arm to get it (sometimes metaphorically.)

• Drivers have to reach out a long way to insert the ticket in the machine.
• Our present customers are almost all over fifty. We need to reach out to a younger public.

If you 'rush out', you leave or send out very quickly.

• I wanted to speak to Jane but she rushed out as soon as the meeting was over.
• We rushed out the new catalogue and it is full of spelling errors.

If you 'throw something out', you get rid of it.

• We need to throw out the terrible printers we have and buy some new ones.
• You shouldn't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

If you warn somebody to 'look out', it means that there is danger.

• Look out! The boss is on the warpath.
• Look out! There's a radar camera just up ahead.

If you 'send something out' you send it to a lot of people (for example, to a mailing list.)

• I'll be sending out the newsletter early next week.
• Have you sent out the invitations yet?

If someone or something 'stands out', it is very noticeable or is better than similar people or things.

• One candidate stands out from the rest.
• He likes to stand out from the crowd.

If you 'pour out' your (usually sad) feelings or your thoughts, you talk about them very honestly and without holding anything back.

• He poured his heart out to me about his recent divorce.
• Don't hold back. Let it all pour out. It will do you good.

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