Phrasal Verbs



Phrasal Verbs :



Many English verbs occur with one or more prepositions or adverbs where the meaning is not really apparent from the different elements. Here is a list of many of these combinations for the verbs. We have omitted most of the forms considered slang.

Phrasal Verbs in Alphabetical Order :

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M
N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Phrasal Verbs : S



  1. See after : take care of
    She will see after you until I return.

  2. See off : take leave of
    They saw the children off at the airport.

  3. See out : escort to the door
    Judy will see you out. Please come again.

  4. See through : understand the true nature
    I can see through his plans.

  5. See through : continue
    I will see this deal through until they sign on the bottom line.

  6. See through : support in difficult times
    My dad saw us through financially the first few years.

  7. See to : attend to
    See to the new patient and I will find his chart.

  8. Sell off : get rid of at discount prices
    We will be selling off any leftover items at the end of the month.

  9. Sell out : dispose of all
    The tickets were all sold out by mid-morning.

  10. Send for : summon
    They sent for the police.

  11. Send in : cause to arrive
    They sent in dozens of e-mail messages.

  12. Send out : order from
    They sent out for two pizzas and some beer.

  13. Send up : confined to jail
    He was sent up for five years on a drug charge.

  14. Set about : begin
    They set about their business.

  15. Set apart : distinguish
    Her qualifications clearly set her apart from the other candidates.

  16. Set aside : reserve
    Can you set aside two tickets for us?

  17. Set aside : reject
    Their claim was set aside by the service manager.

  18. Set at : attack
    The dogs set at the two little boys throwing stones.

  19. Set back : slow down
    The family was severely set back by the flood.

  20. Set back : cost a lot
    That new part for the car set me back one hundred dollars.

  21. Set down : seat someone
    They set the baby down at the table.

  22. Set down : put in writing
    He wanted to set down his thoughts before the meeting.

  23. Set down : land a plane
    The pilot set down in a grassy field.

  24. Set forth : express
    He set forth his principles in his campaign speech.

  25. Set forth : propose
    The attorneys set forth the necessary conditions of the tentative agreement.

  26. Set in : insert
    His last words are set in stone.

  27. Set in : begin happening
    The storm set in overnight.

  28. Set off : initiate
    His words set off a rally on Wall Street.

  29. Set off : explode
    He set off the bomb.

  30. Set out : undertake
    He set out to conquer the world.

  31. Set out : lay out graphically
    He set out the new plans for the museum.

  32. Set to : begin
    Can we set to work?

  33. Set up : put forward, select
    He was set up as the group’s leader.

  34. Set up : assemble
    He set up the train set in the living room.

  35. Set up : establish business
    What do we still need to set up production?

  36. Set up : arrange
    Please set up the glasses on the rear shelf of the cabinet.

  37. Set upon : attack violently
    The dogs set upon the cat.

  38. Sew up : complete successfully
    We finally sewed up the deal.

  39. Shake down : subject to search
    I want you to shake down his apartment for evidence in the case.

  40. Shake hands : greet by clasping one another’s hands
    Americans often shake hands when they meet one another.

  41. Shake off : dismiss
    He shook off the injury and continued to play.

  42. Shake off : get rid of
    How can I shake off this cold?

  43. Shake up : upset
    The death of his father really shook him up.

  44. Shake up : rearrange drastically.
    He will really shake up the industry.

  45. Shape up : develop
    This is shaping up to be a close contest.

  46. Shape up : improve to the standard.
    He will have to shape up or he’ll be fired.

  47. Shoot down : bring down
    They shot down the enemy aircraft.

  48. Shoot for : aspire
    You ought to shoot for the top job.

  49. Shoot up : increase dramatically
    The stock prices shot up toward the end of the day.

  50. Shoot up : damage or terrorize a town
    The guerrillas shot up the entire village.

  51. Shoot straight : be truthful
    I love someone who shoots straight in negotiations.

  52. Shop around : look for bargains
    The girls love to shop around at the discount store.

  53. Shop around : look for something better, like a job.
    We decided to shop around for a while, before we make a career decision.

  54. Show around : act as a guide
    My daughter can show you around the city if you have time.

  55. Show off : display
    The goods were shown off to their best advantage.

  56. Show off : behave ostentatiously
    He always likes to show off in front of his friends.

  57. Show up : be visible
    The cancer showed up clearly on the x-ray.

  58. Show up : arrive
    Will they ever show up?

  59. Shut down : stop something from operating
    They shut the plant down.

  60. Shut off : stop the flow
    Shut off the electricity before you work on the outlet.

  61. Shut off : isolate
    He was shut off from all news for two months.

  62. Shut out : prevent from scoring
    We were able to shut them out in the last inning of the game.

  63. Shut up : silence, be silent
    You should shut up before you get in more trouble.

  64. Sing out : cry out
    He sang out from the rear of the crowd.

  65. Sit down : take a seat
    Please sit down until you are called.

  66. Sit in : participate
    They sat in on the discussions.

  67. Sit in : participate in a sit-in demonstration
    The demonstrators intend to sit in at the plant gates tomorrow.

  68. Sit on : consider
    Can we sit on this for a day or two and then give you our response?

  69. Sit on : suppress
    The defense attorneys sat on the new evidence.

  70. Sit out : stay to the end
    We will sit this out until it is over.

  71. Sit out : not participate
    I sat out the second match and let my brother play.

  72. Sit up : rise from lying to sitting position
    After his nap he sat up in bed.

  73. Sit up : sit with spine erect
    Mothers always want you to sit up straight.

  74. Sit up : stay up late
    They sat up until past midnight waiting for their daughter to come home.

  75. Sit up : become suddenly alert
    He sat up at the sound of shots.

  76. Sleep in : sleep late
    I like to sleep in on Sundays.

  77. Sleep out : sleep away from one’s home
    The parents are sleeping out this weekend.

  78. Sleep over : spend the night at another home
    The girls slept over at their friend's house.

  79. Sleep with : have sexual relations
    He slept with her for the first time on their vacation.

  80. Slip away : depart without taking one’s leave
    They just slipped away from the party.

  81. Slip out : depart unnoticed
    He slipped out for a cigarette break.

  82. Smell out : discover through investigation
    They smelled out the criminal after years of investigation.

  83. Sound off : express an opinion
    He sounded off about taxes at the town meeting.

  84. Sound out : elicit an opinion
    Sound out the board on this matter before Monday.

  85. Speak out : talk freely
    He spoke out at our weekly meeting.

  86. Speak up : talk loud enough to be heard
    We can’t hear you. Would you please speak up?

  87. Speak up : talk without fear
    You must learn to speak up for your rights.

  88. Spell out : read slowly
    Try to spell it out if you can't understand the meaning.

  89. Spell out : make clear
    Would you please spell out your specific objections?

  90. Spell out : decipher
    Let's see if we can spell out the new proposal and write a response.

  91. Spin off : develop from an existing project
    They spun off two shows from the original.

  92. Spin out : rotate out of control
    The car spun out on the ice when he hit the brakes.

  93. Split up : part company
    After ten years of marriage they decided to split up.

  94. Stand by : be ready
    Stand by for the commercial.

  95. Stand by : remain uninvolved
    He just stood by and watched.

  96. Stand by : remain loyal
    She stood by me in my time of trouble.

  97. Stand down : withdraw, cease work
    The soldiers on duty stood down at midnight.

  98. Stand for : represent
    What do you stand for?

  99. Stand for : put up with
    I don’t know why I stand for this nonsense.

  100. Stand in : replace
    She stood in for the sick actress.

  101. Stand off : stay at a distance
    They stood off and observed from afar.

  102. Stand on : be based on
    These findings stand on my previous calculations

  103. Stand on : insist on
    There are times when you must stand on ceremony.

  104. Stand out : be conspicuous
    She really stood out in the green dress.

  105. Stand out : refuse compliance
    He is going to stand out against the tax people.

  106. Stand over : supervise
    She stood over him the entire test.

  107. Stand to : prepare to act
    The police were ordered to stand to.

  108. Stand up : remain valid
    His conclusions stood up to various attacks.

  109. Stand up : miss an appointment
    She stood him up again last evening.

  110. Stand up for : defend
    I stood up for you in my meeting with the school hoard.

  111. Start out : begin a trip
    They started out for Miami at dawn.

  112. Stave off : prevent
    They staved off the attackers countless times.

  113. Stay put : remain in place
    Now you kids stay put until I get the ice cream.

  114. Slay up : remain awake
    They stayed up all night talking about old times.

  115. Stick around : remain
    He stuck around for an hour after the press conference to sign autographs.

  116. Stick out : be prominent
    He really sticks out in a crowd.

  117. Stick up : to rob at gunpoint
    They were stuck up twice in six months.

  118. Stick up for : defend
    He always sticks up for his kid brother.

  119. Stop by : visit
    They stopped by for coffee after the theater.

  120. Stop off : interrupt a trip
    They stopped off in Rome for two days.

  121. Strike down : fell with a blow
    He was struck down by a lightning bolt.

  122. Strike out for : begin a course of action
    He struck out for California on his own.

  123. Strike out : fail in one’s attempts
    He struck out in his attempts to get approval for the highway.

  124. Strike up : start
    Strike up the band!

  125. String along : entice by giving false hope
    They strung him along for a few weeks before telling him they had hired someone else.

  126. String out : prolong
    How long can we string out these talks.

  127. Siring up : hang someone
    They strung him up without a trial.

  128. Swear at : verbally abuse
    She swore at them like a sailor.

  129. Swear by : rely on
    I swear by these calculations.

  130. Swear by : take an oath
    Do you swear by the Bible?

  131. Swear in : administer a legal oath
    He was sworn in as Governor

  132. Swear off : renounce
    I have sworn off cigarettes.

  133. Swear out : process
    The detectives swore out a warrant for his arrest.

  134. Sweat out : await anxiously
    Some students sweated out the two weeks before grades were mailed home.




Phrasal Verbs in Alphabetical Order

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M
N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z


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