Phrasal Verbs That Start With “M”
Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
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Muddle through | Do or achieve something without knowing what is required or having a plan. | We faced uncertainty and just muddled through. |
Muddle up | Mess up ordered or sequenced things. | My cleaner muddled up my books, and now I can’t find anything. |
Muddle up | Mistake one thing for another because of similarities. | I tend to muddle up her and her sister because they look alike. |
Mug up | Study quickly or revise. | I need to mug up before the exam tomorrow. |
Mug up on | Study or revise something quickly. | I have to mug up on my history for the test next week. |
Mull over | Think about a problem or issue. | She mulls over decisions carefully before making them. |
Muscle in | Involve oneself in something unwanted. | He tried to muscle in on our project, but we didn’t want him to be part of it. |
Muscle in on | Become involved in something despite opposition. | She muscled in on the conversation, even though we preferred to handle it ourselves. |
Muscle into | Get involved despite opposition. | They’re muscling into our territory, and it’s challenging to stop them. |
Muscle out | Force someone out using power or influence. | They used their connections to muscle the competitors out of the market. |
Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
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Mop up | Clean up a spilled liquid. | I used a cloth to mop up the coffee I had accidentally knocked over. |
Mope about | Wander around while feeling miserable. | She didn’t get the job and has been moping about all afternoon. |
Mope around | Move aimlessly while feeling sad. | He’s been moping around since his girlfriend left him. |
Mount up | Accumulate or increase gradually. | My debts mounted up while I was in university due to my overspending. |
Mouth off | Speak angrily or rudely about something. | I always get angry and start mouthing off when I see unfairness on the news. |
Move ahead | Make progress, especially after a delay. | The construction project can move ahead now that permission has been granted. |
Move along | Instruct someone to leave a place. | The police told the bystanders to move along as they were obstructing the sidewalk. |
Move along | Progress or develop satisfactorily. | The project’s moving along smoothly, and we expect everything to be ready on time. |
Move away | Leave the area where you’ve been living. | I moved away from my hometown after getting a job offer in another city. |
Move away from | Stop using or doing something in favor of another. | They’re moving away from Windows and switching to Linux for their operating system. |
Move down | Lower someone or something to a lower level. | He was finding the course too difficult, so they moved him down to a lower class. |
Move in | Begin living in a new place. | The new tenants moved in a few weeks ago after the previous occupants moved out. |
Move in on | Approach, often with the intention of taking advantage. | As he watched, the predators began to move in on the unsuspecting prey. |
Move into | Start living in a new place. | They moved into the new house as soon as it was ready for occupancy. |
Move on | Change the subject or change jobs. | She decided to move on to another company where she could earn a better salary. |
Move on | Encourage people to leave a place. | The police had to move the crowd on because they were blocking traffic. |
Move out | Leave a place where you’ve been living or working. | She’s tired of living there and is planning to move out soon. |
Move out | Remove something from a place. | The president announced they would move the troops out of the warzone next year. |
Move out | Change lanes or position to overtake a vehicle. | I moved out to overtake the slow-moving truck ahead of me. |
Move towards | Make preparations for something. | The government is moving towards holding free and fair elections in the country. |
Move up | Shift to make space for someone or something else. | Could you move up a bit so that I can sit down? |
Move up | Progress to a higher level or position. | They moved her up to senior management after she consistently performed well. |
Muddle along | Continue without a clear plan or direction. | If you’re ambitious, you cannot afford to muddle along without a goal or strategy. |
Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
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Mess around with | Try to make something better but end up making it worse. | They messed around with the computer, and now it won’t even turn on. |
Mess over | Treat someone unfairly or poorly. | The company really messed her over when they didn’t give her the promotion she deserved. |
Mess up | Ruin or spoil something. | They completely messed up the presentation by forgetting to include the important data. |
Mess up | Make something dirty or disorganized. | The kids messed up the living room with their toys scattered everywhere. |
Mess up | Cause emotional or mental distress. | Losing his job really messed him up, and he’s been struggling with depression since then. |
Mess with | Get involved in something dangerous or harmful. | He’s been messing with drugs, and it’s starting to affect his health. |
Mess with | Annoy or provoke someone. | Don’t mess with him; he’s in a bad mood today. |
Mess with | Associate with or get involved with someone or something negative. | He’s been messing with some shady characters lately. |
Mess with | Attempt to fix or modify something, often unsuccessfully. | She’s been messing with the computer for hours, but it still won’t start. |
Mete out | Administer or deliver something, usually punishment or justice. | The judge meted out a harsh sentence to the convicted criminal. |
Mill around | Wander aimlessly or hang around without purpose. | There were a lot of people milling around in the park on a Sunday afternoon. |
Miss out | Fail to take advantage of an opportunity. | If you don’t come to the party, you’ll miss out on all the fun. |
Miss out | Exclude someone or something. | Let’s not miss out anyone when we’re making the guest list. |
Miss out on | Lose the chance to experience or achieve something. | She missed out on a great job opportunity because she didn’t apply in time. |
Mix up | Confuse or mistake one thing for another. | I always mix up their names because they look so similar. |
Mix up | Add variety or excitement to something. | The DJ mixed up the playlist with some old classics and new hits. |
Mock up | Create a rough model or prototype of something. | They mocked up a design of the new building before starting construction. |
Moggy off | Leave or depart from a place. | Let’s moggy off before it gets too late and we miss the last train. |
Monkey around | Behave in a silly or playful manner, especially when it’s not appropriate. | Stop monkeying around and focus on the task at hand. |
Mooch about | Spend time idly or aimlessly. | After finishing his work, he decided to mooch about in the park for a while. |
Mooch around | Wander or move slowly without a specific destination. | They spent the afternoon mooching around the city, exploring its hidden gems. |
Mop up | Clean or resolve a messy situation. | After the party, they had to mop up the spilled drinks and food from the floor. |
Mop up | Finish off the last remaining bits or pieces of something. | I used the bread to mop up the delicious sauce left on my plate. |
Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
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Mash up | Break or damage something severely. | He completely mashed up my MP3 player and all my files were lost. |
Max out | Reach the maximum limit of something. | She maxed out her credit cards, spending beyond her means. |
Measure against | Evaluate or judge by comparing. | The work doesn’t look impressive when measured against what our competitors have done. |
Measure off | Measure and mark the endpoint of something. | The tailor measured off the material for my suit before cutting. |
Measure off | Mark a specific length on something. | He measured off a meter of silk fabric before cutting it. |
Measure out | Measure or weigh a specific amount. | He measured out the flour needed for the bread recipe. |
Measure out | Weigh or measure an exact quantity. | She measured out a hundred grams of the powder for the experiment. |
Measure up | Determine the size of something. | The estate agent measured up all the rooms in the house before listing it for sale. |
Measure up | Be of satisfactory quality or standard. | She didn’t measure up in her probationary period, so her contract wasn’t extended. |
Measure up | Be good enough or worthy of something. | I hope to measure up to the high expectations you have for me. |
Meet with | Experience something, typically negative. | They met with unexpected problems during the project. |
Melt down | Heat something solid until it becomes liquid. | They melted down the gold statue and recast it into gold bars. |
Mess about | Play or handle something carelessly. | The children were messing about with the TV remote and accidentally broke it. |
Mess about | Treat someone poorly or without respect. | He’s always messing me about, never keeping his promises. |
Mess about | Engage in extramarital or casual sexual relationships. | He’s been messing about since he got married, which is causing strain on their relationship. |
Mess about with | Have casual or extramarital sexual relationships. | She’s been messing about with a coworker, which is creating tension in the office. |
Mess about with | Attempt to improve something ineffectively. | The computer was working fine until he started messing about with its settings. |
Mess around | Play or act frivolously, without seriousness. | I was messing around on the internet instead of doing my work. |
Mess around | Treat someone poorly or without respect. | She’s always messing me around, never keeping her word. |
Mess around | Engage in extramarital or casual sexual relationships. | She’s been messing around since they got married, which is causing problems in their marriage. |
Mess around with | Have casual or extramarital sexual relationships. | He’s been messing around with a colleague, which is affecting his professional reputation. |
Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
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Make over | Change appearance, typically through grooming or style enhancement. | The beauty salon gave her a makeover before the party. |
Make over | Legally transfer money or possessions to someone. | She made over her property to her children in her will. |
Make towards | Move or head in a specific direction. | We made towards the centre of the city to catch the concert. |
Make up | Reconcile after an argument; end a disagreement. | Despite their constant bickering, they always make up quickly. |
Make up | Apply cosmetics to enhance appearance. | She went to the bathroom to make up her face before the event. |
Make up | Fabricate or invent a story or excuse. | They made up an excuse for their tardiness. |
Make up for | Compensate for a mistake or wrongdoing. | I sent her a gift to make up for forgetting her birthday. |
Make up to | Increase a sum to reach a specific amount or figure. | The anonymous donor made the total up to £25,000 with their generous contribution. |
Make with | Give or provide something (usually used as an imperative). | Make with the money you owe me; I need it back. |
Man down | Behave without courage or conviction. | He manned down and didn’t confront the bully. |
Man up | Behave with courage or conviction. | She told her critics to man up and address their concerns openly. |
Mark down | Give a lower grade to a student for a specific reason. | Students who recited rehearsed answers were marked down, while those who spoke naturally were rewarded. |
Mark down | Reduce the price of something. | I’ll buy more if you mark them down a bit; they’re too expensive right now. |
Mark down as | Consider someone or something to be a certain type or group. | I marked them down as conservatives, but they turned out to be quite liberal. |
Mark off | Tick or cross out to indicate completion or dealing with something. | I marked off the tasks on my list as I finished them. |
Mark out | Draw lines to enclose an area. | They marked out the boundaries of the construction site. |
Mark out for | Show promise or potential for future success. | His exceptional skills marked him out for a successful career in music. |
Mark out from | Stand out due to distinctive qualities or characteristics. | Her exceptional talent marks her out from the rest of the team. |
Mark up | Increase the price of something. | They marked up the goods by 25% before putting them on sale. |
Marry in | Marry someone of the same ethnicity, religion, etc. | Many cultures encourage individuals to marry in within their community. |
Marry out | Marry someone of a different ethnicity, religion, etc. | Her family disowned her when she chose to marry out of her religion. |
Mash up | Crush something into a paste-like consistency. | He mashed up some bananas to make dessert. |
Mash up | Combine different sources to create something new. | She mashed up songs from various genres to create a unique track. |
Phrasal Verb | Meaning | Example |
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Magic away | Make something vanish quickly. | He made the bill disappear and paid for us all before I could take out my wallet. |
Make after | Pursue or follow. | The police made after the stolen car, but it was too late. |
Make away with | Steal or take something unlawfully. | The thieves made away with the painting from the museum. |
Make do with | Accept less satisfactory options due to limited choices. | Since there’s no coffee, we’ll have to make do with tea. |
Make for | Head towards a particular direction. | We made for home as soon as it started raining heavily. |
Make for | Contribute to or result in. | The poor service quality made for a lot of customer dissatisfaction. |
Make into | Transform or convert into something else. | Many old warehouses have been made into trendy apartments. |
Make it | Manage to arrive or achieve something. | Despite the traffic, I made it to the meeting on time. |
Make it up to | Compensate for a wrong action or mistake. | He tried to make it up to her by buying her flowers after forgetting their anniversary. |
Make of | Understand or interpret. | What do you make of the new company policy? |
Make off | Leave quickly or escape from a place. | The thief made off when he heard the police sirens approaching. |
Make off with | Steal or take something away, usually hurriedly. | The burglars made off with valuable jewelry from the house. |
Make out | Write or prepare a document, such as a check. | Please make the check out to ABC Company. |
Make out | Pretend or feign. | He made out that he was sick to avoid going to school. |
Make out | Fare or progress in a particular situation. | How are you making out in your new job? |
Make out | Engage in passionate kissing or petting. | They were making out in the back seat of the car. |
Make out | Discern or distinguish something. | I could barely make out the street sign in the fog. |
Make out | Perceive or understand someone or something. | Can you make out what she’s saying over the phone? |
Make out | Form an opinion or judgment about someone or something. | I can’t make him out; he’s always so mysterious. |
Read More Phrasal Verbs That Start With “L”