Phrasal Verbs With Meanings & Examples In Sentences
A phrasal verbs is a fixed expression with two parts. It consists of a verb followed by an adverb, a preposition, or both an adverb and a preposition. That is, a phrasal verb is a specific phrase whose first part will have a verb and the second part will have an adverb, or a preposition, or an adverb and a preposition. For example, Verb + adverb = look out. Verb + preposition look for.
Phrasal verbs that start with Q
Phrasal Verbs That Start With “Q”
Phrase | Meaning | Example |
---|---|---|
Quarrel out | Argue with someone about a specific subject. | The girl’s mother was QUARRELING OUT with her daughter about the party. |
Quarrel with | Dispute or disagree with something. | I am not QUARRELING WITH their idea, but I think there are other possibilities. |
Queer up | Mess up, ruin. | I QUEERED the exam UP. |
Quieten down | Fall silent. | The audience QUIETENED DOWN when the lights were switched off in the auditorium and the play was ready to begin. |
Quit on | Stop working, associating, or being friends with someone, especially when they need support. | They QUIT ON me just when things got rough. |
Quit on | Stop working or functioning. | My phone has QUIT ON me—can I borrow yours? |
Phrasal verbs that start with Q
Phrasal Verbs That Start With “R”
Phrase | Meaning | Example |
---|---|---|
Race off | Hurry away, leave somewhere quickly. | They RACED OFF when the police arrived. |
Rack off | Used to tell someone to go away because they’re annoying you. | He told her to RACK OFF. |
Rack out | Sleep, take a nap. | I’m tired—I’m going to RACK OUT. |
Rack up | Acquire a lot of something. | He’s RACKED UP a number of convictions for speeding. |
Rack up | Damage. | They RACKED UP the car in an accident. |
Rain down on | Fall in large numbers. | Bombs RAINED DOWN ON the city all night. |
Rain off | Be postponed or stopped by rain (usually passive). | The match was RAINED OFF. |
Rain out | Be postponed or stopped by rain (usually passive). | The game was RAINED OUT. |
Rake in | Earn, make money easily. | She’s RAKING IN thousands a day. |
Rake it in | Make a lot of money. | It’s the only shop in the area, and they’re RAKING IT IN. |
Rake off | Cheat someone by charging them too much. | They RAKE tourists OFF all the time. |
Rake over | Talk, think, etc., about something negative in the past. | They keep RAKING OVER the rows we had last year. |
Rake up | Bring something back to people’s attention. | The press have RAKED UP some scandals from her past. |
Ramble on | Talk at length without getting to the point. | Quit RAMBLING ON—I’m tired of listening to you. |
Ramp up | Increase price, speed, or power of something. | The company has RAMPED its prices UP because of higher oil prices. |
Rap out | Say something firmly and loudly. | She RAPPED OUT the command. |
Rat on | Inform authorities about someone’s wrongdoings. | She RATTED ON her neighbours to the police because they were smuggling alcohol. |
Rat on | Fail to keep a promise. | He always RATS ON his promises. |
Rat out | Inform the authorities about someone. | He RATTED me OUT to the police. |
Rat through | Look for something hurriedly. | I RATTED THROUGH the papers on my desk but couldn’t find the letter. |
Ratchet up | Increase. | The media are trying to RATCHET UP the pressure on the president. |
Phrasal verbs that start with “R”
Phrase | Meaning | Example |
---|---|---|
Rattle off | Quote figures rapidly. | She RATTLED OFF loads of statistics which nobody could understand. |
Reach out | Stretch your arm to get something. | I REACHED OUT and caught the ball. |
Reach out for | Try to achieve something difficult. | They are REACHING OUT FOR major economic reforms. |
Reach out to | Ask for help. | I REACHED OUT TO you when I was in trouble, and you were a great help. |
Reach out to | Offer help. | Charities are REACHING OUT TO those who lost their homes in the floods. |
Reach out to | Try to communicate and establish good relations with people. | The candidates are REACHING OUT TO the poor to get their votes. |
Read off | Read a list aloud for someone to write down. | I READ OFF the figures, and she wrote them down in her notebook. |
Read out | Read aloud rather than silently. | The teacher READ OUT the names of the students who’d passed. |
Read up on | Research. | I’ve been READING UP ON Japan as I’m going to live there next year. |
Reason out | Come to a conclusion or solution after some thought. | He REASONED OUT the answer to the math problem. |
Reckon on | The minimum expected. | Jeff says we can RECKON ON there being at least fifty people there tonight. |
Reel in | Catch a fish on a line and pull the line to land. | He REELED IN a ten-pound salmon. |
Reel in | Attract people, especially customers, to get them to do what you want them to. | They hope the discounts will REEL people IN. |
Reel off | Quote statistics or facts rapidly. | The minister REELED OFF a load of figures to support her position. |
Reel off | Score a lot of points or win a lot of games one after the other. | They REELED OFF five victories and became the champions. |
Reel out | Unwind. | I REELED OUT the hose and watered the lawn. |
Rein in | Control someone or something to stop them causing more trouble. | They had to REIN the minister IN after her dreadful performance on TV. |
Rent out | Let, grant a service, or allow usage for a fee. | They RENTED their house OUT while they were abroad. |
Ride off | Go away on a bike, horse, etc. | She got on her motorbike and RODE OFF. |
Ride on | Depend on. | His reputation is RIDING ON this deal working out. |
Ride out | Survive a difficult time. | They managed to RIDE OUT the recession. |
Ride up | Move higher on the body (of clothes). | Her skirt RODE UP when she sat down. |
Ring back | Return a phone call. | I phoned and left a message this morning, but she still hasn’t RUNG me BACK. |
Ring in | Telephone to inform or confirm something. | I RANG IN and told them I would be late. |
Ring off | Finish a phone conversation. | Dave RANG OFF guiltily when he saw his boss coming. |
Phrasal verbs that start with “R”
Phrase | Meaning | Example |
---|---|---|
Ring out | Make a sudden loud sound. | Two shots RANG OUT and then we heard a scream. |
Ring round | Telephone a number of people, usually for information. | I RANG ROUND to see if anyone knew where she’d gone. |
Ring up | Telephone. | Helen RANG me UP earlier. |
Ring up | Achieve an amount or number. | They RANG UP several victories. |
Ring up | Enter figures into a till or cash register. | They RANG UP the bill for the groceries. |
Ring with | When a place is full of a loud sound. | The room RANG WITH their laughter. |
Rip off | Charge excessively or obtain money unfairly. | Tourists get RIPPED OFF a lot when they don’t speak the language. |
Roll back | Retreat. | The army ROLLED BACK when they came under attack. |
Roll back | Reduce or remove. | The government want to ROLL BACK the freedom of the press. |
Roll by | Pass (time). | The years ROLLED BY. |
Roll in | Arrive somewhere, especially if late. | They ROLLED IN very drunk at three o’clock in the morning. |
Roll in | Arrive in large numbers, especially military vehicles. | The tanks ROLLED IN and took control of the capital city. |
Roll on | When something continues to happen. | The competition ROLLED ON despite the administrative problems. |
Roll on! | Said when you can’t wait for something nice in future. | Roll on Friday! It’s been a dreadful week. |
Roll out | Launch or introduce a new product or initiative. | The company ROLLED OUT its takeover plans last week. |
Roll up | To appear in large numbers for an event. | Thousands ROLLED UP to see the stars at the film premiere. |
Roll up! | An imperative used to attract people to a public event. | Roll up! Come and see the circus tonight. |
Romp in | Win easily. | In the first race, the favourite ROMPED IN. |
Romp through | Do something easily or quickly. | We ROMPED THROUGH the tasks because they were so simple. |
Room in | Keep a mother and baby together after the birth. | Nowadays, most hospitals have a policy of ROOMING IN mothers and their babies. |
Root about | Look in a place to try to find something. | He ROOTED ABOUT in his briefcase, trying to find a pen. |
Root around | Look in a place to try to find something. | I ROOTED AROUND my flat trying to find the letter. |
Root for | Support. | Everyone was ROOTING FOR Arsenal to win the Champions League. |
Root out | Look for and find. | The police ROOTED OUT the informer. |
Root out | Find the source of a problem and remove it. | They are trying to ROOT OUT the troublemakers. |
Root up | Dig a plant out of the ground. | He ROOTED UP the plants and replanted them. |
Rope in | Get somebody to help. | The teacher ROPED her students IN to carry her stuff when she had to change classrooms. |
Phrasal verbs that start with “R”
Phrase | Meaning | Example |
---|---|---|
Rope into | Get someone to help or become involved, usually unwillingly. | I got ROPED INTO helping them set the stall up. |
Rope off | Extend ropes or barriers across or around an area. | The celebrity entrance was ROPED OFF from the general public. |
Rough up | Assault. | The mugger ROUGHED him UP when he refused to hand his wallet over. |
Round off | Finish something in a satisfactory manner. | Winning the FA Cup ROUNDED OFF a wonderful season for Arsenal. |
Row back | Retreat from a position. | The prime minister refused to ROW BACK and lost the vote. |
Rub along | Have a reasonably good relationship. | They’re not friends, but we RUB ALONG. |
Rub down | Dry or clean something with a cloth. | She RUBBED the horse DOWN with a towel after riding it. |
Rub down | Massage or rub someone to help them relax. | The trainer RUBBED her DOWN after the race. |
Rub in | Apply a substance like cream or ointment until absorbed. | He applied the steroid cream and RUBBED it IN. |
Rub it in | Emphasise how bad a situation is to make someone feel worse. | Even though the minister had resigned, the press RUBBED IT IN by publishing more scandal details. |
Rub off on | Pass a quality or characteristic to people. | His enthusiasm RUBS OFF ON everyone around him. |
Rub out | Delete ink or pencil with an eraser. | He RUBBED OUT the figure and wrote the correct one in. |
Rub out | Kill. | The gangsters RUBBED him OUT for stealing from them. |
Rub up against | Touch someone in a sensual or sexual way. | The cat RUBBED UP AGAINST my leg purring. |
Rub up on | Revise. | I need to RUB UP ON my Portuguese before I go to Brazil. |
Rule out | Exclude a possibility. | The police have RULED OUT suicide and are treating it as a case of murder. |
Run across | Meet or find accidentally. | I RAN ACROSS an old friend in the library. |
Run after | Chase, pursue. | The police RAN AFTER the guy who’d stolen it, but he was too fast for them. |
Run after | Try to become romantically involved with someone. | He was RUNNING AFTER her for ages but never managed to get a date. |
Run against | Oppose, make difficulties. | Opinion is RUNNING AGAINST his policies and he has very little support. |
Run along | Go away, leave (often as an imperative). | They kept disturbing him, so he told them to RUN ALONG and leave him in peace. |
Run around | Be very busy doing many things. | I’m exhausted—I’ve been RUNNING AROUND all day. |
Phrasal verbs that start with “R”
Phrase | Meaning | Example |
---|---|---|
Run away | Escape from people chasing you. | He RAN AWAY from his attackers. |
Run away | Leave home because of problems with family or to elope. | She RAN AWAY to avoid a forced marriage. |
Run down | Hit a pedestrian with a vehicle. | The minicab RAN him DOWN on the zebra crossing. |
Run down | Lose energy or power. | You should only recharge the battery when it has fully RUN DOWN. |
Run down | Criticize, disparage. | They’re always RUNNING me DOWN and I am sick and tired of it. |
Run down | Find the source or origin of something. | The police RAN DOWN all the leads they had and caught them. |
Run for | Campaign for a position. | She’s thinking about RUNNING FOR the presidency. |
Run in | Arrest, take to police station for questioning. | They RAN him IN last night. |
Run in | Drive a new car carefully to avoid damaging the engine. | She RAN the car IN for a thousand miles. |
Run in | Pay a casual visit. | We RAN IN and chatted for an hour. |
Run in | Insert. | He RAN a graph IN next to the text. |
Run into | Cost. | The project has RUN INTO millions of dollars without any prospect of a return. |
Run into | Meet by accident. | I RAN INTO James in a bar in the City on Friday. |
Run off | Make photocopies. | Could you RUN OFF two hundred copies of this report, please. |
Run on | Be powered by. | The van RUNS ON diesel. |
Run out of | Have none left. | We’ve RUN OUT OF sugar; I’m going to the shops for some. |
Run over | Explain quickly. | Could you RUN OVER that point again; I’m afraid I didn’t quite understand it. |
Run over | Hit with a vehicle. | The driver couldn’t stop in time and RAN the fox OVER when it ran in front of his car. |