Basic phrasal verbs

blow up
explode
The bomb blew up before the police came.

blow up
become very angry
On hearing the news, Mary blew up and rushed out of the room.

break into
enter a house illegally
The burglar broke into the house between midnight and 2 AM.

bring up
raise ( a child) ,educate
Peter was brought up in the country.

burn down
destroy by setting fire to
The children burned the house down while playing with matches.

call for
require
This plan calls for some elaborate preparations.

call off
cancel something
They called the picnic off because of the rain.

call on
visit
He used to call on me on sunday.

call up
telephone
Remember to call me up soon

carry out
To execute / to do s.th
Many methods are carried out to improve
the quality of the products

check into
enter a hospital, hotel etc.
They checked into the hotel at 9:00 AM.

check into
investigate, look for (often through a service)
We are checking into discount flights to London.

check out
leave a hotel, hospital
It`s already eleven. We need to check out.

clear up
tidy
Susan had cleared up the mess before she left.

come across
discover by accident
happen to see
They came across some lost Mayan ruins in the jungle.

come/go down with
become sick with
He came down with the flu.

count on
depend / rely /
You can really count on Sarah.

cut down (on)
decrease the amount of
You need to cut down on your fat intake.

cut out
stop an action
Cut it out! You`re bothering me.

die away
diminish in intensity
The applause died away after 5 minutes.

die off /out
become extinct
Whales are in danger of dying off.

do away with
abolish
Some Americans want to do away with the death penalty.

drop in
visit someone unexpectedly
Meg dropped in yesterday after dinner.

figure out
guess, understand
I finally figured the joke out. Now I understand why everybody was laughing.

fill in
complete
Don`t forget to fill in all the blanks on the application.

get across
cause to be understood
It`s difficult to get humor across in another language.

get ahead
make progress
I can`t get ahead even though I work two jobs.

get off
leave (a bus, plane, train, boat)
We need to get off the bus at the next stop.

get on
enter (a bus, train), mount (a horse, a bike)
The train is leaving. Quick, get on!

get over
recover (a cold, a disease, an ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend)
Jennifer still hasn`t got over her breakup with Peter.

give in
stop trying
Never give in! You can do it!

give off
release (a smell, light)
That white flower gives off a beautiful smell.

give up
surrender something
The police told the thief to give his gun up.

go down
decrease
The cost of petrol is going down.

go up
 increase
The cost of flight tickets is going up.

go off
explode
The bomb could go off at any moment.

go over
review
Do you usually go over your lessons before class?

grow up
mature
Your brother needs to grow up and start thinking about his future.

hand in
submit
I have to hand in my report by March 12.

hand out
distribute
We should hand the concert fliers out at school.

hear from
receive news from (a letter, an e-mail)
Have you heard from Steve lately?

Hear of
know about something or somebody
Have you heard of chocolate covered ants?

hold up
delay (a flight, traffic);
The accident held traffic up for an hour.

keep out
prevent from entering
Keep the dog out of the garden; he keeps digging up the flowers.

keep off
prevent from stepping or climbing on to something
Keep the cat off the couch.

leave out
not include, omit
Why did your parents leave you out of their vacation plans?

look after
take care of (a child, a house, a pet)
When my sister goes on vacation, I look after her dog.

look forward to
To expect
I am looking forward to traveling to New York next year.

look into
investigate
The police are looking into