phrasal verb in action

scare away When you scare away people or animals, or scare them away, you make them leave by frightening them.. Look where you’re going walk along When you walk along something such a

When someone breaks in, they use force to enter

a place, usually in order to steal something

• Thieves broke in and stole Mrs

Green’s diamond necklace

When something blazes up, it starts to burn strongly

• We thought the fire was out but it suddenly

blazed up again

call out

When you call out the fire service, the doctor, the army,

etc, you ask them to come and deal with a dangerous

situation

• The doctor doesn’t like being called out in the

middle of the night

7

3 No ticket, no ride

put out

When you put out your hand or arm, you stretch it out

• Josh put out his hand and grabbed the rail to stop

himself from falling

get on

When you get on a bus, train or plane, you go inside it

• The bus was nearly empty when I got on

When you get off a bus, train or plane, you leave it

(Note: You get off a bus, train, or plane, but you get out

of a car.)

• Ring the bell to tell the driver you want to get off

• The animals lie down in the long grass so that

nobody can see them

• Go and wake your brother up and tell him to get

ready for school

9

5 A lonely giant

tower over

When something or someone towers over you, they are

much taller than you are

• The giant skyscraper towers over all the other

buildings in the city

look down

to think that you are better than someone else, for

example because you are more successful, or of a

higher social class than they are :

 Mr Garcia looks down on anyone who hasn’t

had a college education

When you look down, you direct your eyes towards the

ground

• If you’re climbing a long ladder, you should not

look down You may feel giddy

bend down

When you bend down, you make your body move

forwards and downwards

• Peter bent down to tie his shoelaces

scare away

When you scare away people or animals, or scare them

away, you make them leave by frightening them

• Sarah clapped her hands to scare away the birds

that were eating the seeds

10

6 Look where you’re going

walk along

When you walk along something such as a street, you

are going from one end of it to the other

• Sally was walking along the road towards the

bus stop

trip over

If you trip over something, your foot hits against it and

you fall

• The waiter tripped over my foot and dropped the

dishes he was carrying

fall down

When you fall down, you drop to the ground suddenly

• Did Sammy simply fall down or was he tripped?

help up

When you help someone up You help them to stand

• I helped Grandma up out of her chair

11

7 Early in the morning

get into

If you get into something, you move inside

• The man got into his car and drove away

go off

If something such as an alarm clock, a burglar alarm or

a bomb goes off, it makes a noise or explodes

• The police made everyone leave the area in case

the bomb went off

look at

When you look at someone or something, you direct

your eyes towards them

• I looked at the moon through a pair of

binoculars

get up

When you get up, you leave your bed

• What time do you usually get up in the morning?

12

8 The postman plays a trick

look out for

If you look out for someone or something, you watch

carefully so you see them approaching

• Roger was standing on the platform at the station

looking out for the train

come down

If someone or something comes down the street, they

move along it towards you (not always going from a

higher level to a lower level)

• There’s a big lorry coming down the street

walk on

When someone walks on, they continue to walk

• Susan paused for a moment outside the shop

window and then walked on

turn round (also turn around)

If you turn round or turn around, you go in the

opposite direction

• The car drove to the end of the road, then turned

round and came back again

13

9 A celebrity arives

pull up

When a car pulls up, it stops

• The car pulled up at a traffic light

crowd around (also crowd round)

When people crowd around something or someone, or

crowd round them, they form a large group around

them

• We all crowded round to look at Peter’s

photographs

get out of

When someone gets out of a car, they leave the car

(Note: You get out of a car You get off a bus, train or

plane.)

• The policeman told the driver to get out of the

car

meet up with

When you meet up with someone, you spend some

time with them

• I had arranged to meet up with Jill after school

14

10 Lucy’s old dress

grown out of

If you grown out of a piece of clothing, you get bigger

The piece of clothing is now too small for you

• James has only had those shoes for two months

and he’s already grown out of them

When you do up buttons or a zip, you fasten them

• The suitcase is too full We can’t do up the zip

take off

When you take off a piece of clothing, you remove it

from your body

• Take off those wet clothes before you catch a

cold

15

11 Lucy’s new dress

try on

If you try on a piece of clothing, you put it on in a shop

You want to find out if you like it

• I thought you looked nice in the blue jacket Why

don’t you try it on again?

pole up

You pile up things, or pile them up, when you put them

into a big pile

• We piled up the books on the teacher’s desk

take on

You take in a dress, or take it on, when you make it

tighter to fit better

• I’ve got thinner, so I must take my dress in at the

waist

grow onto

If you grow onto a piece of clothing, you become

bigger to wear it

• You think those shoes are too big, but Donald

will soon grow into them

16

12 The fashion show

walk up and down

When you walk up and down, you walk first in one

direction and then in the opposite direction

• I walked up and down the street looking for

number 32B

put on

When you put on a piece of clothing, or put if on, it

covers part of or all of your body

• Jim put on his hat and coat and went out

have on

When someone has on something, or has something

on, they are wearing it

• Brian had on blue shorts and a red sweater

dress up

When someone dresses up, they put on special

clothes When you dress up as someone, you put on

the sort of clothes that that person wears.me

• Mr White dressed up as a clown to entertain

the children

17

13 Jenny does advertisements

dress in

If you dress In something, you wear it If you are

dressed in something, you are wearing it

• Paula dressed in black for the funeral

wrap up

If you wrap up, you put on warm clothing

• If you’re going out, wrap up It’s going to snow

strip off

If you strip off, you remove most or all of your clothes

• John stripped off and dived into the water

18

14 The weather forecast

look ahead

When you look ahead, you talk or think about

what will happen in the future

• I’m looking ahead to the party tomorrow night

and wondering what I should wear

When it pours down, if rains very hard

• It’s pouring down outside and you’ll get

soaking wet

brighten up

When it brightens up, the weather becomes

sunnier

• It’ll brighten up soon and then you can go out

and play again

19

15 The sun

come up

When the sun comes up, it appears in the sky

• The sky starts to get brighter in the east before the sun comes

up

go in

When the sun goes in, it becomes covered by a cloud

• It got much colder when the sun went in

come out

When the sun comes out, it shines again

• I waited for the sun to come out before I took the

20

16 The great climate debate (1)

go on

If something is going on, it is happening

• What is going on in here? Who is

making that horrible noise?

warm up

If an object warms up, it becomes warmer

• Wait for the oven to warm up before

you put the meat in

dry up

If a river, lake or stream dries up, there is no more

water in it

• During hot, dry summers this

stream dries up

die out

If a type of plant or animal dies out, there are no

more such plants or animals

• People hunted these birds for food,

and finally the birds died out

• John disagrees with Peter about the

best day for the party

cool down

When something cools down, it becomes cooler

• The plates are very hot Wait for a

minute until they have cooled

To wipe out someone or something is to kill all

people, animals, plants, etc of that kind

• This special spray will wipe out all the

weeds in your garden

22

18 The great climate debate (3)

put forward

When you put forward an idea or argument, you

speak or write about it

• Mary put forward some very good arguments

in favour of the plan

think about

If you think about something, you examine it in

your mind

• I must think about the question for a

while before I give you my answer

weigh up

When you weigh up_ ideas or arguments, you

compare them to see which is better or more

important

• We’re weighing up the advantages and

disadvantages of buying a car

depend on

If something depends on something else, that other

thing will have a very great influence on the first

thing

• The success of the event will depend on the

weather

23

19 The great climate debate (4)

deal with

When you deal with a problem, you take action

that will stop it from troubling people any longer

• The government must deal with the problem of

If you win over someone, or win them over, you

persuade them to agree with you

• Margaret’s powerful arguments won most of

her listeners over

face up to

When you face up to a problem, you recognize

that the problem exists and that you must deal

with it

• We must face up to our difficulties

We can’t run away from them

24

20 Big ben’s job (1)

look after

If you look after someone or something, you make

sure that they are not harmed

• Mr Jones stays at home and looks after

the children while his wife goes out to

work

set off for

When you set off for a place, you go there

• Sarah set off for the airport to catch her

25

21 Big ben’s job (2)

take out

If you take someone out, you take them to a place

that is away from their home

• It’s my birthday today, so Andrew is taking me

out to the theatre

eat up

When you eat up something, you eat all of it

• If you don’t eat up your vegetables, you

won’t stay strong and healthy

watch over

When you watch over something, you guard them

so that they are not harmed

• The next-door neighbours watch over

our house while we’re away on holiday

listen out for

When you listen out for something or someone,

you listen carefully to try to hear them

• Please listen out for the postman

I’m expecting a parcel today

look up

When you look up, you_move your eyes and head

to see things above you

• Catherine was so interested in her book

that she didn’t even look up when I

came in

27

23 Big ben’s job (2)

get down

When you get something down, you bring it from

a high place to a lower place

• Linda got down the suitcase that she kept

on top of the cupboard

put back

When you put something back, you put it in the

place where it was before

• Sam decided that he didn’t want to buy

the book and put it back on the shelf

let out

When you let someone or something out, you

allow them to leave a place or thing that they are

inside

• Jim got locked in the cellar and had to

shout for someone to come and let him

out

own up

When you own up, you admit that you have done

something wrong

• If nobody owns up, then I shall punish

the whole class

28

24 A quarrel

get on

When people get on, they are friends

• Beth and Joan are interested in the same things

and get on very well

fall out

When people fall out, they quarrel If you fall out

with someone, you have a quarrel with that person

• Mr Brown fell out with Mr White

because Mr White’s dog chased his cat

keep apart

If you keep people or things apart, you stop them

from fighting

• The owners of the two dogs

struggled to keep them apart

29

25 Areconciliation

make up

When two people ma ke up, they become friends

again after quarrelling

• Now they’ve made up, they promise never to

quarrel again

smooth over

Someone or something that smooths things over

helps people to become less angry about the thing

that caused their quarrel

• I’ve smoothed, tilings over with

Peter He’s now willing to accept

your apology

join in

If you join in, you start doing something with a

group of people who are already doing it

• The other girls wouldn’t let Lucy join in

their games

agree on ‘

When people agree on something, they have the

same feelings or opinions about it

• Sally and Angela agree on one thing They

both really dislike Julie

You say that something looks like something when

they have the same appearance

• Brian was wearing a cap that made

him look like a policeman

stand for

When something stands for something else, it

represents it or means it

• What do the letters USA stand for?

• Susan has been hunting

everywhere for her purse

get together

When you get things together, you bring a number

01 things that you want into one place

• Dad’s getting together the things

we need for the picnic,

pace out

When you pace out a distance, you measure it using

big steps

• You can measure the length of the

room roughly by pacing it out

32

28 The treasure hunt (3)

call out

If you call out, you say in a loud voice

• Emily called out a warning just

before the statue fell over

scrape away

If you scrape away something, or scrape it away,

you remove it using a tool with a sharp edge

• I scraped away some of the old paint

to look at the wood underneath it

dig out

When you dig out something, or dig it out, you

remove it from a place by digging

• Rescuers were trying to dig out

survivors who were buried beneath

the collapsed building

prise off

When you prise off something, or prise it off, you

use a tool as a lever to lift it up

• I prised off the lid of the tin with the

blade of my penknife

33

29 The treasure hunt (4)

cram with

If something is crammed with something, it is

completely full with it

• The picnic basket was crammed

with all sorts of nice things to eat

give away

If you give away an object, or give it away, you

give it to someone free

• Brian didn’t need his old bike any

more so he gave it away to one of

his friends

date back to

If something dates back to a time or period, it was

made in that time, usually long ago

• These buildings date back to the

First World War

hand over

If you hand over something, or hand it over,

you give it to someone to hold or use

• The robber pointed a gun at the

bank clerk and told her to hand

over the money

34

30 Faster and Slower

drive along

When you are driving along, you are travelling on

the road in a vehicle

• We were listening to the radio as we drove

When you slow down, you go slower or do

something more slowly

• Sarah slowed down as she

approached the road junction

hold up

When something holds up someone or something,

or holds them up, it delays them

• A fallen tree was blocking the road and

holding up the traffic