English phrasal verbs

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calculate, cipher, cypher, compute, work out, reckon, figure
make a mathematical calculation or computation

calculate, estimate, reckon, count on, figure, forecast
judge to be probable

call back
return or repeat a telephone call; "I am busy right now--can you call back in an hour?"; "She left a message but the contractor never called back"

call in
make a phone call; "call in to a radio station"; "call in sick"

call in
summon to a particular activity or employment; "Experts were called in"

call in
summon to enter; "The nurse called in the next patient"

call in
take a player out of a game in order to exchange for another player

call on the carpet, take to task, rebuke, rag, trounce, reproof, lecture, reprimand, jaw, dress down, call down, scold, chide, berate, bawl out, remonstrate, chew out, chew up, have words, lambaste, lambast
censure severely or angrily; "The mother scolded the child for entering a stranger's car"; "The deputy ragged the Prime Minister"; "The customer dressed down the waiter for bringing cold soup"

call on, turn
have recourse to or make an appeal or request for help or information to; "She called on her Representative to help her"; "She turned to her relatives for help"

call up
an order to report for military duty

call up, bring forward
bring forward for consideration; "The case was called up in court"

call up, mobilize, mobilise, rally
call to arms; of military personnel

call, call in
demand payment of (a loan); "Call a loan"

call, call off
give the calls (to the dancers) for a square dance

call, send for
order, request, or command to come; "She was called into the director's office"; "Call the police!"

call, telephone, call up, phone, ring
get or try to get into communication (with someone) by telephone; "I tried to call you all night"; "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning"

calm, calm down, cool off, chill out, simmer down, settle down, cool it
become quiet or calm, especially after a state of agitation; "After the fight both men need to cool off."; "It took a while after the baby was born for things to settle down again."

calm, calm down, quiet, tranquilize, tranquillize, tranquillise, quieten, lull, still
make calm or still; "quiet the dragons of worry and fear"

calve, break up
release ice; "The icebergs and glaciers calve"

can, tin, put up
preserve in a can or tin; "tinned foods are not very tasty"

cancel out, wipe out
wipe out the effect of something; "The new tax effectively cancels out my raise"; "The `A' will cancel out the `C' on your record"

cancel, call off, scratch, scrub
postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled; "Call off the engagement"; "cancel the dinner party"; "we had to scrub our vacation plans"; "scratch that meeting--the chair is ill"

cancel, offset, set off
make up for; "His skills offset his opponent's superior strength"

cancel, strike down
declare null and void; make ineffective; "Cancel the election results"; "strike down a law"

caparison, bard, barde, dress up
put a caparison on; "caparison the horses for the festive occasion"

care for
have a liking, fondness, or taste (for)

care for, cherish, hold dear, treasure
be fond of; be attached to

carry over
transfer or persist from one stage or sphere of activity to another

carry over
transport from one place or state to another; "Adam would have been carried over into the life eternal"

carry over, carry forward
transfer from one time period to the next

carry over, hold over
hold over goods to be sold for the next season

carry through, accomplish, execute, carry out, action, fulfill, fulfil
put in effect; "carry out a task"; "execute the decision of the people"; "He actioned the operation"

cart off, cart away, haul off, haul away
take away by means of a vehicle; "They carted off the old furniture"

carve, cut up
cut to pieces; "Father carved the ham"

cash in on
take advantage of or capitalize on

cash out
choose a simpler life style after questioning personal and career satisfaction goals; "After 3 decades in politics, she cashed out and moved to Polynesia"

cash, cash in
exchange for cash; "I cashed the check as soon as it arrived in the mail"

catch on
become popular; "This fashion caught on in Paris"

catch on, get wise, get onto, tumble, latch on, cotton on, twig, get it
understand, usually after some initial difficulty; "She didn't know what her classmates were plotting but finally caught on"

catch up
learn belatedly; find out about something after it happened; "I'm trying to catch up with the latest developments in molecular biology"

catch up
reach the point where one should be after a delay; "I caught up on my homework"

catch, pick up
perceive with the senses quickly, suddenly, or momentarily; "I caught the aroma of coffee"; "He caught the allusion in her glance"; "ears open to catch every sound"; "The dog picked up the scent"; "Catch a glimpse"

catch, take in, overhear
hear, usually without the knowledge of the speakers; "We overheard the conversation at the next table"

cave in, subsidence
the sudden collapse of something into a hollow beneath it

chalk up, run up
accumulate as a debt; "he chalked up $100 in the course of the evening"

chase away, drive out, turn back, drive away, dispel, drive off, run off
force to go away; used both with concrete and metaphoric meanings; "Drive away potential burglars"; "drive away bad thoughts"; "dispel doubts"; "The supermarket had to turn back many disappointed customers"

chase, chase after, trail, tail, tag, give chase, dog, go after, track
go after with the intent to catch; "The policeman chased the mugger down the alley"; "the dog chased the rabbit"

chat up
talk to someone with the aim of persuading him

chat up, flirt, dally, butterfly, coquet, coquette, romance, philander, mash
talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions; "The guys always try to chat up the new secretaries"; "My husband never flirts with other women"

cheat on, cheat, cuckold, betray, wander
be sexually unfaithful to one's partner in marriage; "She cheats on her husband"; "Might her husband be wandering?"

cheat, rip off, chisel
deprive somebody of something by deceit; "The con-man beat me out of $50"; "This salesman ripped us off!"; "we were cheated by their clever-sounding scheme"; "They chiseled me out of my money"

check in, sign in
announce one's arrival, e.g. at hotels or airports

check out
announce one's departure from a hotel

check out
record, add up, and receive payment for items purchased; "She was checking out the apples that the customer had put on the conveyer belt"

check out, sound out, feel out
try to learn someone's opinions and intentions; "I have to sound out the new professor"

check, check off, mark, mark off, tick off, tick
put a check mark on or near or next to; "Please check each name on the list"; "tick off the items"; "mark off the units"

check, check out
be verified or confirmed; pass inspection; "These stories don't check!"

check, check up on, look into, check out, suss out, check over, go over, check into
examine so as to determine accuracy, quality, or condition; "check the brakes"; "Check out the engine"

check, turn back, arrest, stop, contain, hold back
hold back, as of a danger or an enemy; check the expansion or influence of; "Arrest the downward trend"; "Check the growth of communism in South East Asia"; "Contain the rebel movement"; "Turn back the tide of communism"

cheer, cheer up, chirk up
become cheerful

cheer, cheer up, jolly along, jolly up
cause (somebody) to feel happier or more cheerful; "She tried to cheer up the disappointed child when he failed to win the spelling bee"

cheque, check out
withdraw money by writing a check

chew over, think over, meditate, ponder, excogitate, contemplate, muse, reflect, mull, mull over, ruminate, speculate
reflect deeply on a subject; "I mulled over the events of the afternoon"; "philosophers have speculated on the question of God for thousands of years"; "The scientist must stop to observe and start to excogitate"

chicken out, back off, pull out, back down, bow out
remove oneself from an obligation; "He bowed out when he heard how much work was involved"

chime in, cut in, put in, butt in, chisel in, barge in, break in
break into a conversation; "her husband always chimes in, even when he is not involved in the conversation"

chip away, chip away at
remove or withdraw gradually: "These new customs are chipping away at the quality of life"

chip, chip off, come off, break away, break off
break off (a piece from a whole); "Her tooth chipped"

chip, knap, cut off, break off
break a small piece off from; "chip the glass"; "chip a tooth"

choose up
form sides, as for a game

choose, take, select, pick out
pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives; "Take any one of these cards"; "Choose a good husband for your daughter"; "She selected a pair of shoes from among the dozen the salesgirl had shown her"

chop down
cut down; "George chopped down the cherry tree"

chop, chop up
cut into pieces; "Chop wood"; "chop meat"

churn out
perform in a mechanical way

churn out
produce something at a fast rate; "He churns out papers, but they are all about the same topic"

circulate, circularize, circularise, distribute, disseminate, propagate, broadcast, spread, diffuse, disperse, pass around
cause to become widely known; "spread information"; "circulate a rumor"; "broadcast the news"

circulate, pass around, pass on, distribute
cause be distributed; "This letter is being circulated among the faculty"

clarify, clear up, elucidate
make clear and (more) comprehensible; "clarify the mystery surrounding her death"

classify, class, sort, assort, sort out, separate
arrange or order by classes or categories; "How would you classify these pottery shards--are they prehistoric?"

clean out
deprive completely of money or goods; "The robbers cleaned us out in a couple of hours"

clean out
force out; "The new boss cleaned out the lazy workers"

clean out, clear out
empty completely; "We cleaned out all the drawers"

clean up
dispose of; "settle the bills"

clean up
make a big profit; often in a short period of time; "The investor really cleaned up when the stock market went up"

clean up
make oneself clean, presentable or neat; "Clean up before you go to the party"

clear off, clear away
remove from sight

clear out
move out and leave nothing behind

clear up, clear, light up, brighten
become clear; "The sky cleared after the storm"

clear, clear up
free (the throat) by making a rasping sound; "Clear the throat"

clear, clear up, shed light on, crystallize, crystallise, crystalize, crystalise, straighten out, sort out, enlighten, illuminate, elucidate
make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear; "Could you clarify these remarks?"; "Clear up the question of who is at fault"

click, get through, dawn, come home, get across, sink in, penetrate, fall into place
become clear or enter one's consciousness or emotions; "It dawned on him that she had betrayed him"; "she was penetrated with sorrow"

climb, climb up, mount, go up
go upward with gradual or continuous progress; "Did you ever climb up the hill behind your house?"

clog, choke off, clog up, back up, congest, choke, foul
become or cause to become obstructed; "The leaves clog our drains in the Fall"; "The water pipe is backed up"

close in, draw in
advance or converge on; "The police were closing in on him"

close out
terminate by selling off or disposing of; "He closed out his line of sports cars"

close out
terminate; "We closed out our account"

close up, at close range, close up, at close range
very close; "without my reading glasses I can hardly see things close up"; "even firing at close range he missed"

close up, clam up, dummy up, shut up, belt up, button up, be quiet, keep mum
refuse to talk or stop talking; fall silent; "The children shut up when their father approached"

close up, close
unite or bring into contact or bring together the edges of; "close the circuit"; "close a wound"; "close a book"; "close up an umbrella"

close up, close, fold, shut down, close down
cease to operate or cause to cease operating; "The owners decided to move and to close the factory"; "My business closes every night at 8 P.M."; "close up the shop"

close, fill up
fill or stop up; "Can you close the cracks with caulking?"

cloud over
become overcast; "the sky clouded over"

clown, clown around, antic
act as or like a clown

cohabit, live together, shack up
share living quarters; usually said of people who are not married and live together as a couple

collaborate, join forces, cooperate, get together
work together on a common enterprise of project; "The soprano and the pianist did not get together very well"; "We joined forces with another research group"

collapse, fall in, cave in, give, give way, break, founder
break down, literally or metaphorically; "The wall collapsed"; "The business collapsed"; "The dam broke"; "The roof collapsed"; "The wall gave in"; "The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice"

collar, nail, apprehend, arrest, pick up, nab, cop
take into custody; "the police nabbed the suspected criminals"

collect, pick up, gather up, call for
gather or collect; "You can get the results on Monday"; "She picked up the children at the day care center"; "They pick up our trash twice a week"

collect, pull in
get or bring together; "accumulate evidence"

collect, take in
call for and obtain payment of; "we collected over a million dollars in outstanding debts"; "he collected the rent"

collocate with, construe with, cooccur with, co-occur with, go with
go or occur together; "The word 'hot' tends to cooccur with 'cold'"

come across
be perceived in a certain way; make a certain impression

come across, come over
communicate the intended meaning or impression; "He came across very clearly"

come by, come into
obtain, especially accidentally

come down
criticize or reprimand harshly; "The critics came down hard on the new play"

come forth, emerge
happen or occur as a result of something

come in
come into fashion; become fashionable

come on
occur or become available; "water or electricity came on again after the earthquake"

come on, come out, turn up, surface, show up
appear or become visible; make a showing; "She turned up at the funeral"; "I hope the list key is going to surface again"

come out of the closet, out, come out
to state openly and publicly one's homosexuality; "This actor outed last year"

come out, fall out
come off; "His hair and teeth fell out"

come round, come around
change one's position or opinion; "He came around to our point of view"

come to the fore, step forward, come forward, step up, step to the fore, come out
make oneself visible; take action; "Young people should step to the fore and help their peers"

come to, revive, resuscitate
return to consciousness; "The patient came to quickly"; "She revived after the doctor gave her an injection"

come to, strike
attain; "The horse finally struck a pace"

come up
be mentioned; "These names came up in the discussion"

come up
bring forth, usually something desirable; "The committee came up with some interesting recommendations"

come, add up, amount
develop into; "This idea will never amount to anything"; "nothing came of his grandiose plans"

come, come in
be received; "News came in of the massacre in Rwanda"

come, come up
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody; "He came singing down the road"; "Come with me to the Casbah"; "come down here!"; "come out of the closet!"; "come into the room"

comment, notice, remark, point out
make or write a comment on; "he commented the paper of his colleague"

communicate, pass on, pass, pass along, put across
transmit information, "Please communicate this message to all employees"; "pass along the good news"

compartmentalize, compartmentalise, cut up
separate into isolated compartments or categories; "You cannot compartmentalize your life like this!"

compensate, counterbalance, correct, make up, even out, even off, even up
adjust for; "engineers will work to correct the effects or air resistance"

complain, kick, plain, sound off, quetch, kvetch
express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness; "My mother complains all day"; "She has a lot to kick about"

complete, fill out, fill in, make out
write all the required information onto a form; "fill out this questionnaire, please!"; "make out a form"

completion, culmination, closing, windup, mop up
a concluding action

conceal, hold back, hold in
hold back; keep from being perceived by others; "She conceals her anger well"

conduct, carry on, deal
direct the course of; manage or control; "You cannot conduct business like this"

confuse, flurry, disconcert, put off
cause to feel embarrassment; "The constant attention of the young man confused her"

connect, link, link up, join, unite
be or become joined or united or linked; "The two streets connect to become a highway"; "Our paths joined"; "The travelers linked up again at the airport"

connect, link, tie, link up
connect, fasten, or put together two or more pieces; "Can you connect the two loudspeakers?"; "Tie the ropes together"; "Link arms"

conserve, preserve, maintain, keep up
keep in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction; "We preserve these archeological findings"; "The old lady could not keep up the building"; "children must be taught to conserve our national heritage"; "The museum curator conserved the ancient manuscripts"

consider, debate, moot, turn over, deliberate
think about carefully; weigh; "They considered the possibility of a strike"; "Turn the proposal over in your mind"

constitute, represent, make up, comprise, be
form or compose; "This money is my only income"; "The stone wall was the backdrop for the performance"; "These constitute my entire belonging"; "The children made up the chorus"; "This sum represents my entire income for a year"; "These few men comprise his entire army"

consult, refer, look up
seek information from; "You should consult the dictionary"; "refer to your notes"

consume, eat up, use up, eat, deplete, exhaust, run through, wipe out
use up (resources or materials); "this car consumes a lot of gas"; "We exhausted our savings"; "They run through 20 bottles of wine a week"

consume, ingest, take in, take, have
serve oneself to, or consume regularly; "Have another bowl of chicken soup!"; "I don't take sugar in my coffee"

continue, go on, carry on, proceed
continue talking; "I know it's hard," he continued, "but there is no choice"; "carry on--pretend we are not in the room"

continue, go on, proceed, go along, keep
continue a certain state, condition, or activity; "Keep on working!"; "We continued to work into the night"; "Keep smiling"; "We went on working until well past midnight"

continue, uphold, carry on, bear on, preserve
keep or maintain in unaltered condition; cause to remain or last; "preserve the peace in the family"; "continue the family tradition"; "Carry on the old traditions"

contract in
consent in writing to pay money to a trade union for political use

contract out
assign a job to someone outside one's own business

contract out
refuse to pay a levy to a union for political use

contribute, give, chip in, kick in
contribute to some cause; "I gave at the office"

convert, change over
change from one system to another or to a new plan or policy; "We converted from 220 to 110 Volt"

cool, chill, cool down
loose heat; "The air cooled considerably after the thunderstorm"

cool, chill, cool down
make cool or cooler; "Chill the food"

cool, cool off, cool down
lose intensity; "His enthusiasm cooled considerably"

coop up, coop in
confine in or as if in a coop; "she coops herself up in the library all day"

cope, get by, make out, make do, contend, grapple, deal, manage
come to terms with; "We got by on just a gallon of gas"; "They made do on half a loaf of bread every day"

corroborate, underpin, bear out, support
support with evidence or authority or make more certain or confirm; "The stories and claims were born out by the evidence"

costume, dress up
dress in a costume; "We dressed up for Halloween as pumpkins"

cough up, pony up, spit up
give reluctantly; "He coughed up some money for his children's tuition"

count out
declare the loser

cover, wrap up
clothe, as if for protection from the elements; "cover your head!"

cozy up, cotton up, shine up, play up, sidle up, suck up
ingratiate oneself to; often with insincere behavior; "She is playing up to the chairman"

crack up
rhapsodize about

crack up, crack, crock up, break up, collapse
suffer a nervous breakdown

cram, grind away, drum, bone up, swot, get up, mug up, swot up, bone
study intensively, as before an exam; "I had to bone up on my Latin verbs before the final exam"

crank, crank up
rotate with a crank

crank, crank up
start by cranking; "crank up the engine"

crash, break up, break apart
break violently or noisily; smash;

crash, go down
stop operating; "My computer crashed last night"; "The system goes down at least once a week"

crop up, pop up, pop
appear suddenly or unexpectedly; "The farm popped into view as we turned the corner"; "He suddenly popped up out of nowhere"

cross off, cross out, strike out, strike off, mark
remove from a list; "Cross the name of the dead person off the list"

crosscut, cut across
cut using a diagonal line

crumble, crumple, tumble, break down, collapse
fall apart; "the building crumbled after the explosion"; "Negotiations broke down"

crumble, fall apart
break or fall apart into fragments; "The cookies crumbled"; "The Sphinx is crumbling"

curl up, curl, draw in
shape one's body into a curl; "She curled farther down under the covers"; "She fell and drew in"

cut across
be contrary to ordinary procedure or limitations; "Opinions on bombing the Serbs cut across party lines"

cut back, flash back
return in time; "the film cut back to an earlier event in the story"

cut down, cut out
intercept (a player)

cut in
allow someone to have a share or profit

cut in
drive in front of another vehicle leaving too little space for that vehicle to maneuver comfortably

cut in
interrupt a dancing couple in order to take one of them as one's own partner; "Jim always cuts in!"

cut in
mix in with cutting motions

cut off, chop off, lop off
remove by or as if by cutting; "cut off the ear"; "lop off the dead branch"

cut off, cut out
cut off and stop; "The bicyclist was cut out by the van"

cut out
cease operating; "The pump suddenly cut out"

cut out
delete or remove; "Cut out the extra text"; "cut out the newspaper article"

cut out
form and create by cutting out; "Picasso cut out a guitar from a piece of paper"

cut out
having been cut out; "the cut-out pieces of the dress"

cut short, break short, break off
interrupt before its natural or planned end; "We had to cut short our vacation"

cut up
cut into pieces

cut, cut off
cease, stop; "cut the noise"; "We had to cut short the conversation"