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Phrasal Verbs D - F

This is the phrasal verb reference section. Here there are definitions and examples for hundreds of phrasal verbs found in English.

Don't forget we have a phrasal verb exercise page.

Call
Calm
Care
Carry
Carve
Cash
Cast
Catch
Cater
Change
Chat
Cheer
Chew
Chicken
Chip
 Choke
Clean
Clear
Climb
Close
Come
Cool
Copy
Count
Cover
Crack
Cross
Cry
Cut

 Die
Dig
Do
Dole
Double
Drag
Draw
Dream
Dress
Drive
Drop
Eat
Egg
End

 Face
Fall
Fan
Feed
Feel
Fight
Fill
Find
Finish
Fit
Fix
Flush
Follow
Fork

cover

Cover Against

To buy insurance for something.
We bought a special insurance policy to cover the house against storm damage.

Cover For

Substitute for a person, take the place of someone.
If you want to go for a quick coffee, I will cover for you if the boss returns.

Cover Up

Keep information secret.
The Republicans were accused of covering up during the Watergate scandal.

crack

Crack Down On

To use authority or force to prevent something.
After the drug related shootings, the local police used emergency powers to crack down on local gangs.

Crack Up

To lose self-control or mental stability.
If you don't stop working so hard, you are going to crack up.

cross

Cross Off

Remove items from a list by putting a line through them.
As we interview each person, please cross them off that list I gave you.

Cross Out

Put a line through something on a list.
Your name has been crossed out because you are ineligible.

Cross Something With Something

To mix one animal breed with another.
The zoo tried to cross a panda with a grizzly bear.

cry

Cry Off

When a person withdraws from a previous promise, arrangement.
He promised to come to the party, but he cried off with flu at the last moment.

cut

Cut Back/Down On

Reduce something, especially something considered a bad habit.
My doctor says I have to cut down on smoking.

Cut In

Interrupt.
Stop cutting in just when I start speaking to you all the time.

Cut Off

1. Stop a telephone connection.
When I asked to speak to his daughter, he cut me off!
2. Stop someone speaking.
She cut me off as I was starting to explain my side of the story.
3. Be prevented from travelling, usually by the weather.
The heavy snow cut her off and she couldn't reach her home for two days.

Cut Out

Electrical appliance stops working suddenly.
The TV cut out just as the film ended.

Cut To

Switch scenes quickly in a film.
Just as the shark attacks, the camera cuts to the deserted beach.

die

Die Down

To become less strong, weaker, quieter.
The noise from that party didn't die down until after 3a.m.

Die For Something

Want something very much.
By the time I arrived at the bar, I was dying for a cold drink.

Die Out

Become extinct; not be used anymore.
The dinosaurs died out millions of years before humans appeared.

dig

Dig Up

Discover information by investigating.
After the divorce, he dug up a lot of terrible things about her.

do

Do Away With

Get rid of, abolish something.
We should do away with all written exams in schools.

Do Down

Make someone feel unimportant or inferior.
The grumpy old professor was always doing down the new students in the class.

Do In

Kill someone (very informal).
He did in his wife with a cake made with rat poison.

Do Out

Decorate.
When your brother comes to stay, we will have to do out the old guest room.

Do Up

Fasten, attach.
It's cold out, so do up your coat before you go out.

Do Without

Survive without, to not need.
You can use my car today as I can do without it. I'll work at home.