List of 100 most commonly used slang/colloquial phrasal verbs


1–25: Everyday casual actions

  1. Bring up – mention a topic

  2. Call off – cancel

  3. Call out – challenge or criticize publicly

  4. Check out – look at, investigate

  5. Chip in – contribute (money or effort)

  6. Come across – find by chance / seem

  7. Cut back – reduce

  8. Cut off – stop supply / interrupt

  9. Drop by – visit casually

  10. Drop off – deliver / fall asleep

  11. Figure out – understand / solve

  12. Fill in – complete (a form) / substitute

  13. Get along – have a good relationship

  14. Get back – return

  15. Get by – survive / manage

  16. Get over – recover from

  17. Give in – surrender / yield

  18. Give up – stop trying

  19. Go ahead – proceed

  20. Go off – explode / make noise / leave suddenly

  21. Go on – continue / happen

  22. Hang out – spend time casually

  23. Hold on – wait / grip tightly

  24. Keep up – maintain pace / continue

  25. Look after – take care of

26–50: Social, emotional, and work contexts

  1. Look down on – feel superior

  2. Look forward to – anticipate with pleasure

  3. Look into – investigate

  4. Look out – be careful

  5. Make out – understand / kiss

  6. Make up – invent / reconcile / apply cosmetics

  7. Pass out – faint / distribute

  8. Pick up – collect / improve / learn

  9. Put off – postpone / repel

  10. Put on – wear / pretend

  11. Put up with – tolerate

  12. Run into – meet by chance

  13. Run out – use up

  14. Set up – arrange / frame someone

  15. Show off – boast / display

  16. Shut down – close / stop operating

  17. Sit back – relax / not interfere

  18. Sit out – skip / not participate

  19. Speak up – talk louder / express opinion

  20. Stand by – wait / support

  21. Stand out – be noticeable

  22. Take after – resemble (family)

  23. Take apart – dismantle / criticize

  24. Take back – retract / return

  25. Take off – remove / depart / become successful

51–75: Common slang/colloquial phrasal verbs

  1. Talk over – discuss

  2. Talk back – reply rudely

  3. Turn down – refuse / lower volume

  4. Turn in – submit / go to bed

  5. Turn off – switch off / repel

  6. Turn on – switch on / excite

  7. Turn up – arrive / increase volume

  8. Watch out – be careful

  9. Work out – exercise / solve

  10. Wrap up – finish

  11. Back up – reverse / support

  12. Blow up – explode / lose temper / enlarge

  13. Break down – stop working / collapse emotionally

  14. Break in – force entry / interrupt / wear in

  15. Break out – escape / start suddenly

  16. Break up – end relationship / disperse

  17. Bring down – depress / reduce

  18. Bring in – introduce / earn money

  19. Call up – phone / summon

  20. Come back – return / regain popularity

  21. Come out – appear / release / declare

  22. Come up – arise / be mentioned

  23. Cut out – remove / stop doing

  24. Drop out – quit (school/job)

  25. Figure on – expect / plan

76–100: Fun, informal, and idiomatic

  1. Freak out – panic

  2. Go for – try / choose

  3. Go through – experience / check

  4. Hang on – wait / hold tightly

  5. Hit on – flirt / discover

  6. Hook up – connect / meet / have casual sex

  7. Jack up – raise / increase suddenly

  8. Kick back – relax / retaliate

  9. Kick off – start / remove

  10. Knock out – defeat / impress / make unconscious

  11. Lay off – fire / stop doing

  12. Let down – disappoint / release

  13. Light up – illuminate / smoke / show emotion

  14. Look up – search / improve

  15. Make off – escape

  16. Mix up – confuse / combine

  17. Pass by – go past

  18. Put down – insult / place

  19. Put out – extinguish / inconvenience

  20. Run over – hit with a vehicle / review quickly

  21. Set off – trigger / start a journey

  22. Show up – appear / arrive

  23. Slow down – reduce speed / relax

  24. Take on – accept challenge / hire

  25. Turn around – reverse / improve


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