ask somebody out Brian asked Judy out to dinner.

ask around I asked around but nobody has seen my wallet.

add up to something Your purchases add up to $24.

back something up You'll have to back up your car so that I can get out.

back somebody up My wife backed me up over my decision to quit my job.

blow up The racing car blew up after it crashed into the fence.

blow something up We have to blow 50 balloons up for the party.

break down Our car broke down at the side of the highway in the snowstorm.

break down The woman broke down when the police told her that her son had died.

break something down Our teacher broke the final project down into three separate parts.

break in Somebody broke in last night and stole our stereo.

break into something The firemen had to break into the room to rescue the children.

break something in I need to break these shoes in before we run next week.

break in The TV station broke in to report the news of the president's death.

break up My boyfriend and I broke up before I moved to America.

break up The kids just broke up as soon as the clown started talking.

break out The prisoners broke out of jail when the guards weren't looking.

break out in something I broke out in a rash after our camping trip.

bring somebody down This sad music is bringing me down.

bring somebody up My grandparents brought me up after my parents died.

bring something up My mother walks out of the room when my father brings up sports.

bring something up He drank so much that he brought his dinner up in the toilet.

call around We called around but we weren't able to find the car part we needed.

call somebody back I called the company back but the offices were closed for the weekend.

call something off Jason called the wedding off because he wasn't in love with his fiancé.

call on somebody ask for an answer or opinion The professor called on me for question 1

call on somebody We called on you last night but you weren't home.

call somebody up Give me your phone number and I will call you up when we are in town.

calm down You are still mad. You need to calm down before you drive the car.

not care for somebody/ something I don't care for his behaviour

catch up You'll have to run faster than that if you want to catch up with Marty.

check in We will get the hotel keys when we check in.

check out You have to check out of the hotel before 11:00 AM.

check somebody/ something out The company checks out all new employees

check out somebody/ something Check out the crazy hair on that guy!

cheer up She cheered up when she heard the good news.

cheer somebody up I brought you some flowers to cheer you up.

chip in If everyone chips in we can get the kitchen painted by noon.

clean something up Please clean up your bedroom before you go outside.

come across something I came across these old photos when I was tidying the closet.

come apart The top and bottom come apart if you pull hard enough.

come down with something My nephew came down with chicken pox this weekend.

come forward The woman came forward with her husband's finger prints.

come from some place The art of origami comes from Asia.

count on somebody/ something I am counting on you to make dinner while I am out.

cross something out Please cross out your old address and write your new one

cut back on something My doctor wants me to cut back on sweets and fatty foods.

cut something down We had to cut the old tree in our yard down after the storm.

cut in Your father cut in while I was dancing with your uncle.

cut in The bus driver got angry when that car cut in.

cut in The air conditioner cuts in when the temperature gets to 22°C.

cut something off The doctors cut off his leg because it was severely injured.

cut something off The phone company cut off our phone because we didn't pay the bill.

cut somebody off My grandparents cut my father off when he remarried.

cut something out remove part of something (usually with scissors and paper) I cut this ad out of the newspaper

do somebody/ something over beat up, ransack (BrE, informal) He's lucky to be alive. His shop was done over by a street gang.

do something over do again (AmE) My teacher wants me to do my essay over because she doesn't like my topic.

do away with something It's time to do away with all of these old tax records.

do something up fasten, close Do your coat up before you go outside. It's snowing!

dress up It's a fancy restaurant so we have to dress up.

drop back move back in a position/group Andrea dropped back to third place when she fell off her bike.

drop in/ by/ over come without an appointment I might drop in/by/over for tea sometime this week.

drop somebody/ something off take somebody/ something somewhere and leave them/it there I have to drop my sister off at work before I come over.

drop out I dropped out of Science because it was too difficult

eat out eat at a restaurant I don't feel like cooking tonight. Let's eat out

end up eventually reach/do/decide We ended up renting a movie instead of going to the theatre.

fall apart break into pieces My new dress fell apart in the washing machine.

fall down fall to the ground The picture that you hung up last night fell down this morning.

fall out separate from an interior The money must have fallen out of my pocket

fall out (of hair, teeth) become loose and unattached His hair started to fall out when he was only 35

figure something out understand, find the answer I need to figure out how to fit the piano and the bookshelf in this room.

fill something in to write information in blanks, as on a form (BrE) Please fill in the form with your name, address, and phone number.

fill something out to write information in blanks, as on a form (AmE) The form must be filled out in capital letters.

fill something up fill to the top I always fill the water jug up when it is empty.

find out discover We don't know where he lives. How can we find out?

find something out discover We tried to keep the time of the party a secret, but Samantha found it out.

get something across/ over communicate, make understandable I tried to get my point across/over to the judge but she wouldn't listen.

get along/on like each other I was surprised how well my new girlfriend and my sister got along/on.

get around have mobility My grandfather can get around fine in his new wheelchair.

get away go on a vacation We worked so hard this year that we had to get away for a week.

get away with something do without being noticed or punished Jason always gets away with cheating in his maths tests.

get back return We got back from our vacation last week.

get something back receive something you had before Liz finally got her Science notes back from my roommate.