Phrasal verbs are a common English verb form that consist of a verb followed by a p-word that functions as a particle. To learn more about some of the most common phrasal verbs in the English language, click on a letter in the following menu to browse the Phrasal Verb Dictionary in alphabetical order.
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Note: When a word entry includes a p-word enclosed in parentheses, the phrasal verb is a phrasal-prepositional verb.
| Phrasal Verb | Definition | Category | Example |
| back down | withdraw from a position | intransitive | The huge dog backed down. |
| back down from | withdraw from a position | inseparable transitive | The city council backed down from its original plans. |
| back off | stop being involved | intransitive | Please just back off. |
| back out of | fail to keep a commitment, promise, agreement, or deal; withdraw from | intransitive | The shareholder backed out of the deal. |
| back up | accumulate | intransitive | Traffic got backed up this afternoon. |
| back up | give support | separable transitive | My boss backed me up at the meeting today. |
| band together | form a group | intransitive | The disgruntled customers banded together to demand change. |
| bank on | depend on something happening | inseparable transitive | Never bank on a sure thing. |
| bawl out | criticize, reprimand, scold | separable transitive | Her supervisor bawled her out. |
| bear down | press or push down | intransitive | The woman bore down while giving birth. |
| bear down on | use a great amount of effort | inseparable transitive | You must bear down on your studies. |
| bear down on | approach rapidly | inseparable transitive | The storm is bearing down on the island. |
| bear on | pertain to | inseparable transitive | The case bears on the rights of all citizens. |
| bear out | prove the truth | separable transitive | I will bear your out if you tell the truth. |
| bear up | withstand, endure | intransitive | She bore up despite the situation. |
| bear up under | withstand | inseparable transitive | She bore up under the enormous strain. |
| bear with | be patient | inseparable transitive | Bear with me today. |
| beat up | hurt | separable transitive | The bully beat him up. |
| beef up | make stronger | separable transitive | Beef up your image with a new look. |
| belly up to | move in closer | inseparable transitive | The man bellied up to the woman at the bar. |
| belt out | to sing or play an instrument loudly | separable transitive | He belted out the song in the shower. |
| bend over backwards | try extremely hard to help or please | intransitive | She would bend over backwards for me. |
| black out | faint, lose consciousness | intransitive | The old woman blacked out. |
| blast off | launch | intransitive | The rocket blasts off tomorrow morning. |
| blow in | visit unexpectedly | intransitive | Aunt Irma blew in this afternoon. |
| blow out | explode | separable transitive | The accident blew out a tire. |
| blow over | pass without creating a problem, less | intransitive | The situation blew over. |
| blow up | explore, make explode, destroy using explosives | separable transitive | The bomb blew the building up. |
| blow up | suddenly become very angry | intransitive | My wife blew up at the kids. |
| boil down to | reduce | inseparable transitive | The problem boils down to one choice. |
| boil up | appear or increase suddenly | intransitive | All her negative emotions suddenly boiled up. |
| bolt down | eat quickly | separable transitive | The dog bolted his treat down. |
| bone up on | review | inseparable transitive | The students boned up on phrasal verbs. |
| boot out | make someone leave | separable transitive | The librarian booted him out of the building. |
| bottle up | suppress | separable transitive | She bottles her feelings up. |
| bottom out | reach the lowest point | intransitive | The market bottomed out. |
| bounce back (from) | rebound | intransitive | He bounced back from the tragedy. |
| bowl over | surprise | separable transitive | You always bowl me over. |
| break down | analyze in detail | separable transitive | Break the problem down into more manageable pieces. |
| break down | malfunction | intransitive | My car broke down again. |
| break down | become mentally ill | intransitive | She broke down after the death of her child. |
| break in | wear or use something new until comfortable | separable transitive | I need to break my new shoes in. |
| break in on | interrupt | inseparable transitive | She broke in on the conversation. |
| break into | enter unlawfully | inseparable transitive | The thief broke into the house. |
| break into | interrupt | inseparable transitive | She broke into the conversation. |
| break off | end | separable transitive | He broke the relationship off. |
| break out | appear violently or suddenly | intransitive | The pandemic broke out on the island first. |
| break out | use something extravagant for celebration | inseparable transitive | Break out the champagne! |
| break out of | escape | inseparable transitive | The criminal broke out of jail. |
| break up | crumble, fracture into pieces | separable transitive | Break up the cracker for the baby. |
| break up | disperse, stop | separable transitive | The warden broke up the fight. |
| break up | end a relationship | intransitive | The couple broke up last night. |
| breeze through | succeed easily | inseparable transitive | She breezed through the exam. |
| bring about | cause to happen | separable transitive | We will bring about change. |
| bring around | cause to happen, convince someone | separable transitive | She brought him around to her viewpoint on the issue. |
| bring away | learn or gain from an experience | separable transitive | I brought away a new worldview from my travels to Africa. |
| bring down | reduce | separable transitive | Try to bring the fever down. |
| bring on | cause something | separable transitive | A fever can bring on chills. |
| bring out | highlight, stress | separable transitive | Make sure to bring out the problems with the textbooks. |
| bring over | transport something or someone | separable transitive | Bring the soda over to me. |
| bring up | raise | separable transitive | She is bringing up her daughter on her own. |
| brush off | ignore something or someone | separable transitive | He brushed me off. |
| buddy up to | try to make friends with | inseparable transitive | My coworker buddied up to our new boss. |
| build up | increase anticipation, hype | separable transitive | The company built its new product up. |
| bung up | block | separable transitive | The child bunged the toilet up by flushing socks. |
| burn down | destroy by setting fire to | separable transitive | The farmer burned down the old barn. |
| burn up | destroy by fire | separable transitive | The fire burned my files up. |
| butt in | become involved unwantedly | intransitive | My mother-in-law always butts in. |
| butt out of | stop involvement | inseparable transitive | Butt out of my business. |
| buy up | purchase all | separable transitive | The college students bought up all the beer. |
