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 |
| lace up | tie | separable transitive | The child laced her shoes up. |
| ladle out | serve, give | separable transitive | The comedian ladled some bad jokes out. |
| lap up | consume quickly | separable transitive | The dog lapped the food up. |
| lash out | criticize angrily | intransitive | My boss lashed out at me. |
| latch on (to) | attach | intransitive | The baby latched on to the nipple. |
| laugh off | laugh about to make seem less important | separable transitive | She laughed the criticism off. |
| launch into | start (usually quickly or immediately) | inseparable transitive | He launched into his work. |
| lay away | save | separable transitive | Lay the gift away for later. |
| lay down | establish | separable transitive | The teacher laid the classroom rules down. |
| lay in on | scold, criticize | inseparable transitive | Mom laid in on me for being late. |
| lay into | scold, criticize | inseparable transitive | The cop laid into the delinquents. |
| lay off | suspend from a job | separable transitive | The company laid a dozen workers off. |
| lay out | arrange, explain | separable transitive | Can you lay the rules for the project out? |
| lazy about | relax | intransitive | I plan to lazy about on my day off. |
| lazy around | relax | intransitive | He lazied around last Saturday. |
| lead on | encourage (usually negatively) | separable transitive | The other kids often lead him on. |
| lead on | make believe a falsehood | separable transitive | He led me on with his extravagant story. |
| leaf through | look at quickly and not in detail | inseparable transitive | She leafed through the magazine. |
| lean on | depend on | inseparable transitive | You can lean on me. |
| leap at | eagerly accept | inseparable transitive | She leaped at the opportunity. |
| leap out at | be noticeable immediately | inseparable transitive | The errors leapt out at me. |
| leave off | stop an activity | intransitive | The sequel begins where the first movie leaves off. |
| leave out | exclude, omit | separable transitive | She left some names out of her story. |
| lend out | allow to borrow | separable transitive | She never lends her books out. |
| let down | disappoint | separable transitive | Her husband let her down again. |
| let down | lengthen, release | separable transitive | Let the window shades down at dusk. |
| let in | allow inside | separable transitive | Please let the cat in. |
| let off | not punish, not make do | separable transitive | The judge let the man off. |
| let on (about) | hint about | intransitive | He let on about the secret party. |
| let out | release | separable transitive | Who let the dogs out? |
| let out | make bigger | separable transitive | Can you let my skirt out around the waist? |
| let up | lessen, weaken | intransitive | The storm finally let up after midnight. |
| level off | even out | separable transitive | The prices finally leveled off. |
| level with | tell the truth, come clean | inseparable transitive | Let me level with you. |
| lie ahead | exist in the future | intransitive | Dark times lie ahead. |
| lie around | lounge, relax | intransitive | She lies around all day. |
| lie down | rest, recline | intransitive | Grandma needs to lie down. |
| lie with | remains, stays, be responsible for | inseparable transitive | The blames lies with the company. |
| lift off | leave the ground | intransitive | The spaceship lifts off tomorrow. |
| light up | illuminate | separable transitive | The fireworks lit the sky up. |
| light up | smoke | separable transitive | She lit up cigarette after cigarette. |
| lighten up | be less serious | separable transitive | Can we lighten the situation up? |
| limber up | stretch | separable transitive | My trainer limbered me up. |
| line up | form a line | separable transitive | The children lined up for recess. |
| link up | connect | separable transitive | Can you link the two webpages up? |
| listen in (on) | secretly listen | intransitive | The spy listened in on the conversation. |
| listen out for | make an effort to hear a noise | inseparable transitive | Listen out for the phone please. |
| listen up | used as a command to make someone listen | intransitive | Listen up, students! |
| live down | forget, recover, get over | separable transitive | Joe will never live down the embarrassment. |
| live up to | maintain expectations, keep a standard | inseparable transitive | I can never live up to your unrealistic ideals. |
| load down | burden, cover | separable transitive | The loaded the car down with salt bags. |
| load up | fill full | separable transitive | Mom loaded the fridge up with goodies. |
| loan out | lend, allow to borrow | separable transitive | The library loans iPads out. |
| lock away | put away for safe keeping, imprison | separable transitive | I locked my fortune away in the bank. |
| lock in | prevent from leaving | separable transitive | The janitor locked me in. |
| lock onto | attach to, put in focus | inseparable transitive | She locked on to a career in medicine. |
| lock out | prevent from entering | separable transitive | Dad locked me out of the house again. |
| lock up | put away for safe keeping, imprison | separable transitive | The judge locked the prison up. |
| log in | start using (usually an electronic device) | separable transitive | Log me in to the program. |
| log off | finish using (usually an electronic device) | separable transitive | The teacher logged me off the computer. |
| log on | start using (usually an electronic device) | separable transitive | Log on your computer. |
| log onto | start using (usually an electronic device) | separable transitive | Log onto the computer. |
| log out | finish using (usually an electronic device) | separable transitive | Students must log out of the program before the bell rings. |
| look after | care for | inseparable transitive | Will you look after my dogs this weekend? |
| look back on | remember | inseparable transitive | Never look back on your failures. |
| look down on | consider inferior | inseparable transitive | She looks down on poor people. |
| look forward to | anticipate with pleasure | inseparable transitive | I am looking forward to my vacation. |
| look into | investigate | inseparable transitive | Can you look into the situation for me? |
| look on | observe | intransitive | The man looked on in disbelief. |
| look out (for) | be careful, pay attention, heed a certain danger | intransitive | Look out for bears and cougars on your hike. |
| look over | examine, review | separable transitive | Would you look over my essay for mistakes? |
| look up | research, investigate, search | separable transitive | The librarian will help you look the information up. |
| look up | locate and visit | separable transitive | Look me up next time you are in town. |
| look up to | respect, admire | inseparable transitive | She looks up to her father. |
| loosen up | make less tight | separable transitive | Loosen your muscles up before exercising. |
| lop off | cut, reduce | separable transitive | I lopped my hair off. |
| lounge around | relax | intransitive | She lounged around by the pool. |
| luck out | be very lucky | intransitive | You lucked out on that traffic citation. |
| lump together | group | separable transitive | The grocer lumped the fruit together. |
| lust after | feel desire | inseparable transitive | Some men lust after sports cars. |
