10 Uncommon Phrasal Verbs to Boost Your Vocabulary and Fluency

So, first things first: What is a phrasal verb?

A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and an adverb or preposition (and sometimes both). These are idiomatic phrases, which means that you will sound native if you use them correctly!

Some common examples you may have encountered before are “find out”, “clean up”, and “log in”, and you might even know how to use them already!

However, just below, we are going to examine 10 phrasal verbs that are a little more advanced:

PHRASES	DEFINITION	EXAMPLE
Ask for	To make a request	Did you remember to ask for extra napkins?
Break down	To stop working (often used with vehicles)	I’m driving and my car is about to break down!
Call off	To cancel something that had been planned	We must call off the staff meeting.
Cheer up	To become happy after feeling down	There’s always next year, so cheer up!
Dress up	To dress in a formal way/wear a nice outfit	Is she going to dress up for the important event?
Get around to	To finally do something that could have been done earlier	My neighbor needs to get around to mowing his lawn.
Give up	To quit or stop trying	Math is so difficult. It makes me want to give up!
Look up to	To have respect/admiration for someone	They look up to their soccer coach since he is a great man.
Put up with	To tolerate something that is inconvenient/annoying	The family had to put up with rain while on vacation.
Think over	To consider something carefully	Be sure to think over your plans for college!