PHRASAL VERBS

Other Phrasal Verbs

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D

Andare in fretta
Dash off
I’m sorry: my work isn’t good because I had to finish it off quickly and dash to the airport!


Arrivare a capire, comprendere
Dawn on
It suddenly dawned on me that it might be too late.


Smorzarsi, ridursi di intensità
Die away
The notes died away and they all clapped.
The sound of the fugitive’s footsteps gradually died away.


Decrescere, diminuire, ridursi
Die down
Arnold was furious about Jane’s behaviour, but his anger soon died down.


Estinguersi, scomparire
Die out
Scientists say that the dinosaurs died out millions of years ago.
Nowadays, courtship is a custom which is beginning to die out.


Mangare ingozzandosi, trangugiare
Dig in
Richard was starving so he dug in when the food arrived.


Cercare
Dig into
I had to dig into the pockets to find the keys.


Riportare alla luce, portare a galla
Dig up
Mary eventually dug up the truth about his shady past.


Assopirsi, addormentarsi
Doze off
The labourer was worn out and dozed off on the carpet.


Andare per le lunghe, trascinarsi
Drag on,
The dispute dragged on for years.


Fare confessare, scucire
Drag out of
The police dragged a confession out of the criminal.


Accorciarsi
Draw in
The days are beginning to draw in.


Prolungare
Draw out
The old speaker drew the speech out for over an hour.


Tracciare, attingere
Draw up
Don drew up the final list of all the qualified students.
The police is trying to draw up the killer's features.
William drew up on his childhood experience to write the screenplay of his last film.


Stilare un documento, preparare un contratto
Draw up
The contract was drawn up by the landlord’s solicitor.
A staff of lawyers drew the trade agreement up.


Fermarsi di un veicolo
Draw up
The bus drew up at the stop and people started getting off.


Sognare qualcosa di irraggiungibile
Dream on
So you’re thinking to go out with Dorothy… dream on, dream on!


Escogitare
Dream up
Ed's an expert at having unusual ideas… recently he has dreamt up a weird burglar alarm.


Scoprire qualcosa nel passato di qualcuno
To dredge up
The newspapers dredged up details of his childhood and his affair with the seductive assistant.


Vestire bene, mettersi in tiro
Dress up
Sheila’s getting used to dressing down for informal parties.


Rimproverare, dare una lavata di capo
Dress down
Larry was dressed down by the teacher for being late.


Perdersi di vista
Drift apart
Where's Frank... he has drifted apart in the crowd.


Scivolare
Drift off
I was worn out and so I drifted off to sleep.


Finire di bere
Drink up
Let’s drink up… it’s very late and they are closing.


Andarsene in auto
Drive off
Sheila slammed the door shut and drove off without saying a word.


Fare una visita, una capatina, un’improvvisata
Drop by, Drop in
So, Mandy… drop by and pick up that book sometime.
On his way home Sam dropped in at the office to see Sharon.


Lasciare gli studi prima di avere finito
Drop out
Edith dropped out of school and went straight to get William hitched.


Sostenere, incoraggiare
Drum up
Ted is going to London to drum up business for the new collection.


Smettere di bere alcohol
Dry out
The wino eventually dried out, after spending ten months in a clinic for detoxification.


Asciugare, finire di lavare i piatti
Dry up
Richard, be a darling and dry up for me… will you?


Smettere di parlare ininterrottamente
Dry up
Kelly never stops talking: she’s a motormouth… I do wish she’d dry up!


Perdere il filo, interrompersi bruscamente
Dry up
All my ideas and inspiration have dried up!


Evitare di fare qualcosa, tirarsi indietro
Duck out
C'mon Bob... you can't duck out of your responsibilities!


Semplificare, sintetizzare
Dumb down
Your report is too detailed… let’s dumb it down!


Rimuginare, soffermarsi su qualcosa
Dwell on, Dwell upon
You made a blunder, Kim, but there's no reason to dwell on it.

 


 

E

Ridurre
Ease off
David eased off the accelerator to slow down.


Rilassarsi, calmarsi
Ease up
The teacher asked us to ease up for a break because she was too stressed.


Mangiare fuori, andare al ristorante
Eat out
Jo, I'm too tired to cook tonight… why don't we eat out?
Dan and Pat couldn't be bothered to cook, so they ate out.


Finire di mangiare
Eat up
Joan, if you don't eat up your steak, ask the waiter for a doggy bag.


Incoraggiare, sostenere
Egg on
All the students egged Bob on when he started arguing.


Fare durare il più possibile
Eke out
We have to eke out our income because money is never enough.


Gettarsi in un’impresa
Embark on, Embark upon
Richard embarked on a new master degree last month.
Genny has embarked upon a completely new job.


Riuscire ad arrivare
End up
We got completely lost and ended up in the wrong direction.


Fare qualcosa di non pianificato
End up
Ed, you're working too hard... take it easy or you'll end up in the hospital!


Intraprendere, cimentarsi
Enter for, Enter upon
Tricia entered for the local championship.
Freddy had entered upon a crazy love affair with Dan’s wife.


Guardare attentamente, con grande interesse
Eye up
The guy eyed Mary up, showing his sexual interest in her.
 
 
 

 
F

Accettare fatti sgradevoli responsabilmente
Face up to
Many people find it hard to face up to the fact that they are loser.
You can't pretend that it’s all right, Albert… sooner or later, you'll have to face up to the truth!


Perdere tempo, non concludere nulla
Faff about, Faff around
Peter, I wish you'd stop faffing about (faffing around) and start working!


Ricadere
Fall back
Dorothy stopped talking and fell back on the bed.


Ricorrere
Fall back on
We can’t always fall back on Edward to drive us to the sea.


Piacere
Fall for
Poor you, Dan… Sharon falls for the most expensive jewellery!


Infatuarsi di una persona
Fall for
It’s a period of loneliness in Sandra’s life: she’s fallen for her shrink.


Capire, comprendere a fondo
Fathom out
For years I’ve been trying to fathom out Nancy’s points of view.


Confondere, turbare
Faze out
Her shilly-shally behaviour fazed Peter out.


Cercare a tastoni
Feel about for
Sharon had to feel about in the dark for the door-handle.


Avere voglia, sentirsi in un certo modo
Feel like
I feel like a drink.
Going out? Oh no, I don’t feel like it.


Sentirsi (in grado) di fare qualcosa
Feel up to
Joan, I know the accident was a terrible shock… do you feel up to driving?
I am sick… I don't think I feel up to going out to the cinema.


Investigare, ricercare, arrivare a scoprire con difficoltà
Ferret out
Both Mary and I had to eat some nasty food ferretted out at the local grocer's.
The police affirmed that anything suspicious would be ferretted out very quickly.
The shrewd journalist managed to ferret out the truth about the scandal.

Combattere una malattia
Fight off
It was so hard to get rid of the cold: it took two weeks to fight it off!


Contrattaccare, respingere
Fight off
Vicky managed to fight the creep off and ran away.


Comprendere, trovare una risposta logica
Figure out
For a long time I couldn't understand that problem, but I finally figured it out.
I can't figure Janet out: sometimes she's friendly, sometimes she’s not.


Completare un modulo
Fill in
Tom filled in the application form and mailed it.


Sostituire un persona in un lavoro
Fill in for
The maths teacher is ill and we don’t know who's going to fill in for him.


Scoprire, apprendere
Find out
If you won’t tell me I’ll find it out by myself.


Terminare, finire
Finish off
I’ll finish off the report after dinner.
Has the chocolates been finished off yet?


Avere tempo sufficiente
Fit in
I don't have time to fit in another dinner this week.


Trovarsi bene socialmente
Fit in with
You really fit in well with the group!


Decidere qualcosa, fissare
Fix up
Frank fixed up an appointment for Kevin to see a specialist.


Diminuire fino ad esaurrsi, svanire
Fizzle out
The boom of the last few years fizzled out a couple of months ago.

Completare, arricchire
Flesh out
Mandy, can you flesh out your account with more details?


Far girare, girarsi
Flip over
A strong wind flipped over the pages of Barry’s newspaper.


Rifilare, appioppare
Fob off
If you don’t want to go there you can always fob them off with some excuse!
The junk dealer was fobbing Frank off with a worthless replica.


Andare a zonzo, sprecare tempo in giro
Fool around
Jack loves drinking and fooling around with the girls he meets at the pub.


Pagare malvolentieri
Fork out
Patricia couldn't persuade Dan to fork out on a life of ease.
Why fork out for a minicab when there's a good bus service?


Uscire di testa
Freak out
Fiona’s a prissy little girl: she freaked out when she saw me stripped to the waist!


Cazzeggiare
Fuck about, Fuck around
Ed's fucking about (fucking around) all day… a real lazybones!