Phrasal Verb Dictionary: Letter F

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Fade away.- (insep) (noise, music, sound, light, hope) When something fades away, it gradually becomes weaker until it disappears; it fades. Die away

After a moment the noise faded away, and only the sound of a light breeze, and ringing, filled my ears.

Fall apart.- (insep) (family, life, marriage, relationship, house, car, business, deal) When something falls apart, it desintegrates or falls to pieces.

The building is falling apart.
His marriage fell apart when he cheated on his wife.

Fall back on [Fall back on somebody, fall back on something] .- (insep) When you fall back on somebody or something, you turn to them or use it when in difficulty or because no other choice is available; resort to.

It's great to have a friend to fall back on.
People fall back on alternative medicine when modern drugs don't work.
They had no money to fall back on.

Fall behind.- (insep) When you fall behind or something falls behind, it remains at the same level or standard.

Your schoolwork has fallen behind.
He fell behind with the rent and was asked to leave the flat.

Fall down.- (insep) When you fall down, you fall accidentallly or because something is in a poor state of repair.

She fell down and hurt her knees.
She tripped and fell down

Fall for [Fall for somebody].-(insep) When you fall for somebody, you fall in love with them.

She fell for him in a big way.
Why does he always fall for the wrong women.

Fall for [Fall for something].- When you fall for something, you are tricked or deceived.

How could you fall for such an old trick?
She fell for his talk and bought the encyclopedia.

Fall off.- 1 (insep) (bike, horse, button) When you fall off something, you separate from it and fall down.

He fell off his bike and hurt himself.

2 (insep) (attendance, interest, quality, profits) When something falls off, it decreases or becomes less or fewer. Drop off

Attendance has fallen off this term.

Fall out.- (insep) (a situation, somebody) When two people fall out, they quarrel or have an argument and stop being friends.

They've fallen out over some stupid misunderstanding.
I don't like Bill - I fell out with him when he sold me a car that didn't work.

Fall over.- (insep) When you fall over, you fall to the ground.

She slipped on the ice and fell over.
He fell over and broke his leg.
My daughter is learning to walk so she falls over quite a lot.

Fall through.- (insep) (idea, plan, project, arrangement, scheme, proposal) When something falls through, it fails and it's abandoned.

The deal fell through for reasons that are not clear.
The sale fell through at the last minute.
The employees decided not to work for him and his plan fell through.

Fed up with something [Be fed up with something / somebody] .- (insep) When you are fed up with something or somebody, you are tired, depressed, bored or no longer interested in them.

Are you as fed up with what's going on in Washington as I am? I've become increasingly concerned about the current direction of our country.

Ferret out [Ferret something out].- (secret, the truth, details, error, facts, information) When you ferret something out, you succeed in finding some difficult or secret information. Dig out

She managed to ferret out the secret.

Fight off [Fight something off].- (infection, cold, illness, attack, enemy, competition) When you fight something off, you try to avoid or get rid of it.

I'm taking lots of vitamin C to help me fight off this cold.
Stress weakens your immune system, making it harder for your body to fight off infection.

Figure out [Figure something out].- When you figure something out, you manage to understand.

Have you figured out what the problem is?
I just can't figure her out.

Fill in for [Fill in for somebody].- (insep) When you fill in for somebody, you do their job temporarily because they can't. Cover for, sit in for, stand in for

Colleen was pleased that Gwen Swick was able to fill in for her, as Gwen was an old friend and they had worked together many times.

Fill in [Fill somebody in, fill somebody in on something].- (details) When you fill somebody in, or fill somebody in on something, you give them information.

My assistant will fill you in on the details.
For those who haven't see it, let me fill you in on some of the highlights.

Fill in [Fill something in].- (form, cheque, name, coupon, space, questionnaire,hole) When you fill something in, you complete it with the correct information.

She gave me a form and told me to fill it in.
You will be asked to fill in a questionnaire designed to measure your quality of life.

Fill up [Fill up, fill something up].- (glass, car, tank, bottle, container, theater) When you fill something up or something fills up, it becomes full.

You should always switch off the engine before you fill up with petrol.
She filled up the kettle with water and made everyone a cup of tea.

Find out [Find out, find something out].- When you find something out, you discover or get information.

What will she say when she finds out?
When you lose everything you find out who your real friends are.

Fit in.- (insep) When you fit in, you get on with a group of people or you feel as if belonging to a group.

It's difficult for them to fit in with the way of life here.

Flake out .- (insep, informal) When you flake out, you fall asleep.

He flaked out on the sofa.

Flare up.- (insep) When you flare up, you become angry.

He was an alcoholic and would flare up at anything.

Flick through [Flick through something].- (insep) (magazine, book, album, article, channels, cards) When you flick through something, you read or look quickly at the pages of a magazine or book. It also means to change repeatedly from one station or channel to another. Flip through, glance over, leaf through

He flicked through the channels on the TV, hoping for some news.
I was flicking through the channels when I saw her on the telly. I couldn't believe it.

Flip through [Flip through something].- (insep) The same as flick through.

Flush out [Flush somebody out].- (rebels, resistance, militants, guerrillas, criminals) When you flush somebody out, you force them to leave a place.

The Angolan armed forces have recently flushed out the rebels from the area.
In the port of Umm Qasr, to the south, royal marines have been flashing out the last pockets of resistance.

Fob off [Fob somebody off].- (patient, creditor) When you fob somebody off, you stop somebody complaining by giving them silly answers.

I keep ringing them and complaining but they just fob me off ! They couldnt care less.

Fob off [Fob something off].- (responsibility) When you fob something off, you manage to make somebody accept something faulty, worthless or difficult to deal with.

Don't try to fob off your responsibility on others!
I don't want to be fobbed off with excuses, I want to know who is responsible for this problem!

Freak out [Freak out, freak somebody out].- When you freak out, you react in an anxious, excited and wild manner to something.

My parents would freak out if I talked to them about this.
Don't freak out and do something stupid every time something bad happens.

Frighten away [Frighten something away].- When you frighten somebody or an animal away, you make them leave using fear. Scare away, scare off

They feel a refinery would frighten away tourists and potential tourism investors.

Frighten off.- the same as frighten away.

Fuck about.- (taboo, slang) When you fuck around, you behave in a stupid way which annoys people.

After a ridiculous amount of fucking about and watching crap on TV, I eventually persuaded them to leave.

Fuck around.- The same as fuck about.

Fuck off.- (taboo) (insep) When you tell somebody to fuck off, you tell them in a very offensive way to leave you alone. Bugger off, sod off, piss off

He started yelling at me again and then told me to fuck off.

Fuck up [Fuck something up].- When you fuck something up, you make of mess of it. Balls up, cock up, mess up

Every time we win, we go and fuck up the next match with a stupid result.

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