Phrasal Verb Dictionary: Letter T

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T W Z

Take after [Take after somebody].- When you take after somebody in your family, you are like them in appearance, behaviour or character.

She takes after her dad.
I take after my father but my brother is more like my mother.

Take back [Take something back].- 1 When you take something back, you return it somewhere or to its owner.

If you don't like it, I can always take it back to the shop.
I must take this book back to the library tomorrow.

2 When you take something back, you admit that something you said was wrong.

Too often we blurt out things that we wish we could take back.

Take off.- (insep) 1 When something takes off, it leaves the ground.

The plane took off at six o'clock.
The plane took off two hours late because of the fog.

2 When something takes off, it becomes successful.

Victoria's solo pop career failed to take off.
It might take an additional two years for the project to take off.

Take off [Take something off].- (coat, jacket, dress, shoes, lid, cover, ) When you take something off, you remove it.

Please take your jacket off if you find the place too warm.

Take off [Take somebody off].- When you take somebody off, you copy their way of talking or their behaviour in order to make people laugh.

He's quite good at taking off famous people.

Take on [Take somebody on].- (workers, staff) When you take somebody on, you employ them.

The company is doing so well that we'll have to take on more staff.

Take something on.- (responsibility, role, client, job, task, problem) When you take something on, you accept a responsibility or project.

She can't find a solicitor who is willing to take on her case.

Take to [Take to somebody].- (insep) When you take to somebody, you begin to like them. Go off somebody/something

She took to her new class mates immediately - they were all so friendly and helpful.

Talk into [Talk somebody into something].- When you talk somebody into something, you persuade somebody to do it.

I think I'm going to try to talk her into taking a day trip into Mexico.

Take out [Take something out].- (insurance, driving-licence, permit, loan, mortgage, policy, ad, patent, summons) When you take something out, you apply for and get something.

Australia is a little like the US in that many people take out private insurance which can be quite costly.

Take out [Take it out on somebody].- When you take it out on somebody, you are unpleasant to somebody because you're angry or upset for some reason, even though it's not their fault.

You don't have to take it out on me, do you?
I know you've had an exasperating day, but please don't take it out on me.

Take up [Take something up].- (offer, challenge, opportunity, invitation, suggestion; fishing, golf, job) When you take something up, you start doing an activity as a hobby, or accept a new job or offer.

The children have taken up tennis and they're really enjoying it.
I had a lot of time on my hands so I decided to take up fishing.
He took up a job as a research assistant at a non-profit institution in Cambridge.

Tell off [Tell somebody off].- When you tell somebody off, you speak angrily to them because they have done something wrong.

I came home late and my mother told me off.
His mother told him off for pulling his sister’s hair.

Think over [Think something over].- When you think something over, you think about it or discuss it very carefully. Chew over, mull over

If the offer is made by letter, you have time to think it over more carefully and less emotionally than you would if you received it by telephone or in person.

Think through [Think something through].- (situation, project, business, idea, matter) When you think something through, you consider all the different aspects. Sleep on

Has anybody thought through the consequences of war in terms of human suffering?

Throw something away [Throw something away].- When yo throw something away, you get rid of it.

I've always had a real aversion to throwing away food.
Don't throw away that magazine. I want to keep it.

Throw up.- (insep) When you throw up, you vomit.

The smell was so disgusting that I nearly threw up.
He threw up after eating 6 chocolate eggs in 10 minutes.

Throw up [Throw something up].- 1 (problems, facts, lessons, points, information) When something throws something else up, it produces it.

The research threw up some interesting statistics.

2 (job, career, position) When you throw something up, you leave it.

He threw up his job with Pinkerton and settled in Argentina as a shoe dealer.

Tip off [Tip somebody off].- (police, reporter, newspapers) When somebody is tipped off about something, they receive secret information.

It seems a reporter was tipped off that something interesting was going to happen that night.

Trigger off [Trigger something off].- (alarm, explosion, fight, war, vilence, incident, illness) When something triggers something else off, it makes it happen. Spark off, set off

Stress and anxiety can trigger off many beauty problems, like acne, hair loss and dandruff.

Tuck in.- (insep, infml) When you tuck in, you begin to eat eagerly:

When ready, let it stand for a bit and then tuck in and enjoy.

Tuck in [Tuck somebody in].- When you tuck somebody in, you make a child comfortable in bed by adjusting the blankets.

I used to tuck her in every night with her favorite blanket.

Turn down [Turn somebody down].- When you turn somebody down, you don't accept them.

Simon asked Lucy to marry him but she turned him down.

Turn down [Turn something down].- 1 (job, offer, request, opportunity, application) When you turn something down, you refuse to accept it. Take up

He was offered an excellent job in Canada, but he turned it down because he didn't want to leave France.

2 (radio, TV, heater, gas, sound, volume) When you turn something down, you reduce the noise, heat, etc. Turn up

When the liquid boils, turn the heat down and simmer it for 10 minutes.

Turn into [Turn into something].- (insep) When somebody or something turns into something esle, they change into that.

He doesn't do anything but watch TV; he's turning into a couch potatoe.

Turn off [Turn something off].- When you turn something on, you move the controls so that something stops working. Switch something off Turn on, switch on

Please turn off the lights.

Turn on [Turn something on].- (radio, TV, heater, gas, tap, light) When you turn something on, you move the controls so that something starts working. Switch something on Turn off, switch off

People turn on the television to keep them company, and to keep them from thinking.

Turn out.- (insep) When something turns out a particular way, it happens that way. Pan out, work out

In the end, it turned out that there had been a misunderstanding.
We were certainly relieved when the bomb threat turned out to be a false alarm.

Turn up.- (insep) When somebody or something turns up, they arrive or appear.

He turned up half an hour late.
Why do you think he would suddenly turn up again after all these years?

Type in [Type something in].- When you type something in, you enter information into a computer.

Oh no! I've just deleted all my work! I'll have to type it in again.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T W Z

For other verbs and to get more examples search the corpus