Dictionary: letter F
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+ | only common verbs here | any verb with many examples inface down [face down someone] (critics, opponent, questioning) defeat an opponent by being brave or bold
- She faced down critics from the more moderate wing of the party.
factor in [factor something in] (costs) take into account when making a decision
- Cultural diversity must be factored in.
- The severe temperatures and wind conditions had to be factored in.
fade away disappear (insep) (noise, music, sound, light, hope) gradually become weaker and disappears die away
- After a moment the noise faded away, and only the sound of a light breeze, and ringing, filled my ears.
fall apart collapse (family, life, marriage, relationship, house, car, business, deal) desintegrate; fall to pieces
- The building is falling apart.
- His marriage fell apart when he cheated on his wife.
fall back on [fall back on someone/something] (insep) turn to someone or something 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) remain 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) 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 someone] (insep) fall in love with someone
- She fell for him in a big way.
- Why does he always fall for the wrong women.
fall for [fall for something] be tricked or deceived
- How could you fall for such an old trick?
- She fell for his talk and bought the encyclopedia.
fall off 1 fall (insep) (bike, horse, button) separate from something and fall down
- He fell off his bike and hurt himself.
2 decrease (insep) (attendance, interest, quality, profits) decrease or become less or fewer drop off
- Attendance has fallen off this term.
fall out (insep) (a situation, someone) quarrel or have an argument and stop being friends
- They've fallen out over some stupid misunderstanding.
- I don't want to fall out over this.
- I don't like Bill - I fell out with him when he sold me a car that didn't work.
fall over (insep) 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 fail (insep) (idea, plan, project, arrangement, scheme, proposal) fail and be 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/someone] (insep) be tired, depressed, bored or no longer interested in someone or something
- 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 discover [ferret something out] (secret, the truth, details, error, facts, information) succeed in finding some difficult or secret information dig out
- She managed to ferret out the secret.
fight back control [fight something back] (tears, fear, unease, emotions) try to control or not to show an emotion
- He swallowed hard, trying to fight back his emotions.
- I could tell she was fighting back the tears.
fight off [fight something off] (infection, cold, illness, attack, enemy, competition) try to avoid or get rid of something
- 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 understand [figure something out] manage to understand
- Have you figured out what the problem is?
- I just can't figure her out.
- It didn't take me long to figure it out.
fill in for substitute [fill in for someone] (insep) do someone's 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 1 tell [fill someone in, fill someone in on something] (details) give someone 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.
2 compete [fill something in] (form, cheque, name, coupon, space, questionnaire, hole) complete something 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) become 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 discover (information, secret) [find out, find something out] 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 1 be accepted (insep) be similar to people in a group so they accept you
- It's difficult for them to fit in with the way of life here.
- I just do not seem to fit in with other people.
- All my friends do it and I want to fit in with them.
2 include [fit something/someone in] manage to include it in a reduce space or time squeeze in
- The course pace is relatively fast as there is a lot to fit in.
fizzle out (insep) gradually come to an end when people become less interested
- I did a lot of volunteering when I was at school but it fizzled out when I started work.
flake out (insep, informal) fall asleep
- He flaked out on the sofa.
flare up (insep) become angry
- He was an alcoholic and would flare up at anything.
flick through 1 look quickly [flick through something] (insep) (magazine, book, album, article, photos, cards) read or look quickly at the pages of a magazine or book flip through, glance over, leaf through
- I flicked through the photos on my camera.
2 change [flick through something] (insep) (channels) change repeatedly from one station or channel to another
- 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) flick through
flood in (insep) (people, memories) arrive in big numbers trickle in
- People are starting to flood into the city for tonight's festivities.
- Tributes are continuing to flood in for the victim.
flush out [flush someone out] (rebels, resistance, militants, guerrillas, criminals) force someone 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 1 [fob someone off] (patient, creditor) stop someone complaining by giving them silly answers
- I keep ringing them and complaining but they just fob me off ! They couldnt care less.
2 [fob something off] (responsibility) manage to make someone 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!
follow through (insep) take action so something is completed
- The international community made many promises, but never followed through.
- We must make sure they follow through.
follow up [follow something up (with)] do what's needed next to make sure something is successful
- The fastest way to process your order is to follow it up with a call to our shop to confirm it.
- It's best to make your request in writing and follow up with a phone call.
fork out/over/up [fork out, fork out something] (insep) have to spend it cough up, shell out, stump up
- How much would I have to fork out?
- You will have to fork out some money to use their premium features.
- Parents will have to fork out extra cash this year for school dinners after a hike in prices.
- He's having to fork out for private tutoring for his daughter.
freak out [freak out, freak someone out] 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.
freshen up 1 [freshen up, freshen someone up] wash to be clean and comfortable.
- Be sure to freshen up before your interview.
2 [freshen something up] make a place look new and attractive
- Cushions are an easy way to freshen up the look of a bedroom.
frighten away [frighten something away] make someone or something leave using fear scare away, scare off
- They feel a refinery would frighten away tourists and potential tourism investors.
frighten off frighten away
fuck about/around (taboo, slang) 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.
- Hurry up cause I don't have time to fuck around today.
fuck off (taboo) (insep) tell someone 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] make of mess of something balls up, cock up, mess up
- Every time we win, we go and fuck up the next match with a stupid result.
- I fucked up my back in yoga this morning.
- The referee fucked up the match since the first penalty.
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