Dictionary: letter T

tag along (insep) accompany someone, maybe uninvited go along, come along

• You are welcome to tag along any time you want.
• They went shopping and I just tagged along.

take after [take after someone] be like someone in appearance, behaviour or character

• She takes after her dad.
• I take after my father but my brother is more like my mother.
• Who do you take after?

take back 1 [take something back] return something 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 Admit that something you said was wrong

• Too often we blurt out things that we wish we could take back.
• I wish I could take back what I said.

take off 1 leave (insep) leave the ground

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

2 succeed become successful

• Victoria's solo pop career failed to take off.
• It might take an additional two years for the project to take off.
• Book clubs have taken off in a big way in London over the last ten years.

3 remove [take something off] (coat, jacket, dress, shoes, lid, cover ) remove an item of clothing

• Please take your jacket off if you find the place too warm.
• I took off my shirt and splashed water all over myself.
• Take off your coat, please.

4 imitate [take someone off] copy the way someone talks or their behaviour in order to make people laugh

• He's quite good at taking off famous people.

take on 1 employ [take someone on] (workers, staff) employ someone

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

2 accept [take something on] (responsibility, role, client, job, task, problem) accept a responsibility or project

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

take to [take to someone] (insep) begin to like someone go off someone/something

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

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

• Many people take out private insurance even when it's quite costly.
• They took out a mortgage to buy their house.
• Taking out a loan can be a confusing and complex process.

idiom take it out on be unpleasant to someone 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 over [take over, take something over] take control of something

• A multinational company wanted to take the business over, but they rejected their offer.
• If George dies, who will take over the project?.

take up start doing [take something up] (offer, challenge, opportunity, invitation, suggestion; fishing, golf, job) 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.

talk back (insep) answer someone in a possible of authority in a rude way

• Don't you ever talk back to me like that.
• Don't talk back to your mom!

talk down [talk down to someone] (insep) talk to someone as if they are not important

• Don't talk down to children, no matter how young they are.

talk into [talk someone into something] persuade someone to do something

• How did you manage to talk him into that?
• I think I'm going to try to talk her into taking a day trip into Mexico.

taper off [taper off, taper something off] decrease gradually

• How would I go about tapering off this dose properly?

tear away [tear someone away] make someone leave a place when they don't want to

• He's so happy here that we'd hate to tear him away.

tear into [tear into something] (fish, meal, enemy) start eating something eagerly; attack.

• I was sitting in a wooden hut a few yards from the Atlantic ocean, tearing into parrot fish and pollack with my fingers.
• The shark was tearing into a carcass of a whale in the south coast.

tell off [tell someone off] speak angrily to someone 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] think about something 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) consider all the different options

• Has anybody thought through the consequences of war in terms of human suffering?
• Take a minute to think this through before you do it.

think up [think something up] (excuse, name, reason, idea, plan) produce something new by thinking

• He quickly thought up a plan.
• I wish I could think up a good excuse.
• I've been trying to think up a good name for this campaign.

throw away 1 [throw something away] get rid of something

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

1 (chance, opportunity) waste something good

• He threw it all away to pursue a music career.
• Cardiff City threw away the chance to secure a much-needed victory.

throw up 1 (insep) vomit

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

2 [throw something up] (problems, facts, lessons, points, information) produce something

• The research threw up some interesting statistics.

3 (job, career, position) leave something. pack in

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

tide over [tide someone over]

tip off [tip someone off] (police, reporter, newspapers) give someone secret information

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

top up 1 refill [top something up] (drink, glass) add more liquid, powder, etc to a container

• Let me top up your glass.
• Staff were on hand all night to top up our drinks.

noun They were nice enough to give us a top-up on our coffee.

2 (phone, credit) add more money to something so it has the amount you need

• I need to top up my phone.
• You can top up your credit at any time.

touch on (insep) (issue, problem) briefly talk about something

• The speaker touched on the crucial problem of European integration.

tow away 1 [tow something away] (car) remove an illegally parked vehicle

• I recently had my car towed away because I parked in a handicapped parking area.
• Illegally parked vehicles will be towed away at the owner's expense.

trade in [trade something in] use something as payment

• My last Toyota had 250,000 miles on it when I traded it in.

trickle down (insep) gradually reach poorer people

• What good is money, if it is cornered by a few and does not trickle down to the needy?

trickle in (insep) arrive slowly or in small numbers

• The results began to trickle in throughout Friday afternoon.
• Sale season orders are trickling in.

trigger off [trigger something off] (alarm, explosion, fight, war, vilence, incident, illness) make something happen spark off, set off

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

tuck in 1 eat (insep, infml) begin to eat eagerly dig in

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

2 adjust [tuck someone in] make a child comfortable in bed by adjusting the blankets

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

turn down 1 [turn something down, turn someone down] (job, invitation, offer, request, opportunity, application) refuse to accept something take up

• He was offered an excellent job in Canada, but he turned it down because he didn't want to leave France.
• Simon asked Lucy to marry him but she turned him down.
• It's hard to turn down an invitation like that.

2 (radio, TV, heater, gas, sound, volume) 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) change into something

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

turn off [turn something off] change 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) change the controls so that something starts working Switch on turn off, switch off

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

turn out (insep) happen in a certain 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.
• I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out.

turn up (insep) arrive or appear show up

• 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] enter information into a computer

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

For other verbs and to get more examples build your own lists in the Lists section.