English phrasal verbs

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pack, load down
load with a pack

pad, fill out
line or stuff with soft material; "pad a bra"

pair, pair off, partner off, couple
form a pair or pairs; "The two old friends paired off"

pan out
be a success; "The idea panned out"

pan, pan out, pan off
wash dirt in a pan to separate out the precious minerals

pan, tear apart, trash
express a totally negative opinion of; "The critics panned the performance"

pare, pare down
decrease gradually or bit by bit

pass away
go out of existence; "She hoped that the problem would eventually pass away"

pass off
be accepted as something or somebody in a false character or identity; "She passed off as a Russian agent"

pass off
cause to be circulated and accepted in a false character or identity; "She passed the glass off as diamonds"; "He passed himself off as a secret agent"

pass off
disregard; "She passed off the insult"

pass on
give to or transfer possession of; "She passed the family jewels on to her daughter-in-law"

pass over, overfly
fly over; "The plane passed over Damascus"

pass through
cause to move through; "Pass a chemical through a solution"

pass up
fail to acknowledge; "he passed me up in the street"

pass, go through, go across
go across or through; "We passed the point where the police car had parked"; "A terrible thought went through his mind"

pass, hand, reach, pass on, turn over, give
place into the hands or custody of; "hand me the spoon, please"; "Turn the files over to me, please"; "He turned over the prisoner to his lawyers"

pass, make it
go successfully through a test or a selection process; "She passed the new Jersey Bar Exam and can practice law now"

patch, patch up
mend by putting a patch on; "patch a hole"

pay back, pay off, get, fix
take vengeance on or get even; "We'll get them!"; "That'll fix him good!"; "This time I got him"

pay off
yield a profit or result; "His efforts finally paid off"

pay, pay off, make up, compensate
do or give something to somebody in return; "Does she pay you for the work you are doing?"

peck, pick up
eat by pecking at, like a bird

peg, peg down
fasten or secure with a wooden pin; "peg a tent"

pent, shut up
closely confined

percolate, sink in, permeate, filter
pass through; "Water permeates sand easily"

perk up, perk, percolate, pick up, gain vigor
gain or regain energy; "I picked up after a nap"

persevere, persist, hang in, hang on, hold on
be persistent, refuse to stop; "he persisted to call me every night"; "The child persisted and kept asking questions"

phase in
introduce gradually

phase out
terminate gradually

photocopy, run off, xerox
reproduce by xerography

pick at, peck at, peck
eat like a bird; "The anorexic girl just picks at her food"

pick at, pluck at, pull at
pluck or pull at with the fingers; "She picked nervously at the buttons of her blouse"

pick off
shoot one by one

pick up
buy casually or spontaneously; "I picked up some food for a snack"

pick up
get in addition, as an increase; "The candidate picked up thousands of votes after his visit to the nursing home"

pick up
give a passenger or a hitchhiker a lift; "We picked up a hitchhiker on the highway"

pick up
lift out or reflect from a background; "The scarf picks up the color of the skirt"; "His eyes picked up his smile"

pick up
meet someone for sexual purposes; "he always tries to pick up girls in bars"

pick up
take up by hand; "He picked up the book and started to read"

pick up, lift up, gather up
take and lift upward

pick up, receive
register (perceptual input); "pick up a signal"

pick, break up
attack with or as if with a pickaxe of ice or rocky ground, for example; "Pick open the ice"

pile up, heap up, stack up
arrange into piles or stacks; "She piled up her books in my living room"

pin down, peg down, nail down, narrow down, narrow, specify
define clearly; "I cannot narrow down the rules for this game"

pin down, pin up
attach with or as if with a pin; "pin up a picture"

pine away, waste, languish
lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief; "After her husband died, she just pined away"

pioneer, open up
open up an area or prepare a way; "She pioneered a graduate program for women students"

pipe up
begin to play or sing

pit, oppose, match, play off
set into opposition or rivalry; "let them match their best athletes against ours"; "pit a chess player against the Russian champion"; "He plays his two children off against each other"

pitch in, dig in
eat heartily; "The food was placed on the table and the children pitched in"

pitch, set up
erect and fasten; "pitch a tent"

place, come in, come out
take a place in a competition; often followed by an ordinal; "Jerry came in third in the Marathon"

plan, be after
have the will and intention to carry out some action; "He plans to be in graduate school next year"; "The rebels had planned turmoil and confusion"

play along, accompany, follow
perform an accompaniment to; "The orchestra could barely follow the frequent pitch changes of the soprano"

play along, go along
cooperate or pretend to cooperate; "He decided to play along with the burglars for the moment"

play around, fool around
commit adultery; "he plays around a lot"

play back, replay
reproduce (a recording) on a recorder; "The lawyers played back the conversation to show that their client was innocent"

play out
become spent or exhausted; "The champion's strength played out fast"

play out
perform or be performed to the end; "How will the election drama be played out?"

play out
play to a finish; "We have got to play this game out, even thought it is clear that we have last"

pluck, tweak, pull off, pick off
pull or pull out sharply; "pluck the flowers off the bush"

plug away, peg away, slog, keep one's nose to the grindstone, keep one's shoulder to the wheel
work doggedly or persistently; "She keeps plugging away at her dissertation"

plug in, plug into, connect
plug into an outlet; "Please plug in the toaster!"; "Connect the TV so we can watch the football game tonight"

plug, stop up, secure
fill or close tightly with or as if with a plug; "plug the hole"; "stop up the leak"

polish, round, round off, polish up, brush up
bring to a highly developed, finished, or refined state; "polish your social manners"

poop out, peter out, run down, run out, conk out
use up all one's strength and energy and stop working; "At the end of the march, I pooped out"

pop in
enter briefly; "He popped in for two minutes"

pop off
leave quickly

pop out
come out suddenly or forcefully; "you stick a bill in the vending machine and the change pops out"

pop out
exit briefly; "He popped out for a quick coffee break"

pop out, burst out
appear suddenly; "Spring popped up everywhere in the valley"

post, put up
place so as to be noticed; "post a sign"; "post a warning at the dump"

postpone, prorogue, hold over, put over, table, shelve, set back, defer, remit, put off
hold back to a later time; "let's postpone the exam"

precede, come before
be the predecessor of; "Bill preceded John in the long line of Susan's husbands"

precipitate, come down, fall
fall from clouds; "rain, snow and sleet were falling"; "Vesuvius precipitated its fiery, destructive rage on Herculaneum"

preclude, rule out, close out
make impossible, especially beforehand

present, represent, lay out
bring forward and present to the mind; "We presented the arguments to him"; "We cannot represent this knowledge to our formal reason"

press on, push on, plough on
continue moving forward

prick up, prick, cock up
raise; "The dog pricked up his ears"

probe, dig into, poke into
examine physically with or as if with a probe; "probe an anthill"

proceed, go forward, continue
move ahead; travel onward in time or space; "We proceeded towards Washington"; "She continued in the direction of the hills"; "We are moving ahead in time now"

prod, incite, egg on
urge on; cause to act; "The other children egged the boy on, but he did not want to throw the stone through the window"

produce, bring about, give rise
cause to happen, occur or exist; "This procedure produces a curious effect"; "The new law gave rise to many complaints"; "These chemicals produce a noxious vapor"; "the new President must bring about a change in the health care system"

produce, bring forth
bring forth or yield; "The tree would not produce fruit"

produce, bring forth
bring out for display; "The proud father produced many pictures of his baby"; "The accused brought forth a letter in court that he claims exonerates him"

produce, bring on, bring out
bring onto the market or release; "produce a movie"; "bring out a book"; "produce a new play"

progress, come on, come along, advance, get on, get along, shape up
develop in a positive way; "He progressed well in school"; "My plants are coming along"; "Plans are shaping up"

project, send off
throw, send, or cast forward; "project a missile"

prolong, protract, extend, draw out
lengthen in time; cause to be or last longer; "We prolonged our stay"; "She extended her visit by another day"; "The meeting was drawn out until midnight"

prolong, sustain, keep up
lengthen or extend in duration or space; "We sustained the diplomatic negotiations as long as possible"; "prolong the treatment of the patient"; "keep up the good work"

pronounce, articulate, enounce, sound out, enunciate, say
speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way; "She pronounces French words in a funny way"; "I cannot say `zip wire'"; "Can the child sound out this complicated word?"

prop up, prop, shore up, shore
support by placing against something solid or rigid; "shore and buttress an old building"

prove, turn out, turn up
be shown or be found to be; "She proved to be right"; "The medicine turned out to save her life"; "She turned up HIV positive"

provoke, evoke, call forth, kick up
evoke or provoke to appear or occur; "Her behavior provoked a quarrel between the couple"

publish, bring out, put out, issue, release
prepare and issue for public distribution or sale; "publish a magazine or newspaper"

puff, puff up, blow up, puff out
to swell or cause to enlarge, "Her faced puffed up from the drugs"; "puffed out chests"

pull back
move to a rearward position; pull towards the back; "Pull back your arms!"

pull back, draw
stretch back a bowstring (on an archer's bow); "The archers were drawing their bows"

pull in, get in, move in, draw in
of trains; move into (a station); "The bullet train drew into Tokyo Station"

pull off
cause to withdraw; "We pulled this firm off the project because they overcharged"

pull off, negociate, bring off, carry off, manage
be successful; achieve a goal; "She succeeded in persuading us all"; "I managed to carry the box upstairs"; "She pulled it off, even though we never thought her capable of it"; "The pianist negociated the difficult runs"

pull out, get out
move out or away; "The troops pulled out after the cease-fire"

pull over
steer a vehicle to the side of the road; "The car pulled over when the ambulance approached at high speed"

pull, root for
take sides with; align oneself with; show strong sympathy for; "We all rooted for the home team"; "I'm pulling for the underdog"; "Are you siding with the defender of the title?"

pursue, follow up on, act on
carry further or advance; "Can you act on this matter soon?"

push, bear on
press, drive, or impel (someone) to action or completion of an action; "He pushed her to finish her doctorate"

put away, put aside
stop using; "the children were told to put away their toys"; "the students put away their notebooks"

put away, put aside
turn away from and put aside, perhaps temporarily; "it's time for you to put away childish things"

put away, put to sleep
kill gently, as with an injection; "the cat was very ill and we had to put it to sleep"

put in, submit
make an application as for a job or funding; "We put in a grant to the NSF"

put on
add to something existing; "She put on a sun room"

put on
add to the odometer; "He put on 1,000 miles on this trip"

put on
put on the stove or ready for cooking; "put on the tea, please!"

put on, apply
apply to a surface; "She applied paint to the back of the house"; "Put on make-up!"

put on, turn in
carry out (performances); "They turned in a splendid effort"; "They turned in top jobs for the second straight game"

put out
be sexually active; "She is supposed to put out"

put out
put out considerable effort; "He put out the same for seven managers"

put out
retire; "he was put out at third base on a long throw from left field"

put out, retire
cause to be out on a fielding play

put through
connect by telephone; "the operator put a call through to Rio"

put up
make available for sale at an auction; "The dealer put up three of his most valuable paintings for auction"

put up, contribute
provide; "The city has to put up half the required amount"

put up, provide, offer
mount or put up; "put up a good fight"; "offer resistance"

putter, mess around, potter, tinker, monkey, monkey around, muck about, muck around
do random, unplanned work or activities or spend time idly; "The old lady is usually mucking about in her little house"

putter, potter, potter around, putter around
move around aimlessly