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Phrasal Verb Dictionary: P

Phrasal Verb Dictionary: P

Phrasal verbs are a common English verb form that consist of a verb followed by a p-word that functions as a particle. To learn more about some of the most common phrasal verbs in the English language, click on a letter in the following menu to browse the Phrasal Verb Dictionary in alphabetical order.

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Note: When a word entry includes a p-word enclosed in parentheses, the phrasal verb is a phrasal-prepositional verb.

Phrasal VerbDefinitionCategoryExample
pack indo a lotseparable transitiveI had only an hour but packed so much in.
pack upcollect togetherseparable transitiveEveryone must pack their belongings up tonight.
pad outfill outseparable transitiveDo not pad your essay out with superfluous information.
page throughturn the pages of a publication and look at the contents quicklyinseparable transitiveThe little girl paged through the magazine.
pair offform pairs of twoseparable transitiveThe teacher paired the students off.
pair upform pairs of twoseparable transitiveGrandma paired the socks up.
pal around (with)spend time with in a friendly mannerintransitiveThe new friends palled around after school.
pan outsucceed, turn out wellintransitiveMy idea panned out quite well.
parcel outdivide into parts and giveseparable transitiveThe charity parceled the donations out.
pare downreduce in sizeseparable transitiveYou need to pare your belongings down.
part withget rid ofinseparable transitiveI could never part with all my shoes.
partition offdivide (usually a room)separable transitiveThe couch partitions the room off.
partner offform pairs of twoseparable transitiveThe children partnered off during class.
partner upform pairs of twoseparable transitiveThe instructor partnered the participants up.
pass awaydieintransitiveThe neighbors passed away last year.
pass bygo past without stopping or noticingseparable transitiveThe opportunity passed me by.
pass downgive as an inheritanceseparable transitiveMy grandparents passed their farm down.
pass forappear as something elseinseparable transitiveShe passes for a teenager.
pass offmisrepresentseparable transitiveThe con artist tried to pass the painting off as an original
pass ontransmitseparable transitivePlease pass the dates on to your mother.
pass ondecline, not acceptinseparable transitiveShe passed on the job offer.
pass ondieintransitiveMy uncle passed on last week.
pass outdistributeseparable transitiveThe teacher passed the books out.
pass outfaintintransitiveA woman passed out in the park.
pass overneglect, disregard, omit, leave outseparable transitiveHe passed me over for a job.
pass upfail to take, keep away fromseparable transitiveHer sister passed a great opportunity up.
patch togethercreate quicklyseparable transitiveShe patched a dinner together quickly.
patch uprepairseparable transitiveMom patched the rip in my coat up.
paw attouch repeatedlyinseparable transitiveStop pawing at the dessert table.
pay backrepayseparable transitiveHe never paid the money back.
pay offrepay a debtseparable transitiveShe finally paid her student loans off.
pay offbribeseparable transitiveThe crook paid the police officer off.
pay outspend a lot of moneyseparable transitiveI had to pay a lot out to acquire the new property.
pay upgive back something owedseparable transitiveHe finally paid up.
peal outleave quickly (usually in a vehicle)intransitiveShe pealed out of the parking lot.
peel offremoveseparable transitiveShe peeled her wet swimsuit off.
peg downfasten, secure, make certainseparable transitiveCan we peg the details down tonight?
pen intrapseparable transitiveHe penned the dog in.
pencil inmake tentative plansseparable transitiveLet me pencil you in on Friday.
pep upperk up, make more attractive or energeticseparable transitiveCoffee peps me up.
perk uppep up, make more energetic or attractiveseparable transitiveA nap perks my daughter up.
peter outlose strength or energyintransitiveThe blizzard petered out last night.
phase outgradually stopseparable transitiveThe company phased the product out.
phone aroundmake many telephone calls in search of someone or somethingintransitiveLet me phone around this evening.
phone inmake a telephone call to someoneseparable transitiveMake sure you phone the problem in.
phone upcall on the telephoneseparable transitivePhone your grandma up tomorrow night.
pick atpluck or pull at, meddle with, mess withinseparable transitiveShe picked at the loose thread on her shirt.
pick ontease, bullyinseparable transitiveThe little boy picked on the little girl.
pick outchooseseparable transitiveWill you pick a new shirt out?
pick overlook over carefullyinseparable transitiveThe buyer picked over the collection.
pick throughsearch throughinseparable transitiveThe woman picked through the bargain bin.
pick upliftseparable transitivePick your toys up please.
pick upincreaseintransitiveSales finally picked up.
pick upgo and getseparable transitiveCan you pick me up after the movie?
pick uplearn without effortseparable transitiveI picked the guitar up quickly.
pick uptry to initiate a relationship withseparable transitiveA creepy dude tried to pick me up last night.
pick up onnoticeinseparable transitiveShe finally picked up on the innuendo.
piece togetherreconstruct, reassembleseparable transitiveThe police pieced together the moments up until the crime took place.
pig outconsume a lotintransitiveThe woman pigged out at the buffet.
pile infill with a lotseparable transitivePile the boxes in.
pile oncover with a lotseparable transitivePile the toppings on.
pile out (of)exit quicklyintransitiveThe clowns piled out of the car.
pile upbecome a pile or stackseparable transitiveThe teacher keeps piling our assignments up.
pin downsettle, confirm, nail downseparable transitiveThe committee pinned the details down.
pin upfasten verticallyseparable transitiveThe designed pinned the picture up.
pipe downmake quietintransitiveThe children need to pipe down.
piss awaywasteseparable transitiveHe pissed his inheritance away.
piss offmake angryseparable transitiveThe weather pisses me off.
pitch in (to)contribute tointransitiveAll participants must pitch in.
play downmake less importantseparable transitiveHe played down the situation.
play aroundbehave silly or foolishlyintransitiveShe always plays around instead of working.
play along (with)pretend to agree withintransitiveHe played along with the plans.
play backlisten or watch a recordingseparable transitiveCan you play the tape back?
play downminimize, make seem less importantseparable transitiveThe leader played the election down.
play outallow to continueseparable transitiveJust let the situation play itself out.
play upmake more important, highlightseparable transitiveShe played up her talents.
play up toflatter for personal advantageinseparable transitiveMy coworker keeps playing up to our boss.
plot outplan in detailseparable transitiveThe bosses plotted the procedure out.
plow on (with)continue despite difficulties or boringnessintransitiveShe plowed on with the boring book.
plow throughconsume, damage, destroy, crash through, go throughinseparable transitiveThe train plowed through the truck.
plug away atwork hard at for a long timeinseparable transitiveShe plugged away at her studies.
plug inconnect a piece of electrical equipmentseparable transitiveHe plugged the camera in.
plug on (with)continueintransitiveHe plugged on with writing his essay all night.
plump upincrease, make biggerseparable transitiveThe surgeon plumped her cheeks up.
plunge intoenter or begin quicklyinseparable transitiveShe plunged into her new job.
point outindicateseparable transitiveThe woman pointed the miscreants out.
point toindicate, implicateinseparable transitiveThe injuries point to a brutal beating.
poke aroundsearch, investigateinseparable transitiveLet me poke around the files a bit.
polish offfinishseparable transitiveShe polished the pie off.
polish uppractice and improveseparable transitiveHe polished his skills up.
pony uppay, contributeseparable transitiveShe ponied the money up.
poop outexhaust, become tied or worn outseparable transitivePlaying all day pooped the toddlers out.
pop inarrive for just a short timeintransitiveGrandma popped in this afternoon.
pop offleave for a short timeintransitiveGrandpa popped off to get a sandwich.
pop outleave for a short timeintransitiveHe popped out for a bite to eat.
pop upoccur unexpectedlyintransitiveProblems keep popping up with the project.
pore overstudy carefully and in detailinseparable transitiveShe pored over her notes before the final exam.
pork out (on)consume a lotintransitiveThe sad woman porked out on ice cream.
portion outdivideseparable transitiveThe teacher portioned the snacks out to the students.
power downstop, turn offseparable transitiveShe powered the system down.
power upstart, turn onseparable transitiveHe powered the computer up.
press ahead (with)continueintransitiveWe pressed ahead with our vacation plans.
press forattempt to persuadeinseparable transitiveI press for a raise for all employees.
press on (with)continueintransitiveThe children press on with the Easter egg hunt despite the rain.
prey onhunt, hunt with the intention to deceiveinseparable transitiveThe con man preys on old ladies.
print offprintseparable transitiveCan you print the brochure off?
print outprintseparable transitiveShe printed the instructions out.
proceed withcontinueinseparable transitiveShall we proceed with the dance as planned?
psych outmake less confidentseparable transitiveThe other team psyched us out.
psych upmake more confident or excitedseparable transitiveThe new movie trailer psyched me up for the film.
puke upvomitseparable transitiveShe puked the rancid meat up.
pull downearnseparable transitiveHe pulls $1 million down a year.
pull inpark (usually a vehicle)separable transitiveThe man pulled the van in too quickly and crashed.
pull outdepart (usually in a vehicle)separable transitiveShe pulled the car out of the garage.
pull throughsurvive but just barelyintransitiveThe premature baby pulled through.
pull togetherunite, organizeseparable transitiveShe pulled the party together.
pull updrive up tointransitiveA cop car pulled up next to me at the light.
pump ingive a lotseparable transitiveThe organization pumped millions of dollars in.
pump outproduce a lotseparable transitiveThe old woman sure pumps a lot of knitted scarves out!
pump upincrease, increase excitementseparable transitiveThe gas station pumped prices up because of the storm.
punch ininput quicklyseparable transitiveShe punched her password in.
punch outknock unconsciousseparable transitiveThe boxer punched his opponent out.
punch upmake more interestingseparable transitiveThe new introduction punched the story up.
push aroundbe rude or threateningseparable transitiveStop pushing me around!
push asideforget about, neglectseparable transitiveI pushed the horrible thought aside.
push forattempt to persuadeinseparable transitiveShe pushed for a new car from her parents.
push forwardcontinueseparable transitiveThe general pushed the plans forward.
push on (with)continueintransitiveThe colonel pushed on with the plan.
push outmake leaveseparable transitiveHer co-workers pushed her out of the job.
push overcause to fallseparable transitiveThe bully pushed the child over.
push throughmake officially acceptedseparable transitiveThe committee pushed the new policy through.
push towardsattempt to achieveinseparable transitiveHe pushed towards his goal of graduating.
push upincreaseseparable transitiveThe storm pushed gas prices up.
put acrosscommunicate clearlyseparable transitiveYou put your ideas across well at the meeting.
put asidesave for laterseparable transitiveWe put some money aside for a rainy day.
put awayreturn to a proper place of storageseparable transitiveThe children put their toys away.
put backreturnseparable transitiveThe child put her toys back.
put downinsultseparable transitiveHe tried to put me down but failed.
put downeuthanizeseparable transitiveShe put her sick dog down.
put insubmitseparable transitivePlease put your requests in by noon.
put offpostponeseparable transitiveWe put the appointment off again.
put offdisgust, repelseparable transitiveDirty fingernails put me off.
put onwear, get dressedseparable transitiveThe children put their coats on.
put outextinguishseparable transitiveThe cook put the fire out.
put outinconvenienceseparable transitiveMy family put me out last Christmas.
put uphave as a guestseparable transitiveMy cousins put me up for a night.
put up withtolerateinseparable transitiveI put up with your bad behavior.
putter aroundmove or act aimlesslyintransitiveShe puttered around all weekend.

 

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Phrasal Verb Dictionary: O

Phrasal Verb Dictionary: O

Phrasal Verb Dictionary: Q

Phrasal Verb Dictionary: Q