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Phrasal Verb Dictionary: R

Phrasal Verb Dictionary: R

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
rack upincur a large amountseparable transitiveShe racked the charges up on her credit card.
raffle offgive away in a lotteryseparable transitiveThe company raffled the car off.
rail againstcomplain angrily aboutinseparable transitiveMy co-worked railed against the new policy.
rail atcomplain angrily aboutinseparable transitiveThe hero railed at the injustice.
rain downoccur suddenly and in a large amountinseparable transitiveOur boss rained down bad news this afternoon.
rake inearn or bring in a large amountseparable transitiveHe rakes in the big bucks.
rake updredge up, bring upseparable transitiveShe always rakes the past up.
rake upacquireseparable transitiveHow many donations did you rake up?
rally aroundattempt to helpinseparable transitiveWe rallied around the sick girl.
ramble on (about)talk or write incessantly and for a long timeintransitiveMy mother rambles on about food prices.
rat ontattleinseparable transitiveMy brother ratted on me to our parents.
ration outdivide into portionsseparable transitiveThe camp leader rationed the food out.
rattle offlistseparable transitiveHe rattled the instructions off.
rattle on (about)talk for a long timeintransitiveShe rattled on about politics.
rattle throughspeak or do quickly to finish as soon as possibleinseparable transitiveHe rattled through his homework.
reach downlowerseparable transitiveCan you reach those books down to me?
reach outstretchseparable transitiveShe reached her arm out.
reach upstretch in an upwards motionseparable transitiveHe reached his arm up.
read backreview a piece of writingseparable transitiveShe read her essay back to herself.
read offread, reciteseparable transitiveThe machine read the numbers off.
read overreviewseparable transitiveMy boss read my proposal over.
read throughreviewseparable transitiveI read your report through.
read up onresearch, reviewinseparable transitiveYou should read up on verb tenses.
rear uplift, raiseseparable transitiveThe horse reared its front legs up.
reason outthink about carefullyseparable transitiveYou can reason it out.
reason withattempt to persuadeinseparable transitiveYou cannot reason with her.
reckon onplan, considerinseparable transitiveI did not reckon on her coming.
reckon withdeal withinseparable transitiveShe must reckon with me.
reel inattractseparable transitiveHe reeled a beautiful woman in with his charm.
reel offlist quicklyseparable transitiveShe reeled the directions off.
rein inrestrain, reduce, decrease, temper, curbseparable transitiveCan you rein your rowdy children in?
rent outloan, lendseparable transitiveThe library rents laptops out.
rest uprest, take a breakintransitiveThe old man rested up.
result incauseinseparable transitivePower outages result in chaos.
rev upmake more activeseparable transitiveThe opening act revved the audience up.
revel inenjoyinseparable transitiveHe revels in chaos.
revert toresume, storeinseparable transitiveShe reverted to her bad behavior.
ride outcontinue despite difficultiesseparable transitiveThe fishermen rode the storm out.
ride upgradually raise or increaseintransitiveHer underwear rides up.
riffle throughsearch quicklyinseparable transitiveShe riffled through the papers.
rig upmake a quick fixseparable transitiveHe rigged a tent up with an old tarp.
ring uptelephoneseparable transitiveCan you ring me up tonight?
rinse offrinseseparable transitiveHe rinsed the dishes off.
rinse outrinseseparable transitiveShe rinsed the dirty diaper out.
rip intocriticizeinseparable transitiveHe really ripped into her.
rip offswindleseparable transitiveThe seller ripped me off.
rip updestroyseparable transitiveThe dog ripped the magazine up.
rise abovesurmount, overcome, conquerinseparable transitiveShe rose above her checkered past.
rise uplift, increaseintransitiveThe hero rose up to defeat the enemy.
roll backdecreaseseparable transitiveThe store rolled its prices back.
roll inbring, happen, occur, acquireseparable transitiveThe car lot rolled the new models in just as the storm rolled in.
roll outunfold, happen, prepareseparable transitiveThe company rolled the new product out last year.
roll overflip to a different sideseparable transitiveThe mother rolled her baby over.
roll upwrapseparable transitiveShe rolled the blankets up.
roll upfinishseparable transitiveHe rolled his report up.
root around (for)search forintransitiveThe spy rooted around for the truth.
root forshow supportinseparable transitiveThe cheerleaders rooted for the team.
root outget rid ofseparable transitiveThe teacher rooted the poor students out.
rope incoerceseparable transitiveHe roped me in to his scheme.
rope offseparate, divideseparable transitiveThe caterer roped the room off.
rough uphurtseparable transitiveThe little boy roughed the bully up.
rough inadd in without detailseparable transitiveThe architect roughed a second bathroom in.
round downgo down to the nearest whole numberseparable transitiveThe students round the estimates down.
round offfinish in a satisfactory wayseparable transitiveThe teachers rounded the year off right.
round onsuddenly turn oninseparable transitiveMy best friend rounded on me.
round outmake more completeseparable transitiveI rounded my studies out.
round upgo up to the nearest whole numberseparable transitiveThe banker rounded the profits up.
rub downmake clean, massageseparable transitiveThe trainer rubbed her down after her workout.
rub incontinue talking about or bringingseparable transitiveHe keeps rubbing my mistakes in.
rub offremove (usually by rubbing), transferseparable transitiveShe rubbed the sticker off.
rub outremove, eraseseparable transitiveHe rubbed the typo out.
ruffle updisturbseparable transitiveShe ruffled my feathers up.
rule outdecide something is not suitable, prevent from happeningseparable transitiveThe umpire ruled the hit out.
rule outeliminateseparable transitiveThe doctors ruled cancer out.
run acrossfind or meet unexpectedlyinseparable transitiveShe ran across the missing checks.
run againstcompeteinseparable transitiveHe ran against her for president.
run away (from)leave, escapeintransitiveShe ran away from home as a teenager.
run downreviewseparable transitiveCan you run down the list one more time?
run downcriticizeseparable transitiveThe boss runs new employees down.
run downhit (usually with a vehicle)separable transitiveThe criminals ran the old lady down.
run downloose power, tireintransitiveThe batteries finally ran down.
run forcampaign for a positioninseparable transitiveI am running for secretary.
run intomeet or encounter unexpectedlyinseparable transitiveShe ran into an old friend while shopping.
run offmake leaveseparable transitiveThe noisy neighbors ran the new neighbors off.
run offleave (usually quickly or unexpectedly)intransitiveMy dog ran off last night again.
run offreproduce, copyseparable transitiveCan you run a few extra copies off?
run out ofuse all, have no moreinseparable transitiveThe restaurant ran out of scones.
run upincreaseseparable transitiveShe ran her credit card charges up.

 

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N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Phrasal Verb Dictionary: Q

Phrasal Verb Dictionary: Q

Phrasal Verb Dictionary: S

Phrasal Verb Dictionary: S