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Verb + Direction Idioms

English often combines a verb & a direction to form expressions or idioms. They are sometimes called phrasal verbs (though some of the examples in this list are not verbs). These are not “true” definitions of verbs. For those, see .

Throw

Throw in

  • contribute (I’ll throw in an extra $100 to help pay for the trip)
  • give up (you are not going to win—just throw in the towel now)

Throw out, throw away

  • put something in the trash (throw out that food, it’s not good anymore)

Throw up

  • vomit (he ate too much, so he threw up)

Throw down

  • fight (you wanna fight? I’ll throw down right now! … also: “throw hands”)
  • contribute (everyone throw in at least $10 so we can eat)

Throw off

  • confuse someone (to throw the police off his trail, criminals create fake personas)

Throw back

  • reference a time in the past (that song throws me back to the 90s!)

Put

Put in

  • contribute a thought (once everyone had finished talking, he put in his two cents)

Put out

  • offer yourself sexually (she felt like she had to put out because he had bought her some nice gifts)

Put up

  • organize something back to its place of storage (also: put away, put back)
  • dealing with something (I’ve been putting up with this for too long—I’m done!)

Put down

  • make someone feel bad (the boy put down the girl for saying the wrong answer)

Put on

  • play something (what do you want to put on the TV while we eat?)
  • act in a certain way (she put on a great performance)

Put off

  • be distraught (I was put off by her negative attitude)

Step

Step in

  • intervene in a situation (the teacher decided to step in before one of the kids got hurt)

Step out, step away

  • leave a place (I’m going to step out to take this phone call)

Step up

  • improve performance (you’re not getting results—you need to really step up)
  • approach (the baseball player stepped up to the plate)

Step down

  • leave or resign from a position (after 10 long years, the CEO finally stepped down)

Step on

  • encroach on someone’s space (don’t step on my toes, I’m already handling this situation)

Step back

  • look at a situation from a larger perspective (I’m getting confused with all these details—let’s step back for a minute)

Take

Take in

  • to shelter someone (they need a place to stay, so we will take them in)

Take out

  • food being eaten elsewhere (also: to-go, take away)
  • kill/dispose of something or someone (we need to take out the enemy before they take us out)

Take away

  • remove something from someone (please take away that kid’s BB gun before he hurts someone)

Take up

  • address a problem (this had gone on for too long, so she decided to take it up with the boss)

Take down

  • remove or unpublish something from its location (Take down that Facebook post right now!)
  • bring someone to justice (the CIA was discussing how best to take down the crime lord)
  • overcome an opponent (

Take on

  • accept responsibility (she took on the CEO role with grace and determination)
  • accept a challenge (he took on his opponent with courage)

Take off

  • gain momentum (the business is really starting to take off!)
  • when an airplane leaves the ground (the plane will take off in 5 minutes)

Take back

  • regain possession (I’m taking back my wheelbarrow, you’ve had it for long enough)
  • change something that was said (he made the girl feel bad, so he tried to take back what he said to her)

Let

Let in

Let out

Let up

Let down

Let on

Let off

Leave

Leave out

Leave off

Turn

Turn in

Turn out

Turn on

Turn off

Turn up

Turn down

Turn back

Turn around

Break

Break in

Break out

Break off

Break up

Break down

Speak

Speak out

Speak up

Talk

Talk up

Talk down

Bring

Bring on

Bring out

Bring up

Space

Space out

Walk

Through

Go

Bad

Spin

Act

Blow

Tear

Wait

Show

Show up

Show down

Show in

Show out

Show off

See

See through

See in

See out

See off

Get

By

Come

Stand

Look

Figure

Out

Run

Into

Cut

Catch

Up

Fill

Hand

Lock

Hang

Line