pass around, "hand around" (S). Ali, why don't you pass your photos around and show them to everyone.
pass away (or on), "die [old-fashioned]." His grandmother passed away recently.
pass out:
a. "distribute; give out" (S). The teacher has already passed the new material out.b. "faint." He drank so much alcohol that he eventually passed out. During the conference, the heat and
humidity in the room became so intense that several people passed out.
pass over: a. "skip" (S). When they called out names from the list, they passed mine over.b. "hand over" (S). Please pass the salt over.
pass up, "not take advantage of an opportunity" (S). It was a wonderful opportunity, but we decided to pass it
up (we were too busy with other things).
pick on, "tease; ridicule." Please don't pick on me so much; I'm getting sick of it.
pick out:a. "select" (S). He picked the right answer out.b. "remove by picking" (S). She picked a cinder out of her eye.
pick up:a. "lift up" (S). The gentleman standing next to her picked up her handkerchief for her.b. "call for; arrange to meet or get" (S). I'll pick you up at five o'clock; will you be waiting for me? I've got
to pick some medicine up at the drugstore.
play around, "fool around; mess around, joke around." He was playing around with a gun and shot himself
in the leg accidentally.
point at, Don't point at people, CEdrick; it's not polite.
point out, "indicate" (S). Yes, the teacher pointed out several mistakes in mycomposition.
pry into, "investigate; snoop." How dare the FBI pry into my private affairs.
pull off:a. "remove by pulling" (S). He pulled his coat off in a hurry and sat down to work.b. "succeed with" (S). She thought the project would fail, but she managed to pull it off.
pull out:a. "remove by pulling" (S). The dentist had to pull all of the patient's teeth out.b. "break an agreement." The bank was going to lend us money to start a new business, but it pulled out at
the last moment, so we had to borrow from our parents.
punch out, "remove by punching; knock out" (S). He works on a machine that punches holes out. The
Rumanian punched the Albanian out in the fifth round.
put away, "return something to its original and proper place" (S). Children, please put your school materials
away when you get home from school.
put back together, "assemble" (S). He took his cat apart, and now he can't put it back together.
put by, "save" (S). Are you putting some money by for your old age?
put down:a. "suppress" (S). Because of their superior weapons, the government soldiers were able to put
the revolutionary forces down.b. "criticize" (S). She's always putting her husband down, and he doesn't deserve it. Please don't put me
down so much; I try to do my best.c. "lower; place" (S). Please put that package down on the floor. put off, "postpone" (S). This is an
important assignment; don't put it off any longer.
put on:a. "don" (S). She put her coat on and left in a big hurry.b. "be ostentatious or snobbish." He's always putting on airs of superiority.c. "tease; attempt to deceive" (S). You can't be serious! You're just putting me on.
put one's foot in one's mouth, "say something indiscreet." Only after I'd made that stupid remark did I
realize I'd put my foot in my mouth.
put out:a. "extinguish" (S). Before putting the lights out, be sure to lock the house up.b. "annoy; irritate" (S). It certainly put me out when she told me to shut up.c. "expel; suspend" (S). He was so horrible at school that they put him out.d. "inconvenience" (S). No, your visiting me at this time isn't putting me out; I've got nothing else to do
with my time.
put up:a. "raise" (S). When the police cornered the bank robber in an alley, they said, "Put your hands up
and don't make a move."b. "provide (usually in reference to money)" (S). The bank is going to put all the money up, but we're going
to do all the work.c. "preserve; can" (S). My mother puts strawberries up every June.d. "accommodate" (S). They've got a lot of room in their house; they can put at least twenty people up
comfortably.e. "erect" (S). His construction company is putting new houses up all over town.
class." I can no longer put up with my boss's terrible manners; I'm quitting right now.
quibble over, "pay attention to unimportant details." Let's not quibble over a few dollars.
quiet down: a. "become quiet." The lights lowered, the audience quieted down, the curtain rose, and the play
began.b. "make quiet" (S). She started to read a story to the children in order to quiet them down before they
went to bed.
last season than in any other season in the history of baseball.
ring back, "call back" (S). I'll ring you back in a few minutes, so don't go out.
ring up, "call up (chiefly British)" (S). Any time you feel like a little chat, just ring me up.
rip off, a. "remove by ripping" (S). The doctor and the nurse ripped the burn victim's clothes offb. "cheat; steal" (S). He was angry because some clever businessmen from the city had ripped him off.
rough up, "treat roughly" (S). The mobsters roughed one of the witnesses up, so he was afraid to testify at
the trial.
run across, "find unexpectedly; meet by chance." While I was looking for some old photographs, I ran
across this old love letter.
run around (with), "associate with." Jamie runs around (with some troublemakers) a lot, and his parents are
worried about him.
delivery boy from the grocery store) and got married.
run down:a. "make unkind remarks about oneself or others; disparage" (S). Don't run yourself down so
much all the time; you're a clever and talented person. She says she's my friend, but she's always running me
down to others.b. "(put) in bad health" (S). He's so run down, he's staying home and resting for a few days. Don't run
yourself down; good health is your most precious possession.c. "stop (usually in reference to a spring machine." My new watch is automatic, so it never runs down.d. "hit while moving" (S). Don't drive so fast; you might run a pedestrian down.
run errands, Would you rather do the chores today or run the errands?
run into:a. "collide with." The ship ran into an iceberg and sank within a few hours.b. "meet by chance." While I was traveling in a remote part of Nepal, I ran into an old school friend of
mine from California; it's a small world, isn't it?
run out (of), "exhaust the supply of." When we were in the desert, we had little water; we eventually ran out
(of water). Look at the time! We must hurry up; time's running out.
run up, "increase (usually in reference to a bill)" (S). You're going to run up a big phone bill if you keep
making so many long-distance calls.
rush off:a. "leave in a rush." Don't rush off; can't you stay a little longer?b. "take quickly" (S). Rush this material off to the printer's right away. It's urgent.
scratch out, "remove by scratching" (S). She scratched the old tenant's name out on the mailbox and put on
her own.
see about:a. "consider." I don't know whether I want to buy this radio or not; I'll just wait and see about it.b. "attend to." I have to see about a lot of things at work tomorrow.
see off, "say good-bye to" (usually in reference to travel) (S). I went to the airport to see her off.
sell out, "sell completely" (S). By the time I got there, the store had already sold everything out.
send out (S). They'd already sent several hundred invitations out when their daughter suddenly decided to
call her wedding off.
the world?
set up, "arrange" (S). I want to set everything up before my guests arrive.
settle down: a. "stay in one place and make a home." He's almost thirty-five now, and he realizes he has to
settle down instead of living out of a suitcase.b. "relax" (S). Yes, Doctor, the medication has settled the patient down.
shape up, "improve" (S). The coach is really shaping our team up this year.
b. "improve; make better" (S). The director is trying to sharpen the musical up with some more dance
numbers.
ship out, "be sent overseas (usually in reference to the navy)" (S). She wanted to have a post on land, but the
navy shipped her out.
show off, "brag; display" (S). He thinks he's got the best of everything; he's always showing off. Now he's
got a new car, and he's driving it around town showing it off.
show up:a. "appear." He waited for his cousin for three hours, but she never showed up.b. "be better than others" (S). SEbastien studied hard, got good grades, and showed everyone else in the
class up.
shut off, "cause to stop working or running" (S). Be sure to shut the water off before leaving.
shut up:a. "close" (S). Many people in Alaska (those who can afford it) shut their houses up in the winter
and go to California or Hawaii.b. "stop talking" (S). "Shut up," she screamed at him in a fit of anger. (See hush up.)
Note: Almost always, "shut up" used in this sense is an extremely impolite expression. Perhaps, when it is
necessary to make someone be quiet and stop talking (very often children), the expression "hush up" or "quiet
down" will draw less offense.
sit down, "be seated." Why don't you take your coat off and sit down, Ma'am?
sit up, "sit straight." Teddy, please sit up in your chair; don't slouch.
size up, "analyze" (S). I sized the situation up and realized I'd better get out of the town fast.
slow down (or up), "decrease speed" (S). Slow that machine down. It's going too fast to be safe. Please
slow down. You're speaking too fast for me.
smarten up, "improve; become wiser" (S). She smartened herself up with some new clothes. She finally
smartened up and split up with her boyfriend.
snoop into, "look into the private affairs of others." CEdrick's always snooping into other people's business;
everyone calls him Snoopy.sort out, "classify" (S). Someone in the mail room sorts my mail out before it
comes to my office.
speak of, "mention." Christine never speaks of her former boyfriend.
speak out, "say aloud." Everyone at the meeting wanted to say something against the proposal, but no one
spoke out.
speak up, "speak more loudly." Why are you whispering? Please speak up; I can't hear you.
speed up, "go faster" (S). As soon as we get out of town, we can speed up. The teacher is trying to speed his
class up; it's going too slowly.
split up:a. "divide" (S). The thieves split the money up among themselves.b. "separate (usually in reference to a romantic or marital relationship)." They're splitting up; they're no
longer in love with each other.
spread around, "distribute" (S). Someone is spreading terrible rumors about me around town. Money in our
society must be more evenly spread around.
spring up, "appear suddenly." A lot of new shops have sprung up in my neighborhood recently.
squeeze in, "enter (or allow to enter) by squeezing" (S). The bus was crowded, but ten or so more
passengers squeezed in. Yes, we'll squeeze you in; the more, the merrier.
squeeze out (of), "remove by squeezing" (S). How much juice can you squeeze out of an orange? It's easy
to squeeze money out of my father when he's in a good mood.
stand around, "wait around without any purpose." It was a boring party; we just stood around for three
hours doing nothing; no one even danced.
stand away (from), "keep away from." Stand away (from this hot stove).
stand by, "wait for." I'm standing by for a seat on the next plane to Kathmandu.
stand for:a. "represent." The fifty stars on the flag stand for the fifty states of the Union.b. "tolerate." The professor said he wouldn't stand for any sleeping in the class.
stand out, "be conspicuous." He's very tall and has bright red hair, so he always stands out.
stand up: a. "get up." Everyone stood up when I entered the room; it made me feel great.b. "intentionally not show up for an appointment with" (S). Fanny had a date with her boyfriend, but he
stood her up; she's very hurt.
stand up for, "defend; support." If you ever have to go to court, or if you ever have any trouble, I'll always
stand up for you; you're one of my oldest friends. We must stand up for our rights.
stand up to, "face with determination." You must stand up to your roommate (don't be afraid of him) and tell
him what's wrong. You must stand up to your boss; don't let her treat you like a slave.
start out, "begin" (S). The teacher always starts the class out with a joke.
