stay up. I'll be home late.
stick with, "stay with; adhere to." Stick with me, everyone, and we won't get lost.
switch off, "turn off" (S). Please switch the lights off and go to sleep.
switch on, "turn on" (S). Switch the lights on, please; it's getting dark in here.
take advantage of, "utilize an opportunity; use people." You should take advantage of the free time you have
today and do some homework. You shouldn't take advantage of your friends.
take after:
a. "resemble a parent." In looks, he takes after his father, but he takes after his mother in
personality.b. "follow the example of." John wants to take after his father and be a teacher.
take apart,"disassemble" (S). He took his calculator apart, and now he doesn't know how to put it back
together.
take back, "return" (S). I'm taking this shirt back to the store; it doesn't fit right.
take care of, "protect; watch, deal with." I'm taking care of my neighbor's house while she's out of town on
business. Would you mind taking care of my children today?
take charge of, "assume responsibility for." Who's going to take charge of the office while your boss is on
vacation?
take down, "write down; take dictation" (S). I took her number down, but I forgot where I put it.
take for, "mistake for" (S). I took Diane for her sister; they look alike.
take for granted, "assume to be true; accept without question" (S). Don't take everything you read for
granted; many people don't know what they're writing about. Don't your friends for granted.
take in:a. "include." Their three-week tour of Europe took in seven countries.b. "deceive" (S). His clever conversation almost took me in, but I eventually realized he was telling me a
pack of lies.c. "make smaller (usually in reference to clothes)" (S). I've lost some weight recently; I've got to find
someone to take all my clothes in.
take off:a. "remove" (S). My shoes were hurting my feet, so I took them off. He's lost weight; he's taken
off at least ten pounds.b. "ascend; leave in a hurry." The plane couldn't take off because of the heavy fog on the runway. While I
was speaking to him, he suddenly took off.c. "not work" (S). He took three days off and went up to the mountains to go fishing.
take on:a. "hire" (S). The company is taking a hundred new workers on.b. "assume." She takes on the air of a rich woman when she gets dressed up.
take out:a. "remove; delete, leave out" (S). Don't leave the wine in the refrigerator; take it out and let it get to
room temperature. Your paragraph will be better if you take all the commas out.b. "have a date with" (S). She knows a movie star who often takes her out.
take over, "take control of" (S). When he and his wife and their twelve children stay in a hotel, they take it
over.
take place, "occur." Many new and exciting things have taken place in my life recently.
take up:a. consider" (S). The committee will be taking the matter up tomorrow.b. "begin (often in reference to habits and careers)" (S). Their son is going to take medicine up at the
university. When did you take smoking up?c."shorten" (S). Those curtains are a little long; take about three inches up.d. "occupy" (S). We have a St. Bernard dog; she takes a lot of room up in our apartment.
take up with, "begin an association with." Their son is taking up with some tough young men who hang
around down at the pool hall.
talk over, "discuss" (S). He talked his problem over with his father.
talk to someone about, He talked to his priest about his family problems.
taste of, Everything at dinner last night tasted of garlic.
tear down, "demolish" (S). It was a beautiful old building, but they tore it down.
tear off (S), I showed my ticket to the usher, but he didn't tear the stub off.
tear out (of), "remove by tearing" (S). She tore the whole page of "Smiths" out of the phone book.
tear up, "tear or rip into pieces; rip up" (S). Adrienne tore the photograph of her old boyfriend up and threw it
away.
tell off, "rebuke severely; bawl out" (S). She got angry at her boss and told him off.
test out, "try" (S). Before you buy a pen, always test it out first.
of the freezer and thaw them out.
thicken up, "make thicker" (S). She usually thickens the gravy up with flour.
think about:a. "consider." He is thinking about buying a scooter.b. "have an opinion (in clauses beginning with what)." What do you think about the President? I often
wonder what people think about me.
think of:a. "consider." What on earth are you thinking of? He's thinking of quitting his job and looking for a
new one.b. "have an opinion (in clauses beginning with what)." What do you think of me? No one in town knows
what to think of the scandal in the Mayor's office.c. "remember." Yes, I'll give you my passport number as soon as I can think of it.
think up, "imagine or invent" (S). He's always thinking something up that will make money.
throw away, "discard" (S). She threw all those old shoes away.
throw out:a. "discard; throw away" (S). She threw all her old letters out.b. eject; kick out" (S). Peter was making so much noise in the theater, that the management kicked him
out.
throw up, "vomit" (S). Baby ate some potatoes, but she threw them up.
tire out, "tire completely" (S). Our long trip certainly tired the two of us out.
tow away, "remove by towing" (S). I parked in front of a fire hydrant, so the police towed my car away.
try on, "test (for articles of clothing)" (S). Why don't you try this beautiful dress on?
try out, "test (for machinery and mechanical devices)" (S). Would you like to try this computer out.
tune in, On our short wave, it's easy to tune in to the BBC Home Service.
tune up, "put in tune" (S). The orchestra is already tuning up; the concert will begin any minute now. I have
to tune my guitar up before I play anything.
turn away, "not permit to enter; reject" (S). They tried to enter , but the police turned them away.
turn down:a. "decrease the volume or brilliance of" (S). Please turn the radio down; it'll wake up all the
neighbors. Turn that light down a bit, please; it's hurting my eyes.b. "reject" (S). They offered him a million dollars as a bribe, but he turned them down. She gets
proposals of marriage all the time, but she always turns them down.c. "prepare (a bed) for sleeping" (S). She likes to turn the children's beds down while they're still taking
their baths.
turn in:a. "go to bed." He gets up when the sun rises and turns in when it sets.b. "submit" (S). I still have this application; I mustn't forget to turn it in.c. "betray (usually in reference to the police)" (S). We knew our neighbor was a thief, so we turned him in
to the police; he's in jail now.
turn off:a. "stop the operation of" (S). Did you turn the lights off when you left the classroom? How on
earth do you turn this thing off?b. "cause displeasure or dislike" (S). The speaker's loud and vulgar manner turned everyone in the
audience off.
turn on:a. "start the operation of" (S). Let's turn the radiator on; it's getting cold in here.b. "become unfriendly toward." She'd always been a good friend of his when she suddenly turned on him
and became one of his worst enemies.c. "cause excitement in oneself or others (often in the sexual sense)" (S). I'm sorry, but that kind of music
just doesn't turn me on.
turn out:a. "extinguish (an electric light)" (S). Turn the lights out and go to sleep, everyone.b. "produce" (S). Hollywood makes some fine films, but it also turns a lot of junk out.c. "result." Tell me how the election in your town turns out, will you?d. "expel" (S). Because of cheating, the two students were turned out of the university.
turn up:a. "appear." I'd been waiting for her for almost an hour when she finally turned up. I'd been missing
that wallet for a couple of months when it suddenly turned up under the cushion of a chair.b. find" (S). Mr. Holmes has turned several clues up; he thinks he's solved the case.c. "increase the volume or brilliance of" (S). Please turn the radio up; I'm a little hard of hearing (my
hearing is poor). Please turn the lights up; this place is like a dungeon.
wait for, How long have you been waiting for me? They're just waiting for the day that they have their own
house.
wake up:a. "awake." I'd just woken up when the rooster started crowing.b. "awaken" (S). I'd just gone to sleep when the phone woke me up.
walk out on, "leave someone abruptly." He was shocked when his companion at the party walked out on him
with another man.
warm up, "make warm again" (S). Look at these lovely leftovers in the refrigerator; let's warm them up for
supper.
watch out, "be careful." Watch out, everyone; we're going to hit a big bump.
wear down, "deteriorate" (S). His job is extremely hard; it's wearing him down.
wear off, "decrease gradually." Doctor, the effect of the morphine is wearing off; the patient is beginning to
feel pain.
wear out:a. "use until old" (S). Fabio's worn all his clothes out, but he can't afford anything new.b. "exhaust" (S). Getting around this town by public transportation is wearing us out.
well off, "rich." Yes, they're very well off; they're better off than anyone else in town.
wind up, "end; end up" (S). How on earth did we ever wind up in this place? They wound the meeting up
with coffee and cake.
wipe out:a. "destroy" (S). The hurricane wiped several towns along the coast out.b. "exhaust greatly" (S). All his difficult courses and loads of homework this semester have almost wiped
Andy out. He's exhausted.
wipe up, "wipe clean" (S). Children, you spilled the milk on the floor; you should wipe it up.
work on, My boss and I are working on a very exciting project now.
work out:a. "solve" (S). This problem baffles me; I just can't work it out.b. "be proved successful or satisfactory." Do you think their marriage will work out?c. "exercise." He goes to a gym twice a week and works out.
worry about, There's no need to be nervous; what on earth are you worrying about?
wrap up:a. "wrap completely" (S). Yes, this is a beautiful shirt; wrap it up. I'll take it.b. "complete" (S). They wrapped the project up three weeks before their deadline.
wring out, "wring completely" (S). He took the clothes out of the basket and wrung them out.
write down, (S). Yes, I was given the directions, but I didn't write them down.
zero in (on), "focus in on." What exactly is the problem? We must zero in (on it).
