Phrasal Verbs with up 3

If you make a mess, you need to 'clear it up'.

• It was your party. You clear up the mess.

• Don't expect me to clear up after you.

If you need some support, you need somebody to 'back you up'.

• If you report it, I'll back you up.

• Nobody would back me up when I complained.

If there is none left, you have 'used it all up'.

• The ketchup bottle is empty. We must have used it all up.

• We must stop for petrol (or gas!) . We've used it all up.

On a special occasion, you put on fine clothes – you dress up.

• Do we need to dress up for the party?

• I like dressing up and going somewhere fancy.

If you fall behind in your studies, you need to 'catch up'.

• He was ill for two months and is struggling to catch up.

• I need to put in some work to catch up on what I missed.

If you go to bed late, you 'stay up'.

• My student daughter stays up until 3 every day.

• I cannot stay up late. I've got to start early tomorrow.

Perhaps my daughter's parents didn't 'bring her up' correctly.

• She was brought up very strictly.

• He's been very well brought up.

When it's time to finish drinking, you tell everybody to 'drink up'.

• Drink up. We have to leave now.

• It's time to go so drink up.

If you like vegetables as I do, you 'eat them all up' and don't leave any on your plate.

• If you eat up all your carrots, you can have some ice cream.

• I ate up all the chocolate that we had.

If you need some information, you should 'look it up' on Google.

• I looked up the name of the capital of Scotland. It is not Glasgow.

• Can you look up his phone number for me, please?

Phrasal Verbs with up 4

If someone 'beats you up', they hit and kick you and hurt you a lot.

• The muggers beat him up badly.

• I was beaten up so badly that I was off work for a month.

If you 'bottle up' a feeling or emotion, you suppress them and don't express them.

• If you bottle up your feelings, you will make yourself ill.

• I was angry but I bottled up my feelings during the meeting.

If you 'call someone up', you phone them.

• I tried to call you up earlier but there was no answer.

• Call me up when you get a chance.

If something 'crops up', it happens unexpectedly.

• Something has cropped up. I am going to have to work late.

• If a problem crops up when I am away, give me a call on my cell phone.

If you 'freshen up', you wash and make yourself more presentable.

• I need a minute to freshen up before we meet them.

• When they arrive, they will probably need a few moments to freshen up after the journey.

If your eyes 'light up', they become excited.

• Her eyes lit up when she saw the dress.

• His eyes lit up when he saw her wearing the dress.

If you 'own up', you confess to something.

• Nobody has owned up to starting the fire.

• He owned up to being a big fan of Britney.

If you 'polish something up', you improve it.

• The basic report is fine but you need to polish it up a bit.

• I must polish up my Japanese before we go to Tokyo.

If you 'speed up', you go faster.

• We need to speed up production. It is taking too long.

• Can you speed up a bit? I am going to miss my train.

If you 'tighten up' something, you make it more secure.

• We need to tighten up security in the light of these threats.

• We need to tighten up our quality control system. There have been too many mistakes.