2) To reconcile. Ex. "They had a big fight, but then they made up right away."

Make up for:To compensate for. ex. "He made up for what he said by inviting her to a movie."

Mark down:To lower a price. ex. "All these items have been marked down. They are on sale."

Mark up:To increase a price. ex. "Retailers had to mark up their prices in order to cover expenses."

Mess up:To spoil, to cause trouble (informal). ex. "The messed up his chance of getting promoted by always being late."

Measure up:To be of an equally high quality. ex. "These new products don't measure up to our standards."

Mix up:To confuse. To get it wrong. ex. "I hate this restaurant, they always mix up my order."

Move in:To start living in an apartment, house, with someone, etc. ex. "Tom moved in with his girlfriend."

Move on:To continue. ex. "Let's move on. What's the next topic?"

Move out:To stop living in an apartment, house, etc. ex. "Sarah moved out last month. She moved in with her mother."

Name after:To give someone the same name as someone else (usually a family member or someone famous). ex. "She was named after her great grandmother."

Nod off:To fall asleep, to take a cat nap. ex. "Jim was so tired that he began to nod off during the meeting."

Nail down:To make sure. To finalize. ex. "We're still trying to nail down the specifics."

Nose around:To look for something (secret), to pry. ex. "I hate it when my brother noses around my room."

Occur to:To come to one's mind. To make one realize. ex. "It just occurred to me that I don't even know his name."

Open up:To talk about one's feelings honestly. ex. "I don't usually open up to people this way."

Own up:To take the blame for. ex. "He showed lots of character when he owned up to what he did."

Pan out:To happen. To occur. ex. "Our trip to Vietnam didn't pan out."

Pass away:To die. ex. "His grandfather passed away last month."

Pass for (something/someone):To be able to be accepted as (something/someone). ex. "He's 37, but he can pass for 30.", "He can pass for being Italian."

Pass on:1) To tell or transmit. ex. "He passed the news on to the president." 2) To not take or accept. ex. "I'll buy the blouse, but I'll pass on the pants."

Pass out:1) To faint. ex. "The woman passed out from the heat." 2) To distribute. ex. "The demonstrators were passing out flyers."

Pass (something) up:To let (something) go by. ex. "I passed up a great opportunity to make a lot of money."

Pay back:To repay. To get revenge. ex. "Why is she being so mean to him? She is paying him back for all the years he was mean to her."

Pay off:1) To complete payment. ex. "I won't be able to pay off my student loan for another 10 years."

2) To bribe. Ex. "The police were obviously paid off to stay away."

Pick on:To harass. To intentionally make someone upset. ex. "You shouldn't pick on him just because he's different."

Pick up:1) To come and get someone (usually in a car). ex. "I have to pick the kids up at school." 2) To notice. ex. "She picked up on his bad mood" 3) To meet someone and initiate a (sexual) relationship. ex. "Some sleazy guy was trying to pick me up last night."

Play down:To diminish the significance of. To make something sound less important. ex. "The CEO tried to play down the dismal financial report."

Play up:To exaggerate the significance of. To make something sound more important. ex. "He likes to play up the fact that he was raised in a tough neighborhood."

Point out:To indicate. To bring to someone's attention. ex. "I'd like to point out that two of the bank robbers were from Canada."

Polish off:To finish. ex. "Peter polished off the rest of the spaghetti."

Pull in:To drive in. To park. ex. "They pulled in to McDonald's to grab something to eat."

Pull (something) off:To succeed in doing something (that seemed un doable, unrealistic, hard to do, etc.) ex. "I can't believe she pulled it off. I was sure she was going to fail."

Pull over:When driving - To stop.

Put (someone) down:To make negative remarks about (someone). ex. "He was a very mean boy who always put down everyone around him."

Pull over:To drive a vehicle to the side of the road. ex. "Pull over by those bushes. I have to go to the bathroom."

Put (someone) on:To try to trick someone (usually not in a serious/malicious way - often as a joke/for fun). ex. "You're putting me on! He didn't really say that, did he?"

Put (something) off:To delay doing (something) until a later time. ex. "Why do you keep putting this off? Just do it, and get it over with."

Put out:When speaking about CDs, etc. - To release. ex. "The Killers put out a new CD last month."

Put (someone) up:To have someone as a guest in one's home; To allow someone to sleep in your home. ex. "It was really kind of your uncle to put me up for a week"

Put up with:To tolerate. ex. "I can't put up with his behavior any longer."

Quiet down:To be/ become more quiet. ex. "We told the construction workers to quiet down."

Rat on:To be an informer. To reveal someone's secret. ex. "The teacher found out because you ratted on me!"

Read up on:To search out information on. ex. "I wanted to read up on camping in West Virginia before my trip."

Read (too much) into (sth):To over-analyze/exaggerate the importance of something that was said. ex. "Don't read too much into what she said. I'm sure she was just kidding."

Rinse out:To rinse the inside of. ex. "Rinse out that kettle before you fill it with water."

Rip off:To cheat. To swindle. ex. "Don't go into that store - the owner will try to rip you off."

Roll in:To arrive in great numbers/ quantity. ex. "He thinks that if he opens a restaurant, people will just roll in automatically."

Rough up:To hurt physically. ex. "When the cops arrived, they saw that the man had been roughed up a bit."

Rub off:To transmit to someone. ex. "After hanging out with Hans for the past year, I can say that his love of bratwurst has rubbed off on me."

Rule out:To eliminate. ex. "We can't rule out revenge as a possible motive."

Run away:To escape; leave; leave quickly without permission. ex. "He ran away from home when he was 16."

Run (something) by (someone):To tell someone something. To let someone know about something. ex. "The Secretary of State ran the plan by the President."

Run for:To campaign for. To try to become elected as. ex. "Bill Clinton ran for president twice, and both times he was elected."

Run into:To meet (by accident). ex. "Guess who I ran into the other day? My math teacher from high school!"

Run off:To run away. ex. "They ran off without paying the bill."

Run out of:To have no more, to use up completely. ex. "I ran out of gas on the way to my aunt's house."

Sail through:To finish an exam, test, interview, easily. ex. "John sailed through his Math exam."

Save up for (something):To save money for (something). ex. "John was saving up for a new motorcycle."

Scrape by:To just barely succeed at something. ex. "Did Stefan pass his English exam? Yes, but he just scraped by."

Scrape together:To collect, find, gather. ex. "We managed to scrape together enough money to buy a bottle of wine."

Screw up:*somewhat vulgar* To make a mistake, to do something badly. ex. "I really screwed up on my vocabulary test."

See (someone) out:To accompany (someone) to the exit/door. ex. "It's OK. I'll see myself out. = It's OK. You don't have to come with me to the door."

See through:To not be fooled by. ex. "I can't believe more people don't see through his lies."

See to:To make sure that (something happens). ex. "I'll see to it that he gets your message."

See off:To arrange/attend someone's goodbye party, to take leave of someone, to come say goodbye to someone (esp. at the place they are leaving from). ex. "They came to see us off at the train station."

Sell out:1) To do something one normally would not do, in order to get money (usually used when talking about musicians, artists, etc.) ex. "I liked this band when they first came out, but then they sold out." 2) To sell (an item) until there are none left. ex. "I'm sorry we sold out of that toy this morning."

Send (someone) off:To have a goodbye party for someone. ex. "Mike's finally leaving. We're sending him off on Saturday."

Set (someone) back:To cost (someone). ex. "The whole trip set us back $2,000."

Set off:1) To make something (usually a bomb, alarm, etc.) go off, start, etc. ex. "He accidentally set off the alarm by walking into the room." 2) Less archaic form of "set out" or "set forth" (see above).

Set (someone) up:1) To arrange a meeting (with the purpose of getting people involved romantically). ex. "Becky tried to set me up with her cousin, but it didn't work out."2) To falsely incriminate someone. ex. "The killer claimed that he had been set up."

Settle down:1) To start living a "normal", routine life (especially after living a wild life beforehand). ex. "All my rowdy friends have settled down." 1) To calm down. ex. "Settle down!"

Settle for:To accept something less than what one wanted. ex. "He wanted $20, but he settled for $15."

Shape up:To develop. ex. "How's your project shaping up?"

Shoot off (one's mouth):To speak without restraint (and often without tact) about something. ex. "She's always shooting off her mouth about how how successful her children are."

Shop around:To look for the best price. ex. "I like to shop around before I buy something."

Show (someone) around:To show someone where everything is in a city, neighborhood, etc. ex. "I don't really know the city - Could you show me around?"

Show off:To brag. To be very proud about something. ex. "He just loves to show off his car, doesn't he?"

Show up:1) To arrive. ex. "He showed up at her house at 4 o'clock in the morning." 2) To show (someone) up - To outdo, to outperform, to make someone seem worse. ex. "The opening band showed the headliners up"

Shut down:To close permanently. ex. "They shut down that restaurant last year."

Shut up:To be/ make quiet. ex. "He just kept talking and talking. He never knows when to shut up."

Shy away from (doing something):To not do something because one is too shy/timid. ex. "My sister tends to shy away from things like that."

Side with (someone):To support (someone) in a conflict, etc. ex. "When I found out that my sister and her friend were arguing, I sided with my sister."

Sign in:To gain access to something by writing your name.

Sign off on (something):To approve. ex. "We have to get upper management to sign off on the proposal this week."

Sign up (for something):To register. ex. "I signed up for an intensive English course in New York City."

Sink in:To become clear/evident. To become felt/understood. ex. "The truth that she would never see her grandfather again began to sink in."

Sit around/sit by:To sit without doing anything, used primarily in the phrase "to sit around doing nothing." This is a little different from "to sit by" which implies that someone is "sitting around and not stopping something from happening." - "They sat by and did nothing" would imply that they COULD HAVE done something but didn't

Sit down:To sit.

Sit in for (someone):To assume someone's duties while he/she is away.ex. "I'm sitting in for my boss this week."

Sit in on (a meeting, etc.):To attend as an observer.ex. "The head of our marketing team will be sitting in on this meeting."

Sit out:To not participate.ex. "I'm going to sit this game out."

Slack off:To not work as hard/efficiently as always. ex. "John has been slacking off recently."

Sleep in:To sleep longer than normal. ex. "I slept until 11:00 AM this morning."

Sleep on (something):To think about something (overnight). ex. "Let me sleep on it, and tomorrow I'll let you know what I decide."

Sleep over:To sleep at someone else's house. ex. "Mary slept over last night. = Mary slept here last night."

Slip out:To sneak out. To leave (a place, etc.) quietly/without making a sound. ex. "He must have slipped out while the security guard wasn't looking."

Slip up:To make a mistake. ex. "The press secretary slipped up and told the reporters more than he was supposed to."

Slow down:To (make something) move more slowly. ex. "Hey, could you please slow down! I'm finding it hard to keep up."

Snap off (a piece of something):To break off (a piece of something).

Snap out of (it):To stop behaving in a strange, disturbed, or agitated way. ex. "Hey, snap out of it! You're beginning to scare me."

Sober up:To become sober.

Sort out:To resolve. ex. "We sorted our our differences and became friends again."

Sound off:To express one's views and opinions. ex. "The speaker sounded off on the terrible treatment of animals."

Speak out (about something):To state one's views and opinions about something. ex. "The former police chief spoke out about the recent corruption scandal."

Speak up:To speak more loudly. ex. "Please speak up. I can't hear you."

Spell (something) out (for someone):To explain something really carefully. ex. "It's pretty obvious. I don't have to spell it out for you."

Split up:1) To end a (romantic) relationship. ex. "Peter and his girlfriend split up last week." 2) To go in separate directions.

Square off against (an opponent):To confront/fight an opponent. ex. "Tonight the Los Angeles Lakers square off against the Orlando Magic."

Stamp out:To eliminate. ex. "The senator started a campaign to stamp out smoking in high schools."

Stand for:To represent. ex. "VIP stands for very important person."

Stand out:To be very different (in a positive way). ex. "Maria is the kind of girl who really stands out in a crowd."

Stand (someone) up:To not arrive for a date (with someone). ex. "She was really angry when he stood her up on Saturday."

Stand up for (a cause, etc.):to actively support (a cause, etc.)

Stand up to:To defend oneself against. ex. "The boy showed a lot of courage in standing up to the school bully."

Start out:To begin. ex. "He started out as a dishwasher."

Stay in:To stay at home. To not go out.

Stay on:To remain.

Stay over:To sleep over. To sleep at someone's house overnight. ex. "Can I stay over tonight?"

Stay up:To stay awake; Not to go to bed. ex. "Jamie's parents let him stay up until 11:00 PM on weekends."

Step down:To leave a job, position, etc. ex. "I'm sorry, Mr. Johnson stepped out for a bit. He'll be back in 30 minutes."

Step in:To break up (a fight, argument, etc.) ex. "The principal stepped in when he saw the two boys arguing."

Step out:To leave (for a brief period of time). ex. "I'm sorry, Mr. Johnson stepped out for a bit. He'll be back in 30 minutes."

Stick around:To not go anywhere; ex. "I think I'll stick around for a bit."

Straighten (something) out:To make something clear(er); To make something less confusing; ex: "They was a mistake on my phone bill, but the phone company straightened it our for me."

String (someone) along:To keep someone in a state of false hope/ deception.

Tack on:To add (usually used in a negative way). ex. "The lawyer tried to tack on an additional $100 in fees."

Tag along:To accompany (someone). ex. "Do you mind if I tag along? = Do you mind if I come with you?"

Tail off:To decrease in intensity, effectiveness, etc. ex. "The protests tailed off as the night wore on."

Take aback:To surprise (almost always used in the form - "to be taken aback"). ex. "I was taken aback by his reaction."

Take after:To resemble (a person). ex. "She really takes after her father."

Take apart:To disassemble. ex. "She took the computer apart, but couldn't reassemble it afterwards." Take care of:1) To provide care for. ex. "John took good care of his car and ended up selling it for a lot of money." 2) To assume responsibility for doing. ex. "Who's going to tell him? I'll take care of it."

Take down:To write (down). ex. "Take this down."

Take in:1) To shelter. ex. "They took in two stray cats." 2) To process, remember (when someone is teaching you something). ex. "All this information is just too much to take in at one time."

Take off:1) To remove. ex. "Please take off your hat when you're indoors."2) To leave. To split. ex. "I think I'm going to take off - I'm really tired."3) To leave the ground (plane or rocket). ex. "When the plane took off I felt very nervous."

Take on:To assume. To accept. ex. "I took on another project."

Take out:1) To invite someone to go out to a cafe, restaurant, etc. ex. "I took my mom out to diner on her birthday." 2) To borrow a book, cd, etc. from the library. ex. "Tom took out three books and two DVDs from the library." 3) To get, obtain. (money from an ATM, insurance, etc.) ex. "Tom took out $100 dollars from the ATM.", "We took out a life insurance policy." 4) To arrange to have someone killed. ex. "The mafia took him out."

Take (something) out on:To abuse or yell at someone because one is angry, even though that someone is not the cause of the anger. ex. "Why do you always take your anger out on me?"

Take over:To take control over. ex. "After Jim retired, Nancy took over the family business."

Take up:To start (a habit, hobbby, etc.) ex. "He took up bowling."

Take (something) upon oneself:To take/assume responsibility for something. ex. "I'm going to take it upon myself to make sure he improves his English."

Talk back:To respond in a rude, or agressive way. ex. "Don't talk back to your father like that!"

Talk down to:To talk to someone in a condescending way, like they were less intelligent than you. ex. "He always talks down to his little brother."

Talk (someone) into (something):To convince/persuade someone (by talking to them) to do something. ex. "He talked me into buying a Mazda."

Talk (someone) out of (something):To convince/persuade someone (by talking to them) NOT to do something.. ex. "I was going to buy a Mazda, but my cousin talked me out of it."

Talk (something) over:To discuss. ex. "It's a good deal, but I have to talk it over with my husband."

Talk (someone) through (something):To guide someone through something (usually a process, instructions, etc.) ex. "I started to unerstand the process after Bill talked me through it."

Tear into:To criticize severely. ex. "Barack Obama really tore into John McCain during their debate."

Tear up:To tear (a piece of paper, etc.) into pieces. ex. "The student tore up his report card when he saw his grades."

Tell off:To criticize (sometimes severely). ex. "I told the babysitter off for not taking good care of my son."

Tell on:To report bad behavior. ex. "Every time I did something wrong when I was a child, my brother would tell on me."

Think (something) over:To consider or reconsider (something). ex. "Think it over. Maybe you'll decide to join us."

Think up:To create or invent (a story, plan, etc.) Often used to mean that someone is lying about something. ex. "He thought up some story. "