English Phrasal Verbs
Alphabetical list R-S of commonly-used phrasal verbs.
Phrasal Verbs beginning with the letter 'R' or 'S'
- rake up
- Recall unpleasant memories or events
"She's constantly raking up old quarrels."
- Recall unpleasant memories or events
- ramp up
- Increase the quantity or amount
"The company ramped up production to meet the demand."
- Increase the quantity or amount
- reel off / rattle off
- Recite without effort or pause, from memory.
"Stella amazed everyone by reeling off all the phrasal verbs she had learned."
- Recite without effort or pause, from memory.
- rely on
- Count on; depend on; trust
"Don't worry. You can rely on me. I can keep a secret."
- Count on; depend on; trust
- rig out (verb)
- Dress or equip.
"The old lady arrived all rigged out in her best clothes."
- Dress or equip.
- ring back (also: call back)
- Return a phone call.
"John rang this morning and asked if you could ring him back."
- Return a phone call.
- ring off
- End a phone call.
"The caller gave his name and then rang off."
- End a phone call.
- rub out
- Erase.
Write it in pencil so that you can rub it out later if you want to change it.
- Erase.
- rule out
- Eliminate.
"The police are still investigating but they have ruled out political motives."
- Eliminate.
- run away
- Escape from a place or suddenly leave.
"He ran away from home at the age of fourteen."
- Escape from a place or suddenly leave.
- run about/around
- Be busy doing many different things.
"Julie has been running about/around all week getting ready for the wedding."
- Be busy doing many different things.
- run across
- Run to the other side of something (a road, a bridge...).
"The pickpocket ran across the road and jumped onto a bus."
- Run to the other side of something (a road, a bridge...).
- run after
- Chase something.
"Tom threw the ball along the beach and the dog ran after it."
- Chase something.
- run into (also : bump into)
- Meet by accident or unexpectedly .
"Sophie ran into Maria at the shopping centre."
- Meet by accident or unexpectedly .
- run on
- Continue without interruption.
"We didn’t expect the chairman's speech to run on for so long.”
- Continue without interruption.
- run out
- Expire, come to an end.
"Let’s order now before the offer runs out.”
- Expire, come to an end.
- run out of
- Have no more of something.
"What a nuisance! We've run out of coffee."
- Have no more of something.
- run up
- Accumulate a debt.
"James ran up a large amount in hotel expenses at the trade fair." - Make something quickly.
"My mother can run up a pair of curtains in no time.”
- Accumulate a debt.
- run up against
- Encounter difficulties or problems.
"The property developer ran up against strong local opposition."
- Encounter difficulties or problems.
- scale back/scale down
- Make something smaller than originally intended.
"Due to the crisis the company had to scale down the size of the plant."
- Make something smaller than originally intended.
- scrape along
- Live with barely enough money
"He managed to scrape along with very little money until he found a job."
- Live with barely enough money
- scrape together/scrape up
- Manage to find or collect enough of something you need, usually money.
"We finally scraped together enough money to buy an old car."
- Manage to find or collect enough of something you need, usually money.
- scrape through
- Succeed with difficulty.
"How I scraped through the exam is still a mystery to me!"
- Succeed with difficulty.
- set about
- Begin to do something.
"She set about tidying the house."
- Begin to do something.
- set apart
- Have a distinguishing characteristic.
"The fact that she spoke several languages set her apart from the other candidates."
- Have a distinguishing characteristic.
- set aside
- Reserve for future use.
"We're always careful to set aside money for the rent."
- Reserve for future use.
- set back
- Delay something.
"Bad weather set back the construction work."
- Delay something.
- set down
- Record in writing.
"The rules were set down in a handbook."
- Record in writing.
- set forth
- Start a journey.
"They set forth on their expedition in April."
- Start a journey.
- set in
- Take root, begin and continue
"It's snowing today. Winter has set in."
"A few months after changing jobs, regret set in."
- Take root, begin and continue
- set off
- Start a journey.
"Early Saturday morning we set off for the ski slopes."
- Start a journey.
- set off
- Initiate something
"Opening a window will set off the alarm."
"Fireworks were set off just before midnight."
- Initiate something
- set on/upon
- Attack
"The burglars were set on/upon by the dog."
- Attack
- set up
- Start a business.
"Victoria set up her own company 10 years ago."
- Start a business.
- set up
- Establish or organize.
"The hikers set up camp near a lake."
- Establish or organize.
- settle for
- Accept something not quite satisfactory
"I was hoping for a better proposal but I'll settle for the amount you offer."
- Accept something not quite satisfactory
- settle in/into
- Get used to a new place or home
"How are the children settling into their new school?."
- Get used to a new place or home
- shop around
- Compare prices.
"It's always wise to shop around before buying anything."
- Compare prices.
- show off
- Brag or want to be admired.
"There's Donald showing off in his new sports car!"
- Brag or want to be admired.
- show up
- Appear; arrive.
"We expected William to come but he didn't show up."
- Appear; arrive.
- shut up (impolite)
- Be silent, stop talking.
"Oh shut up you idiot!"
- Be silent, stop talking.
- sign away
- Give up one's rights or ownership.
"He signed away his property and joined a religious community."
- Give up one's rights or ownership.
- sign in
- Register (e.g. at a hotel).
"As soon as we've signed in we'll go and get something to eat ."
- Register (e.g. at a hotel).
- sign out
- Pay your bill and leave (e.g. a hotel).
"At 9 o'clock he signed out and left for the airport."
- Pay your bill and leave (e.g. a hotel).
- sign over (to)
- Transfer ownership of something.
"He signed over the house to his two children."
- Transfer ownership of something.
- sign up (for)
- Enroll in an activity.
Emma signed up for a computer course.
- Enroll in an activity.
- sign up (with)
- Sign an agreement to work for somebody.
"Paul has signed up with a news agency."
- Sign an agreement to work for somebody.
- sing along (with)
- Sing while someone else is singing or playing the same piece of music.
"While the band played her favourite tune, Alice sang along with them."
- Sing while someone else is singing or playing the same piece of music.
- single out
- Select for special attention.
"Two of the boys were singled out for extra coaching.
- Select for special attention.
- sink in
- Be fully understood.
"In spite of the detailed news reports, it took a while for the scale of the disaster to sink in."
- Be fully understood.
- sit down
- Take a seat.
"Please come in and sit down."
- Take a seat.
- sleep in
- Sleep longer and get up later than usual.
"Tomorrow is Saturday, so I can sleep in!"
- Sleep longer and get up later than usual.
- sleep over
- Stay overnight at someone else's home.
"You're welcome to sleep over if you don't want to drive in this weather."
- Stay overnight at someone else's home.
- slip up
- Make a mistake.
"You slipped up there! His name is Alex, not Alan!"
- Make a mistake.
- slow down
- Decelerate; go more slowly.
"George! You're going to cause an accident. Slow down!"
- Decelerate; go more slowly.
- soak up
- Absorb
"She got a sponge to soak up the water."
"We soaked up the sun all afternoon."
- Absorb
- sober up
- Get rid of the effects of too much alcohol.
"Jack decided to go for a long walk to sober up."
- Get rid of the effects of too much alcohol.
- sort out
- Organise, resolve a problem.
"There was a misunderstanding but Lea sorted it out."
"Students should sort out their books at the end of the school year."
- Organise, resolve a problem.
- speed up
- Accelerate; go faster.
"We need to speed up the registration procedure."
- Accelerate; go faster.
- spit (something) out
- Stop hesitating and say what you have to say.
"Come on Tommy ! Just spit it out and tell us what happened !"
- Stop hesitating and say what you have to say.
- splash out
- Buy something expensive.
"He splashed out on a diamond necklace for his girlfriend!"
- Buy something expensive.
- stand for
- Represent, mean.
"VAT stands for value added tax."
- Tolerate.
"There's no way I'm going to stand for such bad behaviour!"
- Represent, mean.
- stand up
- Rise from a sitting position
"The pupils stood up when the headmaster arrived."
- Rise from a sitting position
- stand up for
- Support or defend someone or something.
"You must learn to be assertive and stand up for your personal views."
- Support or defend someone or something.
- stay in
- Remain at home rather than go out.
"I stayed in all afternoon waiting for a delivery."
- Remain at home rather than go out.
- stick around
- Stay somewhere for some time.
"I'll stick around until the end of the parade."
- Stay somewhere for some time.
- stick out
- Come out.
"The speaker's shirt was sticking out from his trousers."
- Become noticeable.
"With that dress you'll really stick out!"
- Come out.
- stick (something) out
- Tolerate, accept to continue.
"Lunch with my girlfriend's colleagues was boring but I had to stick it out - I had no choice!"
- Tolerate, accept to continue.
- stick to
- Continue without changing anything.
"We must decide on a plan of action and stick to it."
- Continue without changing anything.
- stick together
- Support each other.
"Good friends always stick together."
- Support each other.
- stick with
- Continue using or doing something.
"I'll stick with this grammar book because it has everything I need."
- Continue using or doing something.
- string along
- Let someone continue to believe something false.
"If you’re not in love with her, then tell her so. Don’t string her along."
- Let someone continue to believe something false.
More Phrasal Verbs: