Advanced English Phrasal Verbs: Weather

Here you'll find out what phrasal verbs might help you speak about the weather getting better or worse; changes of temperature; the weather preventing people from doing something; the sun;  the clouds and the fog; the wind; and the rain.

Weather Getting Better

BRIGHTEN UP - if the weather (it) brightens up, the sun begins to shine and the sky becomes brighter

Ex. If the weather brightens up, we could walk down to the beach.

CLEAR UP - if the weather (it) clears up, it stops raining and becomes more pleasant

Ex. The weather forecast said that it would clear up later in the day.

LET UP - (of bad weather or an unpleasant situation) to stop or become less serious than before

Ex. I'll drive you into town as soon as the snow lets up.

           LET-UP (noun, singular, uncountable) - a pause in bad weather or an improvement in an 

           unpleasant situation

           Ex. Streets were flooded, but still there was no let-up in the rain.

BLOW OVER - (about a storm) to end

Ex. The Weather Center predicts that the snowstorm will quickly blow over.

BLOW itself OUT - (about a storm) to end

Ex. The hurricane moved along the northeast before blowing itself out over the North Atlantic.

Weather Getting Worse

CLOUD OVER - if the sky (it) clouds over, it become covered with clouds and the sun disappears

Ex. In the afternoon it clouded over and cooled down a bit.

CLOSE IN - (of bad weather) to start getting worse

Ex. The fog began to close in and we couldn't see a thing.

BLOW UP - (of a storm or strong wind) to suddenly start

Ex. The sky's getting dark - it looks like there's a storm blowing up.

COME ON  - to statrt or be nearly starting

Ex. As soon as we had left the shelter, the rain came on.

Temperature Changing

WARM UP - to become warmer

Ex. In spring the weather soon starts to warm up.

COOL DOWN - to become slightly colder

Ex. The air has cooled down a little now.

COOL OFF - to return to a normal temperature after being hot

Ex. By late autumn Mediterranean islands have cooled off.

Weather Preventing Something from Happening

BE RAINED OFF (BrE) / BE RAINED OUT (AmE) -if an event (an outdoor activity) is raind off / out, it cannot take place or has to stop because it's raining

Ex. Last night's match with Leeds United was rained off.

BE SNOWED OFF (BrE) / BE SNOWED OUT (AmE) - if an event (an outdoor activity) is snowed off / out, it cannot take place or has to stop because it's snowing

Ex. Apparently, the game was snowed off.

BE SNOWED IN / BE SNOWED UP (BrE) - to be unable to leave the place where you are because there is so much snow on the ground

Ex. Many people are snowed in and cannot get to work.

BE FLOODED OUT -  to be forced to leave your home because of floods
Ex. Hundreds of Londoners were flooded out after the worst rain for twenty years.

The Sun 

BEAT DOWN - to shine very strongly

Ex. The sun was beating down on our backs and our throats were dry.

COME UP - (of the sun or moon) to move up into the sky where you can see it
Ex. We got up early to watch the sun come up behind the muontains.
Similar to: rise

GO DOWN - (of the sun) to gradually get lower in the sky until it disappears
Ex. It was six o'clock, and the sun was going down for the day.
Similar to: set.

COME OUT - (of the sun, moon or stars) to appear in the sky after being hidden

Ex. Just as we were about to leave the beach, the sun came out.

BREAK THROUGH (smth) -  (of the sun or light) to appear from behind the clouds or mist

Ex. At that moment the sun broke through (the clouds).

GO IN (BrE) - (of the sun or moon) to disappear behind some clouds so you cannot see it any more

Ex. The sun had gone in and it was starting to get cold.

Clouds and Fog 

ROLL IN - (of clouds or fog) appear in large amounts
Ex. Fog rolled in from the sea.

BLOT OUT smth / BLOT smth OUT - to cover and prevent fromn being seen.
Ex. The clouds blotted out the sun.

FOG / MIST / STEAM UP - (of windows or glasses) to become covered with small drops of water so you can't see through them.

Ex. My windshield fogged up, making it nearly impossible to see the road.

The Wind

GET UP (BrE) - to start and get stronger

Ex. The wind got up during the night and blew their tent away.

PICK UP - to become stronger

Ex. That evening the wind picked up and storm clouds started moving over from the east.

DIE DOWN - to become less strong

Ex. At last the storm died down.

Raining a Lot

POUR DOWN / BEAT DOWN - to rain very hard

Ex. It's been pouring down all morning.

      At that moment the sky darkened and the rain began to beat down

           DOWNPOUR (noun, countable) - when a lot of rain falls quickly in a short period of time

           Ex. A heavy downpour delayed the firework display.

LASH DOWN - if the rain lashes down, a lot of rain falls and there is also often a lot of wind

Ex. It was a wild evening. The rain was lashing down and the wind was howling through the trees.

BE PELTING DOWN (informal) - used to say that it is raining very heavily

Ex. It's been pelting down all morning.

BE BUCKETING DOWN (BrE, informal) - used to say that it is raining very heavily

Ex.  It's been bucketing down all afternoon.

BE TIPPING DOWN  (BrE, spoken, informal) - used to say that it is raining very heavily

Ex.  It's been tipping down all morning.

BE CHUCKING (IT) DOWN (BrE, spoken, informal) -  used to say that it is raining very heavily

Ex. It's been chucking down for days now - when is it going to stop?

Not Raining (Although You Expect It to)

HOLD OFF - (of rain or snow) not to start, although it looks like it will soon

Ex. It looks like snow's on the way - I hope it holds off until we get home.

KEEP OFF (BrE) - (of bad weather) not to start, although it looks as if it might begin soon

Ex. The rain kept off until we boarded our coach at 6.15.

CAE Writing: Formal vs Informal: Phrasal Verbs

One of the characteristic features that differentiate  formal and informal English is use of phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs are most typical of informal letters whereas in formal writing one-word verbs would be much preferred. Below is the list of some commonly used phrasal verbs and their one-word equivalents with example sentences.

PHRASAL VERBS	ONE-WORD VERBS
come along Ever since the Pears came along 3 years ago....	arrive Ever since the Pears arrived in the neighbourhood three years ago...
give up hope of I finally gave up hope of getting used to it.	despair of I finally despaired of getting accustomed to it.
wind smb up It was done just to wind me up.	provoke It was done with the sole intention of provoking me.
talk smth over I talked it over with my mates at work.	discuss I discussed the problem with my colleagues.
put in (a complaint) They suggested I put in a formal complaint.	lodge (a complaint) They suggested I lodge a complaint.
put smb through They put me through to the Social Services Department.	connect They connected me to the Social Services Department.
check out smb /smth The woman said she’d come and check it all out the next week	investigate The woman promised to investigate the matter the following week.
turn up She never turned up.	come She never came.
fix up (time) We fixed up another time.	arrange Another time was arranged.
put off They kept on putting it off.	postpone This was continually postponed.
show up One day, out of the blue, a bloke showed up.	visit Finally, a council officer visited.
pass on to He left after five minutes, saying he’d pass the matter on to the other department.	refer to After a brief inspection, the officer said he would refer the case to the other department.
make out She kept phoning the police about her neighbours, making out they had threatened to kill the birds.	claim / pretend She had been phoning the police, claiming that the Lampreys had threatened to kill the birds.
go by Well, 12 months have gone by now.	elapse Twelve months have elapsed since the officer came.
turn out It turned out he was the one that kept all the money for himself.	transpire It transpired that he kept all the money for himself.
bring back I told him it was his job to bring back peace and quiet to the neighbourhood.	restore I felt it was the Council’s job to restore peace and quiet to the neighbourhood.
put up with I wasn’t going to put up with another six months of being messed about.	tolerate I was no longer prepared to tolerate the situation.
talk into I’m really happy they have talked you into giving a lecture.	persuade I am so glad that you have been persuaded to give a lecture.
join in Mrs. Pear joined in.	enter (the quarrel) Mt Pear’s wife Dolores entered the quarrel.
do up They’ve recently done up the club meeting room.	redecorate The club meeting room has been recently redecorated.
cut off Our village is rather cut off.	isolate Our village is rather isolated.
put up You could be put up with  one of our members.	accommodate We could arrange for you to be accommodated with one of our members.
make up for I hope it’ll make up for having to stay overnight.	compensate for I hope it will compensate for the inconvenience of having to stay overnight.
come down with I was sorry you were coming down with flue.	catch I was sorry to hear that you felt you had caught influenza.
get over I hope you’ll get it over by the time of the meeting	recover I hope that you will have recovered by the time of the meeting.
tell off He got told off for being late quite often.	reprimand He was  repeatedly reprimanded for being late.
set up I hear he sets up very long talks.	organise He is said to organise talks which are too long.
done in All of us were done in at the end of a long day’s work.	exhausted Most members feel exhausted at the end of a long day’s work.
put out I do hope you won’t be put out.	offend I hope you will not be offended.
bring out (a book) He has brought out a book on his travels around Europe.	publish A book on his travels throughout Europe has been published.
pick up Because of this I picked up a better insight into the way we understand language.	gain This enabled me to gain a significant insight into the way we comprehend language..
talk out of I wish you would talk your boys out of playing loud music.	dissuade from I would be very grateful if you could dissuade your sons from playing loud music.
bring up I'd like to bring up the issue of publicity.	raise I would like to raise the issue of publicity.
carry on / go on He said he’d carry on studying abroad.	persist with He assured us that he would persist with his studies abroad.
back up They have no evidence whatsoever to back up their claims.	support There does not appear to be any evidence to support their claims.
carry out If Russia doesn’t carry out the promise, further sanctions will follow.	fulfil Should Russia not fulfil the pledge, we shall be obliged to impose further sanctions.

Advanced English Phrasal Verbs: Food and Drink

 

In this post I am giving phrasal verbs relating to preparing  food and drink, surving them up, styles of eating, eating a lot and quickly, eating a little and with difficulty, starting to eat and eating all of something etc.

 

Preparing Food and Drink

PUT ON smth / PUT smth ON - to start cooking something 

Ex. I put your supper on an hour ago. It should be ready by now.

WHIP UP smth / WHIP smth UP - to quickly make something to eat.
Ex. If your girls are hungry, I can whip up something to eat in no time.

CHOP UP smth / CHOP smth UP - to cut smth, especially food or wood, into smaller pieces

Ex. Chop up a cup of green or black olives and add them to the sauce.

Similar to: cut up.

 SLICE UP smth / SLICE smth UP - to cut meat, bread, vegetables etc. into thin flat pieces.

Ex. Slice up the onions and add them to the meat.

Similar to: cut up.

CHOP OFF smth / CHOP smth OFF - to remove smth using a knife or other sharp tools.

Ex. Chop off the ends of the carrots before you peel them.

Similar to: cut off.

SLICE OFF smth / SLICE smth OFF - to remove a piece of smth from the rest of it with one movement of a sharp knife.

Ex. Slice off the bottom of each pear so they'll stand up in the dish.

Similar to: cut off.

PEEL OFF smth / PEEL smth OFF - to remove the ouside layer (skin, rind) from the surface of fruit, vegetables etc.
Ex. Boil the potatoes and then peel off the skin.

FRY UP smth / FRY smth UP (BrE, informal) - to quickly fry some food in order to make a meal.
Ex. Do you want me to fry up some eggs?

              FRY-UP (noun, countable) - a quick meal made of fried eggs, bacon etc.
              Ex. He has a really unhealthy diet - all he ever eats is fry-ups.

BOIL AWAY - (of a liquid) to disappear and change into steam because it has been heated for a long time.
Ex. All the water in the pan had boiled away and it was red hot.

BOIL DOWN / BOIL DOWN smth / BOIL smth DOWN - (of food and liquid) to reduce in amount because it has been heated for a long time.

Ex. Add a lot of cabbage - it will boil down quite a bit. 

      Boil down the liquid until it becomes a thick red sauce.

BOIL OVER - (of liqiud) to rise and flow over the side of the pan because it is being heated at a high temperature.

Ex. The milk's boiling over - quick, turn it off!

BOIL UP smth / BOIL smth UP (especially BrE) - to heat liquid or food untill it starts to boil
Ex. Sit down and relax while I boil up some water for tea.

THAW OUT smth / THAW smth OUT - (of frozen food) to put it somewhere where it can warm up until it is no longer frozen
Ex. How about a pie - there's one in the freezer and I can thaw it out in the microwave.

Similar to: defrost

HEAT UP smth / HEAT smth UP or WARM UP smth / WARM smth UP - to make cooked food hot again after it has become cold
Ex. She heated up some more of the stew and took it out to him.

HEAT THROUGH smth / HEAT smth THROUGH / HEAT THROUGH (BrE) - (of food) to make it hot or to become hot.
Ex. The rice may be prepared in advance and heated through later.
       Finally stir in the tomato paste and let the mixture heat through.

Serving Food and Drink

SERVE UP smth / SERVE smth UP or DISH UP smth / DISH smth UP / DISH UP (BrE) - to put food onto plates so that it is ready to eat

Ex. Do you want me to serve up the vegetables?

      I'll open the wine - you dish up. 

HAND ROUND smth / HAND smth ROUND or PASS ROUND smth / PASS smth ROUND - to offer something, especially food or drink, to each person in a group

Ex. Sally put the chicken soup into bowls and handed them round to us.

       Carla brought some  cakes in and passed them round.

POUR OUT smth / POUR smth OUT - (of a drink) to fill glasses or cups with it.

Ex. Mandy was pouring out tea and passing round bisquits.

TOP UP smth / TOP smb, smth UP (especially BrE) or TOP OFF smth / TOP OFF (AmE) - to put more drink into someone's glass or cup to make it full again
Ex. Can I top up your beer? Do you want me to top you up?
      Let me top off your drink.

         TOP-UP (noun, countable) - more drink poured into a glass or cup
          Ex. Would you like a top-up?

HELP yourself TO smth - to put some food on your own plate or drink in your own glass
Ex. Help yourselves to the vegetables.

HELP smb TO smth - to put some food on someone else's plate for them, or put drink in their glass
Ex. Shall I help to some rice?

GO WITH smth - to combine or taste good with something
Ex. This wine should go well with meat and strong-tasting cheeses.

BE LEFT OVER - (of food) to remain after you've eaten as much as you need
Ex. Nothing was left over at the end of the meal.

         LEFTOVERS (noun, plural) - food that has not been eaten at the end of a meal.
         Ex. Shall I throw away the leftovers, or do you want to use them for something else?

         LEFTOVER (adj., always before noun) - that has not been eaten at the end of a meal
         Ex. Here are some great recipes for ways to use leftover turkey.

Styles of Eating and Drinking

TAKE AWAY (BrE) - to buy prepared food in a shop or restaurant and take it somewhere else to eat
Ex. Two burgers and two teas to take away, please.
Similar to : to go (AmE)

        TAKEAWAY (noun, countable) - hot meal that you buy in a shop or restaurant and eat
        somewhere else
        Ex.  I can't be bothered to cook - let's get a takeaway.

        TAKEAWAY (noun, countable) - a shpo that sell hot food that you buy  and take to eat
        somewhere else
        Ex. I'm going to the Chinese takeaway - d'you want anything?

SEND OUT FOR  smth - to telephone a restaurant and ask them to bring food to your home or work
Ex. I usually send out for Chinese food when I work late at the office.

EAT OUT or DINE OUT (formal, especially in written English)- to eat a meal in a restaurant instead of at home
Ex. I don't feel like cooking - let's eat out.
      Dining out on the island is a real pleasure.
Opposite: eat in / dine in

EAT IN or DINE IN (formal)- to eat a meal at home instead of going to a restaurant.
Ex. I'm too tired to go out - let's eat in instead.
       Please tell Anton that we shall be dining in this evening.
Opposite: eat out / dine out

EAT IN - to eat inside a restaurant instead of taking your food somewher else.
Ex. "Two burgers and two coffes, please". - "To eat in or take away?"

LIVE ON / OFF smth - to only eat a particular kind of food
Ex. Many teenagers tend to live on hamburgers and fries.
      Most of the population live off a diet of rice.


CUT OUT smth / CUT smth OUT  - to stop eating, drinking, smoking etc. something, especially in order to improve your health or lose weight.

Ex. I wish I'd cut out cigarettes years ago.
Similar to: give up


CUT DOWN (on smth) - to eat, drink, smoke etc. less of something that is bad for you in order to improve your health or lose weight.
Ex. It's the fatty foods you need to cut down on if you want to lose weight.

Eating a Little, Slowly or with Difficulty

PICK AT smth - to eat only small amounts of food without showing much interest in it, for example because you are not hungry or you are thinking about something else

Ex. Paige was so worried she could only pick at her meal, forcing down a mouthful or two.

PECK AT smth  - to eat only a small part of your meal, because you are not very hungry
Ex. She pecked at her food for a few minutes and then pushed her plate to one side. 

NIBBLE AT / ON smth - to eat something, taking very small bites
Ex. Emma nibbled at a piece of toast in thoughtful silence.

TOY WITH smth - to keep touching something or moving it about, especially while you are thinking about something else
Ex. We sat there toying with our food and trying to be polite to each other.

SNACK ON smth - to eat small amounts of a particular food between main meals or instead of a meal
Ex. I tend to snack on chocolate during the day when I'm working.

FORCE DOWN smth  / FORCE smth DOWN or CHOKE DOWN smth / CHOKE smth DOWN - to make yourself eat or drink something with difficulty, especially because you don't like it, or because you are ill or upset
Ex. I didn't want to be rude, so I forced down the raw fish and smiled at my hosts. 
      I managed to choke down part of the soup and promised to try to finish the rest of it later.

Eating Very Quickly

GOBBLE DOWN smth / GOBBLE smth DOWN (informal) - to eat something very quickly and eagerly
Ex. Joseph joined us for lunch, gobbled it down and rushed back to work.
      
WOLF DOWN smth / WOLF smth DOWN (informal) - to eat something very quickly, especially because you are very hungry
Ex. When dinner finally came, we wolfed it down in five minutes.

BOLT DOWN smth / BOLT smth DOWN (BrE, informal) - to eat food very quickly, especially because you are in a hurry.
Ex. Charly bolted down his breakfast and ran out of the house.

SCARF DOWN / UP smth (AmE, informal) - to eat something very quickly
Ex. She scarfed down a bagel on her way to work.

Eating a Lot

FILL smb UP - (of food) to make you feel that you have eaten enough and you are full
Ex. I like to have porridge for breakfast. It really fills you up.

FILL (yourself) UP (on smth) - make your stomach feel full by eating a lot of food
Ex. If you are extra hungry, fill up on rice, potatoes or pasta dishes.

GORGE yourself ON smth -  to eat large amounts of something that you enjoy eating, especially more than is good for you 
Ex. We all stood around gorging ourselves on strawberries and cream.


FEAST ON / UPON smth (upon is more formal and used in writing) - to eat a lot of a particular food with enjoyment
Ex. Afterwards they went to a posh restaurant and feasted on smoked salmon and champagne.

PIG OUT (on smth) (informal) - to eat a lot of food, especially more than you need or more than is sensible
Ex. I find that if I don't eat breakfast, I'm starving by lunchtime and I pig out.

PUT AWAY smth / PUT smth AWAY (informal, especially spoken) - to eat or drink a lot of something, especially a surprisingly large amount
Ex. The girl sitting next to me managed to put away half a bottle of vodka before we got to Hong Kong.
       
PACK AWAY smth / PACK smth AWAY (informal) - to eat a large amount of food
Ex. Billy can really pack it away - no wonder he is so fat!

Starting to Eat

TUCK  INTO smth or DIG INTO smth or DIVE INTO smth - to start eating something with enjoyment

Ex. The waiter brought our meal and we all tucked into it.

TUCK IN or DIVE IN - to start eating very eagerly

Ex. Mrs Birkins brought breakfast out on a tray, and Lisa dived in hungrily.

DIG IN! or TUCK IN! (BrE, informal, spoken) - used to tell people to start eating the food that is in front of them

Ex. Dig in! There's plenty for everyone.

      Come on, everyone, tuck in!

 Eating All of Something

EAT UP smth / EAT smth UP / EAT UP - to eat all of something

Ex. There's some bacon in the fridge that needs eating up.

FINISH OFF smth / FINISH smth OFF - to eat, drink, or use the last part of something

Ex. Ally I sat outside, finishing off our meal.

FINISH UP smth / FINISH smth UP - to eat or drink all of what you are eating and drinking

Ex. Come on, finish up your drinks! We've got to go now.

POLISH OFF smth / POLISH smth OFF (informal) - to finish food, drink, or work quickly and easily

Ex. When I got home, Mrs Marsh had polished off half the bisquits in the tin.

Drinking

WASH DOWN smth / WASH smth DOWN - to drink something with or after food or with medicine to help you swallow it

Ex. Let your child wash the medicine down with a mouthful of their favourite drink.

DRINK TO smb/smth - to wish someone success, good luck, or good health by holding up your glass before drinking something

Ex. Let's drink to the New Year!

Similar to: toast.

DRINK UP smth / DRINK smth UP / DRINK UP - to drink all of something

Ex. Drink up - the bar will be closing soon.

DIP smth IN smth - to put something into a liquid and take it out again

Ex. She loves dipping a chocolate biscuit in her tea.

WATER DOWN smth / WATER smth DOWN - to add water to alcoholic drinks and make them weaker, especially in order to deceive people by serving them less alchol than they have paid for
Ex. The bar staff  aren't very friendly,  and I'm sure they water down the drinks.

SPILL OVER - to pour over the edge, usually because the container id too full
Ex. The beer rose up the glass and began to spill over.

SIP ON / AT smth - to drink something slowly, swollowing only small amounts
Ex. Haney sipped on his tea and looked bored.

KNOCK BACK smth / KNOCK smth BACK (informal) - to drink something, especially alcohol, quickly or in large amounts
Ex. I watched him knock back a whole bottle of wine in fifteen minutes.

Sources:
1. M. McCarthy, F. O'Dell. English Phrasal Verbs in Use.
2. M. McCarthy, F. O'Dell. English Phrasal Verbs in Use. Advanced.
3. Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
4. Longman Phrasal Verbs Dictionary.