The terrorists blew the bridge up.

The family were injured when their house blew up because of a gas leak.

make explode;destroy using explosives

When Joan heard the news, she blew up and rushed out of the room.

I broke her iPad and she blew up at me.

suddenly become very angry

We need to break this problem down in order to solve.

analyze in detail

The truck broke down in the desert.

Our marriage has broken down and we are getting a divorce.

stop working properly

She broke down after her husband died.

She had a nervous breakdown after her son was kidnapped.

become mentally ill

The politician introduced new laws that might bring about some positive change.

make something happen

Whenever you borrow a book from the library you must bring it back

return

Sometimes when people die they are able to be brought back to life.

return to consciousness

Fishermen always try to bring in a large catch.

Most part-time work does not bring in much money.

yield as profit or income

I didn't want to bring up the fact that she was unemployed.

mention

Sam was brought up in South Carolina.

raise (a child)

Babies often bring up their food, but that phase soon passes.

vomit

I must call her back when we get to the office.

return a phonecall

Mrs Bottone is in a meeting. Can you call back this afternoon, please?

return to a place to see somebody again

They called the picnic off because of the rain.

The police called off their search for the burglar after they found him hiding in a shed.

cancel something

He called off the dogs when he saw it was his neighbor.

OK, I agree to your demands. You can call your lawyers off now.

order to stop (an invasion, guard dogs)

I think I'll call round and see if my grandmother needs anything.

Why don't you call round tomorrow? We can have a cup of tea and a chat.

visit someone, usually for a short period of time.

Please, carry on. I didn't mean to interrupt you.

continue (a conversation, a game)

He kept carrying on about how much money he makes.

continue in an annoying way

I want you to carry on with the project while I am out of town.

continue

The secret agent carried out his orders exactly as planned.

Grandma, let me help you carry out the boxes to the car.

complete and/or accomplish something

They need to check in before noon.

They checked into the hotel at 11:00 AM.

enter a hospital, hotel etc.

We are checking into discount flights to London.

investigate, look for (often through a service)

Cheer up. Everything will be all right.

You look sad. What can I do to cheer you up?

become cheerful

What time are you coming back?

return

I can’t afford the new TVs so I’ll wait for the prices to come down to a more reasonable price.

drop

When I turned 21 my father gave me a ring that has come down from generation to generation.

descend to someone through inheritance

When I stole a toy from store my mother came down on me harshly.

attack/scold vigorously

He came down with the flu.

become sick with

Come on, we’re waiting for you and the show starts in 3 minutes!

hurry up

Come on, Matt, I insist that you go with us to the concert.

follow

Won-mo came on to me during our major’s MT, but I have no romantic feelings for him.

flirt aggressively

I didn't see the car at first. It came out of nowhere.

appear

Sam finally came out last month.

reveal you are homosexual

The pictures came out great.

turn out, end up

Microsoft is coming out with a new video game system next month.

produce and distribute a product

I planned on visiting you last night, but something came up and I was unable to visit.

When snorkeling I can only stay underwater for 1 minute and then I must come up for air.

happen unexpectedly

The job offer didn't come up to her expectations.

approach; to equal

Vicky's parents are going to be so mad when they find out she got a tattoo.

One of the best ways to learn is to find out how other people do things

discover

Brandon pranked me last Halloween, so this year I am going to get him back.

I can’t wait to get back my car that is in the shop.

return

Although my grandmother thinks she is young she is getting on in age.

advance in age

You should get your jacket on because it's going to be cold.

put on (clothes)

The train is leaving. Quick, get on!

Get on my bike and I will give you a ride home.

enter (a bus, train), mount (a horse, a bike)

Natasha doesn't get on with her co-workers.

Do you get on with your neighbors?

have a good relationship

I must get this work out before the deadline comes!

produce or complete

I fell into the water when I tried to get out of the canoe.

Most inmates can’t wait until they get out of prison.

exit (a small boat, car, an enclosed area)

Ahmed got Abdul up at 5:30 in the morning by turning the music up really loud.

cause someone to rise (from a sitting position or a lying position)

What time did you get up this morning?

rise (from sitting position or a bed)

Never give up learning English!

If after my 4th try to pass the teachers’ exam I will give up and work in another profession.

surrender

If you smoke, make every effort to give up. If you don’t then it is probable you’ll get cancer.

quit

When are you going back to your house?

I'd rather die than go back out the way I was.

return

The cost of flight tickets is going down.

decrease

Joining the Army won’t go down well with Dad. You know he dislikes the military.

be accepted

Are you going to go in for soccer this year at school?

participate ( inf.)

I really don't want to go into that now.

discuss in detail

The bomb could go off at any moment.

explode

The alarm clock went off at 6:00 AM.

At track events a pistol goes off to signify the start of a race.

begin, start (used with signals, alarms, warning sounds)

The DVD player goes off automatically if you are not using it.

stop (said of a machine)

Maria went off last night after I told her about losing her bike.

become angry

Explorers usually go off to find new lands and treasure.

leave

The surprise party went off without any problems.

happen (as planned)

Please, go on. Don't let me interrupt you.

I wish class would finish, but my professor’s lecture just keeps going on and on and on!

continue

This place is a mess! What went on here last night?

happen

I think we should go on with the meeting and stop wasting time.

continue (a plan, a conversation)

The fire went out after three days.

stop burning (a fire)

They love to go out every Saturday night.

When couples start dating they usually go out on the town and have dinner, watch a movie, or other such activities.

take part in social activities (usually at night)

Her total tax bill could go up sharply.

increase

Several new KNUE buildings are going up in 2007 and 2008.

be in the process of construction

The accident held traffic up for an hour.

delay (a flight, traffic)

Five men held the bank up yesterday.

rob (a bank, a person) with a weapon

Can you hook up the fax machine for me?

make the electrical connections required for a machine or information service

When I look back on my childhood, I often feel angry.

to remember nostalgically

She's so conceited. She looks down on everybody else.

see as inferior

Look out, there's a black widow spider on the wall.

be careful, pay attention, heed a certain danger

If you ever travel to California, you should look me up.

locate and visit

Sometimes when I reminisce I look up old friends on the Internet.

I takes time to look up new vocabulary words.

search for information

He looks up to his father.

respect, admire someone

Don't believe anything she says. She always makes things up.

invent (a story)

Fortunately, my professor let me make up the exam I missed yesterday.

complete what was missed

I takes me 10 minutes to make my face up.

put on cosmetics

You two have been friends for so long that I think you should make up.

reconcile

Allen made up for being late by getting me flowers.

compensate for

What time are you going to pick me up.

come and get someone in a car

It's possible to pick up enough English in two weeks to get by on your trip to Los Angeles.

learn something without effort

Some weird guy tried to pick Patricia up at the bar.

try to initiate a relationship with someone (often in a bar)

Business is really picking up this quarter.

grow, increase (inf.)

It took me 3 months to learn to play that song, but my brother picked it up in 2 days!

go faster

I'd like to point out that figures in column two might be outdated.

The victim pointed out the criminal from a police lineup.

indicate

She always puts down people who don't share her opinions.

insult, say bad things about

Don't use water to put out a grease fire.

extinguish (a fire)

I don't want to put you out, but could you pick me up at the airport.

inconvenience someone

I can't put out that much money each month.

spend (usually used with unreasonably large sums of money)

Can you put me up while I'm in town.

have a guest stay in your house for a short time

Sandy will not put up with smoking in her house.

tolerate

When setting off fireworks you must be very careful not to get injured.

cause to be ignited/exploded

My brother really set me off when he said that I didn’t love my parents as much as he.

anger someone

My mom set me up with her friend's son.

arrange a relationship

I don't think he killed those men. Somebody set him up.

falsely incriminate a person

I set up an appointment with my doctor at 3:30 this afternoon.

arrange (an appointment, a meeting, etc.)

Sit down and stop your noise!

The military sat down around all entry and exit points of the city.

encamp or besiege

I demand that you take back what you said.

retract something you said

The dress my grandmother bought for me didn't fit, so I took it back and exchanged it for a pair of pants.

I decided I didn’t want the DVD so I took it back to the store for a refund.

return an item to a store

My stomach felt funny when the plane took off.

When birds are startled they always take off as fast as possible.

when a plane or rocket leaves the ground

In many cultures, it is appropriate to take off your shoes when entering a house.

remove

I was sick last week, so I took a few days off of work.

leave work or school for a period of time

We took off after dinner.

leave

When the Noraebang was introduced to Korea the concept took off very quickly.

become popular and successful

She has taken on too much responsibility in this project.

accept (responsibilities, work)

I can't meet you tonight because I am taking Fernanda out to dinner.

accompany a person on a date (for dinner, the movies)

Who is going to take over the family business when Aretha's father dies?

take control of

If the President is assassinated, the Vice-president will take over.

take control of

Have you taken up any new hobbies since you moved here?

begin a new hobby

We should take this issue up in the meeting tomorrow.

discuss (at a later date)

This dress is too long, I am going to take it up.

shorten a garment when sewing

This couch takes up too much space in the living room.

occupy space

The weavers can turn out two or three rugs a month.

produce

Turn out the light before you go to bed.

switch off a light

Over 100,000 people turned out for the concert.

audience members to a function

She turned out to be the murderer after all.

end up being

Turn up the TV. I can't hear what they're saying.

increase the volume or intensity of a TV, radio, or other machine

My keys turned up in the bedroom.

find unexpectedly

I hope you two can work out your problems.

solve

I work out three times a week at the fitness center.

exercise

I am glad your new catering business is working out.

be successful