give smt away – give as a gift, donate
If you don’t wear all these clothes, why don’t you give them away?
give in – finally agree to smt after refusing for a time
Jack nagged me for buying a bike that finally I had to give in.
give off – release gas, smell or light
The old plant gives off a lot of harmful gases.

go down with – start suffering with disease
After coming back from skiing, I immediately went down with a flu.
go off (1) – start signaling or alarming
I missed the flight because my alarm watch didn’t go off.
go off (2) – become stale or sour (food or drink)
The milk went off as I forgot to put it back to the fridge.
go out – stop burning or shining
As the evening progressed, the candles slowly went out.
go through – examine in detail
Let’s go over the contract once again before sign it.

hand smt down*  – give smt as an inheritance
Their carpentry shop was handed down from father to son for generations.
hand in* – to submit
The applications must be handed in by tomorrow the latest.
hand over* – to give smt/sb to sb, especially after being asked
The hostages were handed over after a few round of negotiations.

kick in – start taking effect
I took a painkiller but it still hasn’t kicked in.
kick out* – to force sb to leave
When the secret was revealed, he was immediately kicked out.
kick off – to begin (informal)
Let me kick off the meeting by introducing my sales team.

let sb down* – to disappoint
You’re not coming? Don’t let me down again!
let up – weaken in intensity
The rain just didn’t want to let in; in the end we stayed in.

look down on – see sb as inferior
Don’t look down on him just because he grew up in poverty.
look on – to consider
I didn’t like him at the beginning but now I look on him as a friend.
look smt up* – search for information in a book or database
What does ‘halcyon’ mean? Look it up in a dictionary.
look up to sb – to respect or admire sb
Boys usually look up to football stars.

make out – survive, live reasonably well
How do you make out in the new environment?
make smt out* – manage to see, hear or read
The line was so poor, I couldn’t make her words out.
make smt over* – legally transfer ownership
I made over the whole business to my son.
make up (1) – form or compose
Wealthy businessmen make up the largest percentage of their costumers.
make up (2) – to invent a story or an excuse to deceive people
He made up another crazy story why he’d forgotten the money again.
make up for – to compensate for
How can I make up for forgetting your birthday?

pass for sb/smt – to appear to be something or somebody else
Do you think I can pass for 18?
pass off – try to convince sb that smt is real
The thieves tried to pass the vase off as a precious artifact.
pass on smt – alter prices and charge more
All the extra costs were passed on to costumers.

play down smt* – to make something seem less important than or not as bad as it really is
He tried to play down the seriousness of the case, but I wasn’t fooled.
play up smt* – to make something seem more important
› Don’t play up her role in this campaign. We can do without her.
play up to sb – flatter somebody for your personal advantage
› Why are you constantly playing up to the boss?

put across smt* – to express your ideas, opinions clearly and understandably
› He managed to put across his vision about the future.
put aside smt*– save (money) for later
› I try to put aside 100 dollars each month to be able to buy a car.
put off smt* – to postpone, delay
› Can we put off the meeting by half an hour?
put up with – to tolerate
› George, I can’t put up with your drinking anymore. I’m leaving you.

rule out  smt – to stop considering smt as a possibility
› You simply cannot rule out her wining the show.
run down – lose power, work more slowly
› After using only for two hours, the new phone ran down.
run down sb* – to criticize sb/smt, often unfairly
› There are people who always run down their country and the government.
run into sb – to meet sb unexpectedly
› I ran into my ex-girlfriend the other day.
run out – to expire, no longer valid
Gosh, my passport ran out a week ago. I have to renew it.
run out of smt – stop having enough of smt
I’ve completely run out of ideas. What about you?

take sb in – to decieve
› You won’t take me in again. I’ve learned the lesson.
take sb for smt – to consider, to view as
› Don’t take me for fool; I am not going to do that again.
take on sb* – to employ
I’ve talked to the manager. They will take me on.
take on smt – to accept a job or responsibility, especially a difficult one
› No company or person was able or willing to take on the job.
take over  – take control of
› The company was taken over by a team of experts.

turn away sb* – don’t let sb enter a place
› The authorities turned us away as our visas had expired.
turn down smt/sb* – to reject/refuse
› I have no idea why my application was turned down.
turn into smt – become different, transform
› After the marriage she turned into a termagant.
turn out (to be) smt  – to end up being
› In the end he turned out to be a shrewd businessman.

work out – to be successful
› Their relationship simply didn’t work out.
work out smt* – to solve something
› Try to work out what caused this; otherwise we’re in trouble.