1000 Phrasal Verbs In Context © Matt Errey 2007
1321000 Phrasal Verbs in Context T t (6/8)
tie up
The new CEO wanted to spend his time reorganizing the company, but
he kept getting tied up with day-to-day issues instead.
(be/get) tied up
(be/get) tied up with
sth
She’ll be tied up all
morning, but she can see
you after lunch.
✍ ^tie up
You shouldn’t tie all your money up in one company’s stock. It’s better
to spread it around and buy stocks in several companies.
tie sth up
tie up sthHer money was tied up in
long-term investments, so
she was short of cash.
✍ see also:^ invest in^tip off
The police searched the girl’s bag and found illegal drugs. Somebody
had tipped them off and told them she was carrying cocaine.
tip sb off
tip off sbTom tips off his friends
when he hears about
stocks expected to rise.
✍ ^tone down
David used to swear a lot in the office, but his boss told him to tone the
language down and now he swears a lot less.
tone sth down
tone down sthThe director toned down
the violence so the movie
could get a family rating.
✍ top up
Her mobile phone’s nearly run out of pre-paid calls, so she’s going to
the phone shop to top it up.
top sth up
top up sthThe waiter offered to top
up my drink, but I said I’d
had enough.
✍ ^ see also:^ fill up^toss around
When they were students, they’d stay up all night tossing around new
ideas about politics, the arts, and the meaning of life.
toss sth around
toss around sthLet’s meet and toss
around some ideas about
marketing and sales.
✍ see also:^ kick around^touch on /
upon
The president touched on many important issues and topics in his
speech.touch on/upon sthWe should try not to
touch upon subjects like
politics and religion.
✍ see also:^ bring up^toy with
Tom’s been toying with the idea of going back to university to study
law, but he hasn’t looked into it seriously yet.toy with sthDo you think Joe’s serious
about quitting, or just
toying with the idea?✍ track down
We need to track down every email we’ve ever received from this
company. Do you think we can find them all?
track down sb/sth
track sb/sth downIt took the police a month
to track the bank robbers
down and arrest them.
✍ see also: hunt downtry on
Those jeans look too big for you. Did you try them on before you bought
them?
try sth on
try on sthIt’s hard to find a place to
try on jeans when you buy
them at a market.
✍