1000 Phrasal Verbs In Context

1000 Phrasal Verbs In Context © Matt Errey 2007

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1000 Phrasal Verbs in Context PQ pq (4/10)

pick up
(inf)

There’s this huge outdoor market in Bangkok where you can pick up

lots of cheap clothes and get heaps of other stuff too.

pick up sth

pick sth up

It’s not being marketed as
something you pick up for
a few dollars in K-Mart.

✍  see also:^ snap up^

pick up
Let’s stop the meeting now and take a break for lunch. When we get
back, we’ll pick up the discussion again from where we stopped.

pick up
pick up sth
pick sth up
Can you go back to your
old job and pick it up
from where you left off?

✍  see also:^ carry on,^ go on^

pick up on
When you’re at a party, make sure you pick up on any hints or signs
people make to show that they’re interested in you.

pick up on sth

A good salesperson picks
up on a customer’s mood
by noting body language.

✍  see also: cotton on (to)

(inf)

piece
together

The police have collected evidence from the scene of the murder and

now they’re trying to piece it all together to figure out what happened.

piece sth together

piece together sth

After piecing together all
the evidence, the police
have solved the crime.

✍  see also: fit together, put

together

pile up
Wendy says she’s got bills piling up at home, but no money to pay
them, and she wants to borrow some money.

pile up

His emails have been
piling up and he doesn’t
have time to answer them.

✍ ^

pin down
They wanted the president to debate the issue, and he said he’d be
happy to, but they couldn’t pin him down to a time and a place.

pin down sth
pin sth down
pin sb down to sth
During talks, they pinned
the rebels down to a date
for releasing the hostages.

✍  see also:^ nail down^

pipe down
(informal)

Everyone was talking loudly until the teacher came in and told them to

pipe down. Then it got much quieter.

pipe down

The coach told everyone
to pipe down and listen to
what he had to say.

✍  see also: quieten down,

shut up (very impolite)

pitch in
(informal)

If we all pitch in and work together, we can clean the house in half an

hour. But if Christie has to do it all by herself, it’ll take her all morning.

pitch in

Everyone pitched in and
the office was decorated
for the party in no time.

✍  see also:^ pull together^

plan ahead
When I was a student, I learned how important it is to plan ahead. If I
made a timetable for studying before an exam, my results improved.

plan ahead

If you’re in business, set
your goals and plan ahead
in order to achieve them.

✍ ^

play around
The kids love playing around with our big old dogs Smelly and Stinky.
They throw things around the back garden and the dogs fetch them.

play around
play around with
sb/sth
The new guys play
around too much when
they should be working.

✍  see also:^ clown around,

kid around, mess around