1000 Phrasal Verbs In Context

1000 Phrasal Verbs In Context © Matt Errey 2007

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1000 Phrasal Verbs in Context M m (2/3)

mark down
The department store’s having a big sale and some of the clothes are
marked down by 50%.

mark down sth

mark sth down

We need to get rid of this
old stock, so mark all of it
down by 40%.

✍ ^

mark up
Department stores usually mark up wholesale prices by around 40%. If
they buy something for $7.00, they’ll sell it for about $10.00.

mark up sth

mark sth up

How much do retailers
usually mark prices up in
China and India?

✍ ^

measure up
If someone’s work doesn’t measure up to the required standard, we’ll
let them go and find someone else who can do a better job.

measure up

measure up to sth

Do you really think she
measures up, or do you
just feel sorry for her?

✍  see also: come up to

meet up
We usually meet up with four or five friends for dinner on Saturday
night.

meet up

meet up with sb

After we all met up in the
hotel’s lobby, we headed
out to a bar for drinks.

✍  see also: get together

meet with
Her first book met with much greater success than she’d ever expected.
It was a bestseller in several countries.

meet with sth

The president’s decision
was met with disbelief at
first, followed by anger.

✍ ^

mess about
/ around

The kids were messing about with a new computer game when their

father told them to stop wasting time and get on with their homework.

mess about/around
mess about/around
with sth
Kids can learn a lot by
messing around with stuff
that interests them.

✍  see also:^ play around^

mess up
Many people say the countries that invaded Iraq to get rid of Saddam
Hussein really messed things up and made life harder for most Iraqis.

mess up sth

mess sth up

Anne is upset because she
thinks she messed up her
exam at school today.

✍  see also:^ screw up (inf)^

miss out
Her friend offered to sell her some shares in his company. She didn’t
buy any, so she missed out when his company made a fortune.

miss out

miss out on sth

If he’d gone to buy the
tickets earlier, he
wouldn’t have missed out.

✍  see also:^ lose out^

mistake for
The police mistook an innocent man for a terrorist they were hunting,
and shot him. They said he looked like the terrorist they wanted.

mistake sth/sb for

sth/sb

Fake Rolex watches look
genuine and can easily be
mistaken for real Rolexes.

✍ ^

mix up

The orders were sent to the wrong customers after one of the workers

mixed up the addresses.

mix up sth/sb

mix sth/sb up

He keeps mixing Keith up

with his twin brother and

calling him James.

✍  see also:^ jumble up^