English phrasal verbs for travel

Travel phrasal verbs

◦Break down – something (like a car) stops working; to separate something into parts.

Examples: Our car broke down on the highway. / Can you break down the charges for me? / Hey, can you break down what you said in layman’s terms?

◦Catch up with – to start to have damaging effects (usually on a person).

Examples: Don’t spend the night drinking or it will catch up with you. / Getting no sleep is really starting to catch up with me.

◦Catch up – to succeed in reaching another person who is ahead (in a race, game, etc); talk to someone you have not seen in a while; pick up something in a hurry; be involved in something that was not intended.

Examples: Mike waited at the corner for Josh to catch up. / We need to catch up later. / I do not get caught up in politics.

◦Call off – to cancel an agreement or event; to order a dog or person to stop attacking

Examples: We had to call off the hike because of the rain. / He had to call his dog off to keep him from attacking the mailman. / He had to call off his dog.

◦Come across – to find or meet something or someone by chance; something or someone that appears or sounds like a specific way

Examples: She did come across as a rude person. / I came across a new restaurant today.

◦Come back – to return; to come back from losing (especially in sports), to respond to someone rapidly or strongly

Examples: We came back after lunch. / Oh, the memories of my childhood are coming back. / The team came back from zero to four and won the game with five points. / He came back to her comment perfectly.

◦Check in – To arrive and register (at a hotel, airport, or some other place); deposit something for safekeeping temporarily

Examples: We need to check in at 12. / I checked my bags in already. / You can check your coat in at the door.

Special notes: The noun form is “check-in”. The check-in counter was very busy.

◦Check out – settle a (lodging) bill before leaving; to learn about someone or something, try something, or establish the truth about something; prove true or not;

Examples: I am checking out of the hotel now. / We should check out that new theater. / She said we could get a discount, but we need to check out if that is true.

Special notes: The noun form is “check-out”. We were at the checkout counter for 45 minutes.

◦Check into – to register your arrival at a hotel or airport

Examples: Check into a hotel / We need to check into the rumors (to investigate or look into something).

◦Check over – to examine or inspect We need to check over the bill for errors.

Examples: Check over the bill to make sure we weren’t overcharged. / Mike checked over the car before we left for a trip.

◦Drop by – informal or casual visit

Example: Drop by the coffee shop on the way.

◦Drop in – to visit without an appointment or booking

Examples: I’ll drop in and see you at work. / We should drop in on Sue before we leave town.

Special notes: “Drop-in” is an adjective. There is a drop-in disco down the street.

◦Drop off – to set down; fall asleep (UK)

Examples: I will drop off the keys at the desk. / I am going to drop off to sleep.

Special notes: The noun form is “drop-off”. You cannot park in the drop-off. / The cliff has a very steep drop-off.

◦Fill up – to become completely full; to become tearful (UK)

Examples: Since it’s a holiday, the hotel will fill up rather quickly. / We need to fill up the car with gas. / Don’t fill up on sweets because you haven’t eaten supper yet. / I’m filling up thinking about how she died (I’m getting tearful).

Special notes: The noun form is “fill-up”. We just did a fill-up this morning (fueled the car).

◦Fill out – to complete or take up a space; add information to a form

Examples: You need to fill out an application. / She really fills out that dress. / Did you fill out the visa application?

◦Get away – to escape.

Examples: Steve got away from the scary man really quickly. / Get away from there.

Special notes: The noun form is “get-away” or “getaway”. We are planning a getaway to France next month.

◦Get away with – to escape, to leave

Examples: She’ll never get away with that crime. / I need to get away with my spouse.

◦Get in – arrive at a destination

Examples: What time did you get in last night? – How did she get in with the bad crowd?

◦Get off – to leave / to utter / to go to sleep (UK)

Examples: Let’s get off the bus. / I need to get these letters off tomorrow. / What time do you get off (stop/end) work? / I finally got off around twelve (could mean to sleep). /

Special notes: “Get off” can have a vulgar meaning such as to experience an orgasm or get pleasure from something. He got off looking at the book. / Mike really gets off on denying applications. It is often used with “on”.

◦Get on – to make progress or perform in a certain way / to physically move onto something / to have a friendly relationship

Examples: We need to get on to the next stop. / We need to get on the elevator. / How are you getting on? (How are you doing?) / Parents want their children to get on.

Special notes: It is sometimes used with “with”. We need to get on with the program. / I get on with John pretty well.

◦Get along with – to have a friendly relationship with another person

Examples: I get along with John pretty well.

Special notes: Notice that “get on with” and “get along with” can be used the same way. “Get on with” is more common in the UK.

◦Get along – to manage to survive / to have a friendly relationship / leave or go away or move on

Examples: I don’t know how he’s getting along with no job. / We get along great together. / Get along child. / Get along. Nothing to see here.

◦Get through – pass a testing experience or test or to help someone pass / to use up a large amount of something / pass through / to connect a phone call

Examples: You can get through this if you work hard. / We got through eight bottles before we realized it. / We need to get through the gate. / I finally got through to customer service after waiting two hours.

◦Go back – to return to a place / to return to engaging in an activity / to change the time on the clock to an earlier time. / to have known someone for a long time

Examples: We need to go back to the hotel. / After seeing the accident, he went back to eating like nothing happened. / Oh, Claire and I go back many years.

◦Head for – to go towards a specific place or thing

Example: Let’s head for the restaurant at six.

◦Head out – to leave or to depart

Examples: Let’s head out to the restaurant at six. / We’ll head out soon.

◦Hold on – to stop or wait / to support something or hold on with one’s hands / endure a difficult situation

Examples: Hold on a second. / Hold on the line while I connect your call. / Hold on to the rail to help you walk. / Hold on to me for support. / Will this chair hold me up? / I don’t think she can hold on much longer after having three strokes.

◦Hold up – to keep something from falling / to wait or stop / to displace something by lifting it in the air (often above the head)

Examples: I hope the legs on this chair hold up with all my weight. / Hold up! I need to get on too. / Hold the paper up so everyone can see.

◦Look around – to search for something / to go through a place to see what is in there

Examples: Look around at your surroundings. / Can you look around for my keys? / We spent time looking around at the shops while we were waiting.

◦Look forward to – awaiting someone or something eagerly. 

Example: I look forward to the new Batman movie.

◦Move on – to leave / to start making progress or to start doing something new

Examples: The officer told them to move on. / I moved on to a better position. / We have to move on to the next exhibit.

◦Move along – to progress or move to another position

Examples: Move along. There is nothing to see here. / We were moving along to the next stop when the taxi driver had an accident.

◦Move back – to draw back or pull away / to move backward / to go away / to go back

Examples: We have to move our trip back a couple of days. / Move back ten steps. / I moved back home.

◦Put back – to reschedule an event to a later time (or day) / to place something where it originally was

Examples: We had to put back (or push back) the meeting two hours. / We put the taste back into pizza. / Put that back.

Special notes: As a noun, it is spelled “putback”. Putback = a basket that is immediately scored after recovering a missed shot. For example, “He made a rebound for a quick putback.”

◦Put down – to stop holding something / to consume something (food or drink) / pay a certain amount of money such as a deposit / to criticize someone / to land an aircraft

Examples: Put down that hot pan. / I put down 24 cookies. / He put down $250 as a deposit for the rental. / The pilot put down the plane on a country road.

Special notes: As a noun, it is “put-down”. It is a remark that is intended to criticize, hurt, or humiliate someone else. That was a real put-down to that waiter.

◦Put up – to make or erect something / to display a sign / to increase cost / to temporarily house someone /

Examples: I put up with her mean talk long enough (You tolerated it). / We’ll have to put up with the construction noise for two weeks. / I put up a sign. / Do you have a place to put up my friend for the night?

Special notes: As an adjective, it is “put-up”, which means it was arranged prior to deceive another person. This was a put-up job to distract the police from the bank robbery.

◦Put up with – to tolerate

Examples: I put up with her mean talk long enough.

◦Set back – to delay or impede progress / to cost a certain (usually larger) amount of money

Examples: The traffic jam set us back two hours. / That hotel must have set you back quite a bit.

Special notes: As a noun, it is “set-back” which can mean a reversal in progress (the opposite of progress). The traffic accident was a big set-back.

◦See about – To deal with, prepare for, or to arrange for something.

Examples: We need to see about getting a new rental car. / We’ll see about going to the restaurant at five.

◦See off – to accompany someone who is leaving / to win a game / to chase off or repel an intruder

Examples: We’ll see you off in the morning. / The Braves saw off the Cardinals in Saturday’s game (The Braves won the game). / The dogs saw off the intruder (British English).

◦Set off – to start a journey / to cause something to alarm (smoke detector, battery alarm, etc) / to make something stand out or look more beautiful / to cause someone to do something such as laugh or become angry

Examples: We will set off at one. / The alarm set off at six. / The bomb will set off in 10 minutes. / If you don’t start off on the right foot, it could set off a chain of bad events. / Her diamond earrings were set off by her black dress (You could see them very well). / Don’t talk about politics around Raymond or it will set him off.

◦Set out – to start a journey / to display or arrange something in a certain way

Examples: We set out for China tomorrow. / Could you set out the butter on the counter? / We set out to visit all the museums. / Could you set out the dishes on the table?

◦Show around – to guide someone around a place or building

Examples: I will show you around my house. / Can you show her around the city? / Show him around the office.

◦Sort out – to arrange or organize / to arrange in groups systematically / to resolve a problem / to deal with someone who is troublesome (informal)

Examples: Sort out the problem. / We need to sort out the puzzle pieces. / She needs to sort out her problems. / He needs to get sorted out. / I’m going to sort you out when we get home (a bad child).

◦Speed up – to go faster

Examples: Speed up on the highway or we’ll get run over. / I wish this day would speed up.

◦Take off – to remove a part or a whole of something / an aircraft leaving the ground 

Examples: We didn’t get the soda. Can you take it off the bill? / The airplane took off 10 minutes ago.

For further reading:

◦ Why study Phrasal verbs?
◦ Phrasal verbs for emotions
◦ Phrasal verbs for everyday
◦ Phrasal verbs for mechanics
◦ Phrasal verbs for relationships