To bucket down is to rain very heavily. British informal English. Examples of use: 1. It's bucketing down; don't forget your umbrella. 2. It bucketed down on my way home from work. 3. It's absolutely bucketing down! infinitive bucket down present simple buckets down -ing form bucketing down past simple bucketed down past participle [...]
Phrasal verb: feed up
January 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
To feed up somebody or something (or feed somebody or something up) is to give a lot of food to a person or animal in order to make them stronger and more healthy, or less thin. Informal British English. Examples of use: 1. We had to feed our kitten up to make her strong [...]
Phrasal verb: tamper with
January 17, 2012 By 2 Comments
1. To tamper with something is to touch or change something without permission. Examples of use: a) The lock on my drawer has been tampered with and some of my files have gone. b) He went to prison for tampering with the brakes of his neighbour's car. c) The cricket player was accused of tampering [...]
Phrasal verb: rip up
January 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
1. To rip up something (or rip something up) is to remove something (e.g. a carpet) from a floor, or to remove a surface (e.g. a road) by digging it up. Examples of use: a) Shall we rip up our old carpet and buy a new rug? b) Our house flooded and we had to [...]
Phrasal Verb: goof around
January 12, 2012 By 1 Comment
To goof around is to spend your time doing unimportant things or behaving in a silly way. Mainly American informal English Fool around has the same meaning as goof around. Examples of use: 1. Stop goofing around! 2. The children were goofing around in the park. 3. We spent most of our summer [...]
Phrasal Verb: gross out
January 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
To gross out someone (or gross someone out) is to disgust them. If something grosses you out, it makes you feel ill because it is very unpleasant or disgusting. American informal English Examples of use: 1. I don't like eating oysters. They gross me out. 2. His smelly feet really grossed me out. 3. That [...]
Phrasal Verb: let off
December 31, 2011 By 3 Comments
1. To let off something (or let something off) is to fire a gun, or make something explode (e.g. bombs or fireworks). Examples of use: a) Everyone in our village lets off fireworks at midnight on New Year's Eve. b) The police let off tear gas to try and control the demonstrators. c) The soldiers [...]
