IBPS PO English Notes - Verbal Phrases with Examples (Part 1)

This blog is the first in the series of IBPS PO English notes blogs on Verbal Phrases. Through this blog series, we aim to provide you with a long list of Verbal phrases along with their meaning and examples. Verbal phrases are very important to solve questions types like error detection, cloze test, sentence completion, etc. These IBPS PO English notes would help you immensely in solving all these questions in the IBPS PO 2018 Exam.

IBPS PO English Notes – Verbal Phrases

Phrasal Verb	Meaning	Example
abide by	To respect or obey a decision, a law or a rule	For a Fair game of Cricket, every player must abide by the Umpire’s decisions.
add up	To make sense, seem reasonable	There is something about the points given in the book that just does not add up.
agree with	To have the same opinion as someone else.	The Entire Crowd agreed with the Leader’s demand for a Fair Pay Law.
apply for	To make a formal request for something (job, permit, loan etc.)	Ajay Applied for the post of Assistant Manager at NABARD
back down	To withdraw, concede defeat	It seemed like the Indian Team backed out of a contest in the first session itself.
black out	To faint, lose consciousness	The blow on his head was so hard that he blacked out on the spot.
boil down to	To be summarized as	All the Drama, Twists and Turns throughout the match has boiled down to a Penalty Shoot Out which will decide the Champion.
break away	To separate from a crowd	She broke away from the rat race of engineering and decided to be a writer.
break out of	To escape	5 of the prisoners met and made a plan to break out of the Prison.
break up	To come to an end (marriage, relationship)	After seeing their love for 5 years, it was sad to see them breaking up.
brush up on	To improve, refresh one’s knowledge of something	Ram decided to brush up his technical skills before appearing for the Job interview
call back	To return a phone call	As she was busy with her work, she requested the Executive to call back in 15 minutes.
calm down	To become more relaxed, less angry or upset	To calm down in a Crisis is the first step towards resolving it.
check in	To register at a hotel, airport or any other public place	It is mandatory to check in at the Airport at least 3 hours before the flight.
clamp down on	To act strictly to prevent something	Officer Sharma led the fight to clamp down on Drug Abuse in his Locality.
count on	To rely or depend on (for help)	The Fans knew they could count on Pujara to win the match.
deal with	To handle, take care of (problem, situation)	One of a major part of the job is to deal with Erratic customers.
do without	To manage without	All her Childhood she had to do without fancy and expensive clothes.
draw up	To write (contract, agreement, document)	In the Meeting they agreed to draw up a contract to finalize the deal.
drop in	To visit, usually on the way somewhere	Amar decided to drop in at Alok’s place on his way to the Stadium.
ease off	To reduce, become less severe or slow down (pain, traffic, work)	Her headache eased off after she took the medicine.
end up	To finally reach a state, place or action	The path he has chosen is dangerous and for him, it will end up only in jail.
figure out	To understand, find the answer	The Meeting was called to figure out the best strategy for increasing sales.
find out	To discover or obtain information	Investigations were being done to find out who stole the Diamond.
get along (with)	To be on good terms; work well with	It would be much easier to work if you got along with your teammates.
get away	To escape	A Holiday to a beach would be the perfect get away from the Stress at work.
get in	To enter	She had worked really hard to get into this prestigious institute
get on	To board (bus, train, plane)	He decided to get on the first train to meet his ailing parents.
get on with (something)	To continue to do; make progress	After She left, It was difficult for the Team to get on with the Project.
get out of	To avoid doing something	He had the perfect excuse to get out of the Weekly meeting at work.
get over	To recover from (illness, disappointment)	The sooner you get over your failures, the more successful you would be.
get together	To meet each other	All the students of the 98′ Batch decided to get together over the weekend.
give up	To stop doing something	After failing to clear the IAS Exam in the 4th attempt as well, I decided to give up.
grow up	To spend one’s childhood; develop; become an adult	He fondly remembers the memories about growing up in this neighbourhood.
hand out	To distribute	They all gathered relief materials to be handed out to the flood victims.
hang up	To end a phone conversation	After failing to talk to an executive, I decided to hang up.
iron out	To resolve by discussion, eliminate differences	The Team lead took both of them into a meeting room to iron out their differences.
keep on	To continue doing something	The longer you keep on doing it, the better you would be at it.
kick off	To begin, start	The Stadium was full and everyone was seated well before the Kick off of the Match.
let down	To disappoint	Such a dismal performance of the Team was a big let down for the loyal fans.
look down on	To consider as inferior	The people who look down upon manual labour do not really understand its value.
look forward to	To await or anticipate with pleasure	The young striker was looking forward to the game as it was going to be his debut match.
look up to	To admire	The World Looks up to India’s Democratic System
make up	To invent (excuse, story)	He knew immediately that he would need to make up a good story to get out of the situation.
move in	To arrive in a new home or office	It was decided that we would move into our new office next month.
nod off	To fall asleep	After Such a long journey, it just took a few seconds for her to nod off on the chair itself.
pass away	To die	It was a shock for her to hear that her childhood friend had passed away in an accident.
pay back	To reimburse	He Told, “There is no hurry, you can pay back the loan anytime you wish”
point out	To indicate/direct attention to something	He was infamous for pointing out other’s mistakes.
put on	To turn on, switch on, to wear	She decided to put on the black dress for the party

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We hope you liked the first part of our IBPS PO English notes blogs on Verbal Phrases. Keep checking this page for the next part. You can give us feedback or let us know about specific topics for which you need study notes in the comments section below. All the best.

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