| call for + | require (as in a recipe) | This recipe calls for milk, not water. |
| call * off + | cancel something | They called the picnic off because of the rain. |
| call * off + | order to stop (an invasion, guard dogs) | He called off the dogs when he saw it was his neighbor. |
| call on + | visit | Mark called on Naomi while he was in town. |
| call on + | invite someone to speak in a meeting or a classroom | Professor Tanzer called on Tim to answer the question. |
| call * up + | telephone | I called Sam up to see if he wanted to go to the movies. |
| calm * down + | make someone relax | You can calm the baby down by rocking her gently. |
| care for + | nurse someone or something | He cared for the bird until its wing healed. |
| care for + | like someone or something | I don’t care for sour cream on my potato. |
| carry on + | continue (a conversation, a game) | Please, carry on. I didn’t mean to interrupt you. |
| carry on about + | continue in an annoying way | He kept carrying on about how much money he makes. |
| carry on with + | continue | I want you to carry on with the project while I am out of town. |
| carry * out + | complete and/or accomplish something | The secret agent carried out his orders exactly as planned. |
| carry * over + | continue on a subsequent day, page, etc. | The meeting carried over into lunch time. |
| catch on | slowly start to understand (inf.) | He caught on after a few minutes. |
| catch up | make up for lost time | I will never catch up. I am too behind in my work. |
| catch up with + | speed up to be at the same place as a person or thing in front of you | I had to run to catch up with the others. |
| catch up on + | become up-to-date | I need to catch up on world events. I haven’t seen the news in ages. |
| check back | return to see if everything is OK | We will check back tomorrow to make sure the project is finished. |
| check by + | go to a place to see if everything is OK | We need to check by the office to see if the documents are ready. |
| check for + | try to find | They checked for termites before they bought the house. |
| check in | enter a hospital, hotel etc. | They need to check in before noon. |
| check into + | enter a hospital, hotel etc. | They checked into the hotel at 11:00 AM. |
| check into + | investigate, look for (often through a service) | We are checking into discount flights to London. |
| check * off + | make a mark next to (an item on a list) | Check each name off the list. |
| check on + | make sure something is OK | Let’s check on the baby again before we go to sleep. |
| check * out + | investigate, take a look at | He checked out the new restaurant down the street. |
| check out | leave a hotel, hospital | It’s already eleven. We need to check out. |
| check out of + | leave a hotel, hospital | We checked out of the hotel before ten. |
| check * over + | closely examine the condition of something | He checked over the old car to see if it was worth buying. |
| check up on + | investigate someone or something | The police are checking up on the bomb threats. |
| check * through | send luggage through (to a destination) | Your luggage will be checked through to Paris. |
| check with + | ask a person for confirmation | He needs to check with his parents before he goes. |
| cheer * up | make someone feel cheerful | The party really cheered me up. |
| cheer up | become cheerful | Cheer up. Everything will be all right. |
| chew * up + | chew into small pieces | The dog chewed up my shoe. |
| chop * down + | fell/cut ( a tree) | The lumberjack chopped the tree down. |
| chop * up + | chop/cut into small bits | He chopped the meat up into little pieces. |
| clean * up + | tidy | Susan cleaned the mess up before she left. |
| clear out | leave ( inf.) | Everybody clear out! We’re closed. |
| clear * up + | tidy | Susan cleared up the mess before she left. |
| close * down + | close a place permanently | The corner market closed down because they didn’t have many customers. |
| close down | close permanently | The bar was closed down because they served alcohol to minors. |
| close in on + | approach and threaten | The rebels were closing in on the capital, so the government called in the army. |
| close * up + | close temporarily | They are closing the ski resort up for the summer. |
| close up | close temporarily | The ski resort is closing up for the summer. |
| come about | occur / happen | How did you idea for the book come about. |
| come across + | discover by accident | They came across some lost Mayan ruins in the jungle. |
| come across + | initially seem or have the appearance | He comes across as rather rude, but he isn’t. |
| come along | accompany someone | If you want, you can come along. |
| come along with + | accompany | Sam came along with us to the beach. |
| come along | progress | How’s the research paper coming along. |
| come along with + | progress | How are you coming along with the research paper. |
| come away | leave a place with a particular feeling or impression | I came away from the meeting feeling like the presentation was a success. |
| come back | return | What time are you coming back? |
| come by + | get, receive | How did you come by that new Mercedes? |
| come by | visit a person at their house | I’ll come by later this afternoon. |
| come down with + | become sick with | He came down with the flu. |
| come into + | inherit | He came into a large sum of money when his aunt died. |
| come off + | fall off, break off | The handle came off the suitcase when I picked it up. |
| come out | appear | I didn’t see the car at first. It came out of nowhere. |
| come out | reveal you are homosexual | Sam finally came out last month. |
| come out | turn out, end up | The pictures came out great. |
| come out with + | produce and distribute a product | Microsoft is coming out with a new video game system next month. |
| come over | visit someone at their house | Why don’t you come over after work for dinner. |
| come to | regain consciousness | Don’t worry! She faints all the time. She always comes to after a few minutes. |
| come through | do what is needed or expected | Terry really came through for us in the end. |
| come up to + | approach; to equal | The job offer didn’t come up to her expectations. |
| come up with + | produce or create (an idea, a plan) | She came up with a great proposal for the new advertising campaign. |
| come with + | include (an accessory) | The computer system doesn’t come with a printer. |
| count * in + | include | Did you count expenses in? |
| count on + | depend/rely on | You can really count on Sarah. |
| count * out + | exclude | You can count James out. He hates playing poker. |
| count * up + | add | Count the change up and see how much we have. |
| crack down on + | become tougher on, better enforce laws on | The police have been cracking down on drunk driving. |
| crack up | laugh uncontrollably, laugh a lot | When I told the joke, they all cracked up. |
| crack up at + | laugh uncontrollably about, laugh a lot about | I cracked up at his joke. |
| cross * out + | draw a line through something, eliminate | Why did you cross my name out on the list? |
| cut down | decrease the amount of | You eat too much fat. You need to cut down. |
| cut down on + | decrease the amount of | You need to cut down on your fat intake. |
| cut in | interrupt | She suddenly cut in and delivered the news |
| cut in on + | interrupt | She cut in on the conversation and delivered the news. |
| cut * off | interrupt someone while they were speaking | She cut him off before he said something he would regret later. |
| cut * off + | sever ( with a knife) | His finger was accidentally cut off in an industrial accident. |
| cut * out + | remove | He cut the bone out of the steak. |
| cut * out | stop an action | Cut it out! You’re bothering me. |
| cut * up + | cut into small pieces | He cut the beef up and put the pieces in the soup. |
