38 Business Phrasal Verbs

 Branch out  Get on  Put back

 Break into  Keep up with  Run out of
 Carry on  Set up  Sort out
 Close down  Go through  Take on
 Look forward to  Find out  Take over
 Note down  Call off  Bail out
 Step down  Call back  Cut back
 Take off  Deal with  Go under
 Take up  Drop in  Fall through
 Weigh up  Fill out  Pull out
 Back up  Hold on  Bottom out
 Carry out  Join in  Level off
 Come up  Lay off

Branch out
 Meaning: Expand or extend one’s interests
 Example: I’m leaving the company to branch out on my own.

Break into
 Meaning: Enter (with effort or force)
 Example: It’s always been his ambition to break into broadcasting.

Carry on
 Meaning: Continue
 Example: He moved to New York to carry on his work.

Close down
 Meaning: Stop operating
 Example: The firm has decided to close down its Chicago branch.

Look forward to
 Meaning: Feel pleased and excited about something that is going to happen
 Example: We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Note down
 Meaning: Write something down
 Example: Her answers were noted down on the chart.

Step down
 Meaning: Resign or leave (a position/job)
 Example: The chairman was forced to step down due to ill health.
Take off
 Meaning: Become successful or popular very fast
 Example: Her business has really taken off.

Take up
 Meaning: Fill a particular amount of space or time
 Example: These files take up a lot of disk space.

Weigh up (UK)
 Meaning: Consider carefully the advantages or disadvantages of a situation
 Example: I’m weighing up my options before I decide to apply for the job.

Back up
 Meaning: Make a copy of information
 Example: It’s a good idea to back up your files onto a memory stick.

Carry out
 Meaning: Do and complete a task
 Example: The building work was carried out by a local contractor.

Come up
 Meaning: Happen or arise
 Example: I’m going to have to cancel our meeting – something’s come up.

Get on (UK)
 Meaning: Continue or start doing something
 Example: Can we please get on, because there are a lot of things still to discuss.

Keep up with
 Meaning: Follow
 Example: We try to keep up with what’s happening about financial news.

Set up
 Meaning: Start (a business)
 Example: The group plans to set up an import business.

Go through
 Meaning: Experience something bad
 Example: We can’t really imagine what our company’s going through.

Find out
 Meaning: Discover a fact or piece of information
 Example: Can you find out what our customers think of their local bus service?
Call off
 Meaning: Cancel something
 Example: With the weather worsening, they have called off their field trip.

Call back
 Meaning: To return a call or telephone someone again.
 Example: I’ll call you back when I’ve heard something about the interview.

Deal with
 Meaning: Handle (a problem)
 Example: He’s good at dealing with pressure.

Drop in
 Meaning: Make a short visit without making an arrangement in advance
 Example: Drop in whenever you want—I’ll be at the office all day.

Fill out
 Meaning: Complete (a form)
 Example: It took me several hours to fill out the application form.

Hold on
 Meaning: Wait
 Example: We’ll hold on another minute, then we’ll have to go.

Join in
 Meaning: Participate
 Example: We would be eager to join in projects of that sort.

Lay off
 Meaning: Fire (staff)
 Example: We have no plans in the immediate future to lay off workers.

Put back
 Meaning: Delay or postpone
 Example: The meeting has been put back to next week.

Run out of
 Meaning: Have no more of something
 Example: Many companies are running out of money.

Sort out
 Meaning: Organise or fix
 Example: We brought in a management consultant to sort out the mess.
Take on
 Meaning: Employ (staff)
 Example: We’re not taking on any new staff at the moment.

Take over
 Meaning: To begin to have control of or responsibility for something
 Example: He understands the business and can take over when I’m away.

Bail out
 Meaning: To rescue somebody from a difficult situation, especially financial problems
 Example: The bank helped to bail out the struggling company.

Cut back
 Meaning: To reduce something
 Example: In times of economic hardship, firms cut back on training.

Go under
 Meaning: To become bankrupt
 Example: The firm will go under unless business improves.

Fall through
 Meaning: If an agreement, plan, sale etc. falls through, it is not completed successfully
 Example: The planned purchase of the racecourse fell through.

Pull out
 Meaning: To move away from something or stop being involved in it
 Example: The project became so expensive that we had to pull out.

Bottom out
 Meaning: To stop getting worse
 Example: Property prices are still falling, and show no signs of bottoming out.

Level off
 Meaning: To stop rising or falling and become steady
 Example: Inflation has begun to level off.