English Phrasal Verb Dictionary

List of English Phrasal Verbs Beginning With 'F'

Face (2)

Face off

- Confront

Face up to

- Accept an unpleasant truth

Faff (2)

Faff about

- Behave indecisively

Faff around

- Behave indecisively

Fall (14)

Fall about

- Laugh a lot

Fall apart

- Break into pieces
- Become emotionally disturbed and unable to behave normally

Fall back

- Retreat

Fall back on

- Be able to use in an emergency

Fall behind

- Make less progress

Fall down

- Fall on the ground
- Have a weak point

Fall for

- Be attracted to somebody, fall in love
- Believe a lie or a piece of deception

Fall in

- Collapse

Fall into

- Start doing something unplanned

Fall off

- Decrease

Fall out

- Argue and be on bad terms with someone
- Lose hair

Fall over

- Fall on the ground

Fall through

- Be unsuccessful

Fall under

- Become controlled

Farm (1)

Farm out

- Give or contract work to someone else

Fart (2)

Fart about

- Waste time doing silly things

Fart around

- Waste time doing pointless things

Fasten (4)

Fasten down

- Tie something so that it doesn't move

Fasten on

- Give attention to something that confirms your beliefs

Fasten onto

- Follow someone closely, normally when they don't want your company
- Give attention to something that confirms your beliefs

Fasten up

- Close, attach

Fathom (1)

Fathom out

- Understand something

Fatten (1)

Fatten up

- Give an animal a lot to eat to make it fat

Fawn (2)

Fawn on

- Praise someone in an excessive way to get their favour or something from them

Fawn over

- Praise someone in an excessive way to get their favour or something from them

Feed (3)

Feed off

- Eat a food as part of an animals diet
- Use something to your advantage

Feed on

- Grow stronger
- Consume in an animal's diet
- Give someone a particular food

Feed up

- Give someone a lot of food to restore their health, make them bigger, etc

Feel (2)

Feel up

- Touch sexually, grope

Feel up to

- Feel capable of doing something

Fence (2)

Fence in

- Enclose an area

Fence off

- Enclose an area to keep animals or people out

Fend (2)

Fend for

- Take care of yourself or someone with help from other people

Fend off

- Resist something successfully
- Push an attacker away

Ferret (1)

Ferret out

- Search and discover something

Fess (2)

Fess up

- Confess, admit something reluctantly
- Give

Fess up to

- Confess, admit reluctantly to something

Fiddle (3)

Fiddle about

- Waste time doing silly things, or doing things unsuccessfully

Fiddle around

- Waste time doing silly things, or unsuccessful things
- Make small movements with your hands

Fiddle away

- Waste time

Fight (3)

Fight back

- Defend yourself, resist an attack
- Try to control and emotion and keep it hidden

Fight it out

- Struggle to see who wins, both by arguing or fighting

Fight off

- Fight an attacker and force them back
- Resist an illness or emotion

Figure (2)

Figure on

- Plan, expect

Figure out

- Find the answer to a problem

File (2)

File away

- Put a document in the correct place for storage in a filing system

File for

- Apply for something legally, like divorce or bankruptcy

Fill (5)

Fill in

- Complete a form
- Substitute someone at work

Fill in for

- Substitute

Fill in on

- Give someone information

Fill out

- Complete a form

Fill up

- Fill something completely

Filter (2)

Filter in

- Move into a lane of traffic without making other cars stop

Filter out

- Remove something unwanted

Find (1)

Find out

- Discover

Finish (4)

Finish off

- Finish completely
- Kill a person or animal, often when they have already been hurt
- Beat, make victory certain in sport
- Consume all

Finish up

- Finally get somewhere, usually without planning to go there

Finish up with

- Have or do something at the end or as the last of something

Finish with

- End a relationship
- Stop dealing with someone
- Finish using or requiring

Fink (2)

Fink on

- Give away secrets about someone

Fink out

- Fail to keep a promise, arrangement, etc

Fire (3)

Fire away

- Ask questions

Fire off

- Send quickly, angrily or many (letter, emails, etc)
- Shoot, fire a gun (usually repeatedly)

Fire up

- Start a computer
- Excite, become excited

Firm (1)

Firm up

- Make things clearer in a negotiation or discussion
- Exercise to make muscles harder and remove fat

Fish (2)

Fish for

- Try to get some information or to get someone to say something

Fish out

- Remove something from a bag, pocket, etc
- Remove from water, such as the sea, rivers, etc

Fit (6)

Fit in

- Get on in a group of people
- Have enough time or space for something

Fit in with

- Be convenient or occur conveniently
- Occur or happen in a way that shows that plans or ideas have not changed

Fit into

- Become part of

Fit out

- Provide with necessary equipment

Fit out with

- Provide someone with necessary equipment

Fit up

- Frame someone- make them look guilty of something they haven't done
- Provide equipment

Fix (1)

Fix up

- Make an arrangement

Fizzle (1)

Fizzle out

- End in an unsuccessful way

Flag (2)

Flag down

- Signal at a vehicle to get it to stop

Flag up

- Raise an issue, or highlight its importance

Flake (1)

Flake out

- Fall asleep from exhaustion

Flame (2)

Flame out

- Fail

Flame up

- Burn brightly

Flare (2)

Flare out

- Get angry suddenly

Flare up

- When trouble suddenly appears

Flesh (1)

Flesh out

- Add more details or information

Flick (2)

Flick over

- Change TV channels quickly

Flick through

- Change TV channels repeatedly
- Look through something quickly

Flip (3)

Flip off

- Extend your middle finger as a gesture of contempt

Flip out

- Become very excited and lose control

Flip through

- Look quickly through a magazine, book, etc

Flog (1)

Flog off

- Sell something cheaply to get rid of it

Floor (1)

Floor it

- Drive a vehicle as fast as possible

Flounce (2)

Flounce off

- Leave a place or walk away from someone angrily

Flounce out

- Leave a place angrily

Fluff (2)

Fluff out

- Shake or pat a cushion so that it fills with air

Fluff up

- Shake or pat a cushion so that it fills with air

Fly (5)

Fly about

- Circulate (rumours, etc)

Fly around

- Circulate (rumours, etc)

Fly at

- Attack
- Criticise or shout angrily

Fly by

- When time appears to move quickly

Fly into

- Change emotion quickly

Fob (4)

Fob off

- Make or persuade someone to accept something
- Lie or deceive someone

Fob off on

- Make or persuade someone to accept something you don't want

Fob off onto

- Make or persuade someone to accept something you don't want

Fob off with

- Make or persuade someone to accept something of lower quality than they wanted
- Make or persuade someone to accept something of lower quality than they wanted

Focus (1)

Focus on

- Concentrate

Fold (1)

Fold up

- Make a sheet of paper smaller

Follow (4)

Follow on

- Leave to meet someone after they have left the place you're at
- In cricket, if the second team to bat doesn't score enough runs, it has to bat again

Follow on from

- Be the part of something

Follow through

- Do what is necessary to complete something or make it successful
- Continue moving limbs after hitting a ball

Follow up

- Do something to check or improve an earlier action
- Find our about a problem and act

Fool (3)

Fool about

- Not be serious
- Be unfaithful

Fool around

- Not be serious
- Be unfaithful

Fool with

- Play with something dangerous

Forge (1)

Forge ahead

- Make a lot of progress in a short time
- Move forwards very quickly

Freak (1)

Freak out

- Become very disturbed or angry

Free (1)

Free up

- Make money or time available by not using it elsewhere
- Do work or a task for someone to make them available for something

Freeze (3)

Freeze out

- Shut out or exclude by unfriendly treatment
- Force to retire or withdraw from membership, a job, etc

Freeze over

- Become covered with ice (lake, river, pond, etc)

Freeze up

- Be blocked with ice
- Stop working because the parts of a machine won't move
- When a computer stops working
- Be paralysed with fear

Freshen (1)

Freshen up

- Wash quickly and improve appearance
- Add more alcohol to a glass before it is empty
- Quickly improve the appearance of something

Frighten (2)

Frighten away

- Scare someone so much that they go away
- Scare or worry someone enough to stop them doing something they had planned

Frighten off

- Scare someone so much that they go away
- Scare or worry someone enough to stop them doing something they had planned

Front (5)

Front for

- Represent someone, especially when covering illegal or wrongful activities

Front off

- Confront someone and let them know you are prepared to fight

Front onto

- Face (of a building)

Front out

- Face up to someone, withstand criticism

Front up

- Appear somewhere for a short time
- Advance cash for something

Frown (1)

Frown on

- Disapprove

Fuel (1)

Fuel up

- Put petrol or other fuel into a vehicle