|
PHRASAL |
MEANING |
EXAMPLES / TRANSLATION |
|
lap up |
1) accept
eagerly |
1) The public lapped up the
story. |
|
2) take up with the tongue |
2) The cat lapped up all the milk in the saucer. |
|
|
laugh at
|
mock, make
fun of |
Don't laugh at my
son!, the woman shouted at us. |
|
launch into
|
start with
vigor |
He launched into a
very long
explanation. |
|
lay before
|
present to |
We will lay the
evidence
before the
court. |
|
lay in |
store up for future use |
Many of the farmers laid in
provisions for a bad winter. |
|
lay off |
fire,
dismiss,
put out of work |
This Japanese company laid off
six hundred workers last month because of lack of work. |
|
lay out |
1) lay out
in a line,
arrange |
1) She laid out her clothes for
the ceremony. |
|
2) get ready for a particular purpose or event |
2) The assistant laid out the tools for the surgery. |
|
|
3) provide a detailed plan |
3) She laid out her plans for a rock garden
in the house. |
|
|
lead up to
|
be a
preparation for |
The first chapters of his book lead up to
the full story. |
|
leaf through
|
turn the
pages |
Sheila leafed idly
through the big volume. |
|
leave behind
|
not bring,
go away without, |
It's raining and I left my
umbrella behind!! |
|
leave out
|
omit,
forget |
They had left my name out in
the examinations list. |
|
|
|
let down
|
disappoint
or fail someone |
George let me down when he
refused to lend me the money. |
|
let in |
admit,
allow to enter |
We let
them
in although it was very late. |
|
let in on
|
reveal,
share a secret |
Unknowingly she let
them
in on the secret. |
|
let into |
allow to
share |
Shall we let
you parents
into the
secret? |
|
let off
|
1) allow to leave without punishment |
1) The magistrate let the boy
off with a serious warning.. |
|
2) explode |
2) Argentinians love to let off fireworks on Christmas season. |
|
|
let out |
1) allow to go out |
1) Norma let her kid out on
such a nice day. |
|
2) divulgue, disclose |
2) Why did you let the secret out? |
|
|
3) extend, loosen |
3) The tailor let out the dress as it was too
tight. |
|
|
let up |
1) diminish, become less intense (colloquial) |
1) The pain has let up since I
began to take these tablets. |
|
2) make less effort (colloquial) |
2) The teacher asked the boys not to let up until the exam. |
|
|
level off
|
stop rising |
Prices finally
have leveled off. |
|
lie down
|
assume a
reclining position |
Go home and lie down on the bed
until you feel better. |
|
live down |
live so
that past faults |
How did the actress manage to
live down the scandal that surrounded all her life? |
|
live on
|
survive
using |
What did you live on? |
|
live up to
|
maintain a
standard |
She has lived up to her
reputation as a singer. |
|
log off
|
break
contact with |
The system was overloaded, so I had to log off. |
|
log on to
|
contact a
computer |
She logged on to the new
system. |
|
log on
|
contact a
computer |
Do you know how to log on? |
|
|
|
look after
|
watch, take
care of |
Mrs. Reston, thanks for looking after
my baby tonight. |
|
look back on
|
recall,
remember, |
The old man looked
back on the days of his youth. |
|
look down on
|
regard as
inferior, |
Martin is an arrogant
professor. He always looks down on the students who don't catch on immediately. |
|
look for
|
try to
locate or discover |
I'm looking for
a new job.
Any good advertisements today? |
|
look forward to
|
anticipate
with pleasure |
I'm looking forward to
my
holidays. |
|
look in on
|
visit to check something |
Jenny has just come back from
Europe. I'm going to look in on her today to see how happy she is. |
|
look into
|
investigate,
get more details |
He promised us to look into this
difficult
situation. |
|
look like
|
resemble in appearance |
Does the new baby look like
Helen or Robert? |
|
look out for
|
watch for |
Look out for fallen
branches and snakes in this area. |
|
look over
|
check, review |
There may
be some mistakes in my report. Could you look it over? |
|
look through
|
examine
quickly |
They looked through the
magazines while they were waiting. |
|
look up
|
find
information |
We looked up the
new word in a
dictionary. |
|
look up to
|
admire,
respect |
At OM Personal we look up to
our visitors' effort to learn or improve their English day after day. |
|
luck out
|
be unexpectedly lucky |
I was worried because I wasn't
well prepared to take my TOEFL but finally I lucked out because the exam was
cancelled. |
|
OM PERSONAL MULTIMEDIA ENGLISH: Desde 1999 en
Internet © Orlando Moure - Todos los Derechos Reservados |