11 Phrasal Verbs with Around in English: Meanings and Examples + Quiz

Hello English learners! Welcome to a new vocabulary lesson. Phrasal verbs can be one of the most frustrating parts of English. Just when you think you know a verb, a little word like around comes along and changes the meaning completely. Charming, isn’t it?

But here is the good news: phrasal verbs become much easier when you learn them in context rather than as isolated items. That is exactly what we are going to do today.

In this lesson, we will look at 11 useful phrasal verbs with around, along with clear meanings and natural example sentences. These expressions are very common in everyday English, and learning them will help you sound more natural in conversation, understand native speakers more easily, and add variety to your speaking and writing.

Let’s get started.

1. Walk around

Meaning: to walk without a particular destination, often casually or for pleasure.

Examples:

• We spent the afternoon walking around the old part of the city.
• Instead of taking a taxi, we decided to walk around and explore the neighbourhood.
• I was too restless to sit at home, so I went out and walked around for an hour.

Common use: We often use this phrasal verb when we are sightseeing, waiting, or simply passing time.

2. Go around

Meaning 1: to behave in a particular way repeatedly.

Examples:

• You can’t go around insulting people and expect them to like you.
• He’s been going around telling everyone that he got the job.
• She went around complaining all evening instead of enjoying the party.

Meaning 2: to be enough for everyone

Examples:

• There isn’t enough cake to go around, so take a small piece.
• We brought a few sandwiches, but not nearly enough to go around.

Meaning 3: to spread from person to person

Examples:

• There’s a nasty flu going around at the moment.
• A rumour has been going around the office all week.

Note: This is a very useful phrasal verb because it has several common meanings.

3. Be around

Meaning: to be present, nearby, or available

Examples:

• If you need help later, I’ll be around.
• Is your teacher around, or has she already gone home?
• We didn’t see him in the morning, but he should be around this afternoon.

Common use: This is a very natural everyday expression. Native speakers use it constantly.

4. Get around

Meaning 1: to travel to different places

Examples:

• He’s travelled a lot this year and has really been getting around.
• When I was younger, I didn’t have much money, so I didn’t get around very much.
• She loves getting around and discovering new towns and cities.

Meaning 2: to move from place to place

Examples:

• He’s old, but he still gets around quite well.
• After the operation, she needed help getting around.

Meaning 3: to avoid a rule or problem

Examples:

• Some companies try to get around the law by changing small details in contracts.
• He always finds a way to get around the system.

Note: This phrasal verb is especially common in everyday conversation.

5. Ask around

Meaning: to ask many people the same question in order to get information or help

Examples:

• I asked around, but nobody had seen my keys.
• She’s asking around to see if anyone knows a good plumber.
• We asked around before choosing a language school.

Common use: This is very common when you are looking for recommendations, advice, or missing things.

6. Boss around

Meaning: to keep telling someone what to do in an annoying or controlling way

Examples:

• He’s been bossing everyone around all morning.
• Stop bossing me around — I know what I’m doing.
• Nobody likes being bossed around by someone who isn’t even in charge.

Note: This expression usually has a negative meaning.

7. Fool around

Meaning 1: to behave in a silly way, often when you should be serious

Examples:

• Stop fooling around and finish your work.
• The boys were fooling around in class instead of listening.
• We were just fooling around and didn’t realise how late it was.

Meaning 2: to behave carelessly in a dangerous situation

Examples:

• You should never fool around with electricity.
• One shouldn’t fool around with fire.

Meaning 3: in informal English, to have a casual romantic or sexual relationship

Note: This meaning exists too, so learners should be aware of it.

8. Monkey around

Meaning: to behave in a silly, noisy, or slightly annoying way

Examples:

• The children were monkeying around in the garden instead of getting ready for school.
• Don’t monkey around with my laptop.
• They spent half the lesson monkeying around and laughing.

Note: This expression is informal and playful, but it can also sound critical.

9. Mess around

Meaning 1: to waste time doing unimportant things

Examples:

• Stop messing around and do your homework.
• We’ve been messing around all day and haven’t done anything useful.
• If you keep messing around, you’ll miss the deadline.

Meaning 2: to behave in a silly or careless way

Examples:

• Don’t mess around near the road.
• They were messing around in the kitchen and broke a glass.

Meaning 3: to deal with something in a casual or ineffective way.

Examples:

• We haven’t got time to mess around with unnecessary changes.
• The doctor said we shouldn’t mess around and should get it checked immediately.

10. Look around

Meaning: to explore a place by looking at what is there

Examples:

• We spent an hour looking around the art gallery.
• Would you like to look around the house before making a decision?
• The tourists were looking around the market and buying souvenirs.

Common use: This phrasal verb is very common when visiting houses, shops, towns, museums, or other places.

11. Run around

Meaning 1: to be very busy and active

Examples:

• I’ve been running around all morning and haven’t even had a cup of tea yet.
• She spent the whole day running around doing errands.
• We were running around getting everything ready for the wedding.

Meaning 2: to move quickly from place to place

Examples:

• The children were running around the park laughing and shouting.
• He was running around the house looking for his passport.

Common use: This phrasal verb often suggests busyness, energy, and mild chaos.

Common patterns to notice – phrasal verbs with around

Here are some useful patterns you will often hear:

• ask around for information
• boss someone around
• fool around with something
• look around a place
• run around doing something
• be around later
• get around the city
• go around saying something

These chunks are often more useful than learning a phrasal verb on its own.

Final thoughts

Phrasal verbs with around are extremely useful because they appear in so many everyday situations. Some describe movement, like walk around and get around. Others describe behaviour, like fool around, mess around, and boss around.

The key is not to memorise them as a dry list. Learn them through real sentences, notice how they are used, and try to make your own examples.

That is how phrasal verbs stop looking like a crowd of troublemakers and start behaving themselves.

Do the quiz to perfect your knowledge: