12 Phrasal Verbs with DOWN

12 Phrasal Verbs with DOWN

Hi English learners! Welcome to a new lesson. We will look at 12 phrasal verbs with “down”.

1. Break down
2. Burn down
3. Come down
4. Come down with
5. Cut down
6. Die down
7. Get down
8. Go down
9. Keep down
10. Put down
11. Run down
12. Shut down

Break down

Meaning: if a machine stops working, we say that it breaks down.

• My car broke down in the middle of the road and I had to push it to the garage.

It also means to start to cry.

• When she read the letter Lorna broke down and cried for hours.

Burn down

Meaning: to destroy something with fire.

• Their house was burned down during the war.
• After being hit by thunder, the tree burned down.

Phrasal Verbs with DOWN

Come down

Meaning: to move towards the ground.

• The monkey came down from the tree when it felt safe.
• Rain was coming down heavily all night.

It also means to become lower in value.

• I’ll buy that jacket when its price comes down.

Come down with

Meaning: to begin being ill.

• James came down with the flu.
• Our children came down with measles so they are staying in quarantine.

Cut down

To cut something down means to cut it at its base.

• The woodcutter marked the tree he was going to cut down.

It also means to reduce something in amount.

• They cut down the prices of fruit in this supermarket.
• I’m trying to cut down on sugar in my diet.

Die down

Meaning: to become less strong or loud.

• The applause in the theatre was dying down as the curtain closed.
• Mark thought it was better to be quiet until the scandal died down.

Phrasal Verbs with DOWN

Get down

To get someone down means to make them feel sad.

• This music is so sad; it gets me down.
• The situation in the country during the war started to get him down.

To get something down means to write something down.

• Did you get his phone number down?
• We need to get down the information about the flat we want to buy.

Go down

Meaning: to move to a lower level, to go south.

• They took the lift to go down.
• The Titanic went down on April 14, 1912.
• We are going down to the Mediterranean.

Also: to swallow.

• He had a glass of wine to make the food go down easier.

Keep down

Meaning: to control the number or size of something and not let it increase.

• Laura is trying to keep her spending down.
• Will you please keep your voices down, I am trying to study here.

To keep someone down means to control them

• The police managed to keep down the protesters.

Put down

To put something down means to stop holding or carrying something and put it on some kind of surface.

• Brian put his bag down on a baggage carousel and walked to the plane.
• Sara put her phone down on the table.

To put someone down means to make them feel stupid, especially in front of other people.

• You shouldn’t have put me down like that in front of everybody. 

Phrasal Verbs with DOWN

Run down

Meaning: to criticise.

• My boss ran me down today for not meeting the deadline.

It also means to injure someone with a vehicle.

• Our dog was run down by a lorry.

If a machine runs down, it means that it will stop working because it has no energy.

• The battery in my phone is running down; I’ll have to charge it.

Shut down

Meaning: a shop doing business.

• Our favourite cafe shut down last week. 
• The bank was shut down due to a lack of capital.