Essential English Idioms and Phrasal Verbs for Students

Academic and Daily English Vocabulary

School and Study Idioms

• Take up: To start a new activity.
• Hit the books: To begin to study in a serious and determined way.
• Teacher’s pet: A pupil who has won the teacher's special favour.
• With flying colours: To pass an exam perfectly.
• Copycat: A person who copies the words or actions of another.
• Make the grade: To reach a desired level of accomplishment.
• Play hooky: To stay away from school without permission.
• Brush up on something: To improve your skills in something; refresh knowledge.
• To cram: To prepare someone in a short time for an examination.
• Learn something by heart: To memorize.

General Vocabulary and Expressions

• No trace of: Without leaving any signs to show where one went.
• Courage: The ability to control your fear in a dangerous or difficult situation.
• Discovery: The process of finding information, a place, or an object, especially for the first time.
• Brand new: Completely new.
• Let someone off the hook: To allow someone who has been caught doing something wrong to go without being punished.
• Stand up for: To speak or act in support of someone or something.
• Wiped out: Exhausted.
• Figure out: To discover.
• Make up: To invent a story or plan.
• Speak up: To speak more loudly.
• Ridiculous: Stupid or unreasonable and deserving to be laughed at.
• Expect: To think or believe something will happen, or someone will arrive.
• Lecture: To give a formal talk to a group of people, often at a college or university.
• Record: A piece of information or a description of an event that is written on paper or stored on a computer.
• Tricking: An action that is intended to deceive, either as a way of cheating someone, or as a joke.
• Expected: Believed to be going to happen or arrive.
• Used to: Refers to actions and situations in the past which no longer happen.
• Chase: To hurry after someone or something in order to catch them.
• Sense: A general feeling or understanding.
• Lasts: The person or thing after everyone or everything else.

Health and Lifestyle Phrasal Verbs

• Come down with: To catch an illness.
• Cut down on: To reduce the consumption of something.
• Put on: To gain weight.
• Get over: To recover from something.
• Work out: To exercise.
• Warm up: To prepare muscles for exercise.
• Kick in: To start to have an effect.
• Give up: To quit or surrender.
• Run away: To escape or flee.