Phrasal verbs beginning with B

to decide not to do something because of opposition, or because of pressure from authorities

If you back out of something like an agreement or a deal, you decide not to follow through on it.

to make an extra copy of digital information on disc, flash drive, external hard drive, etc. in case the original data is lost

If you back up what you say, you use evidence or examples to show that it's true.

to help out someone or something that's in serious trouble, especially financial trouble

to give money to a court so that an accused person doesn't have to stay in jail until their trial begins

If you bank on something happening or someone doing something, you depend on it or count on it.

to use specific information, ideas or past experiences as a basis for making a decision

to use something as source material

to have relevance to, or influence on, something

to show that someone is correct or that something is true

to hurt someone by punching, kicking or hitting them with a hard object

If you ask what has become of someone you haven't seen or heard from for a long time, you want to know what's happened to them.

to make something stronger or more powerful

If an activity or an event begins with something, that's the first thing that happens.

If you believe in something, you're sure that it's true or it really exists.

If something belongs to a person, it is owned by that person.

to move the upper part of your body forwards and downwards

to be sure that something will happen

to separate something from whatever it's attached to by biting it

to lose consciousness

to surprise or amaze someone

If a flame blows out, it goes out because someone blows on it or because of the wind.

If you blow up something, you use explosives to damage or destroy it.

to fill with air or gas in order to inflate something

to make a photograph larger

If something like an action or an attitude borders on something more extreme, it is close to being that extreme.

to resign from a job, or to end a career, usually after a long time

If a machine or a vehicle breaks down, it stops working because of a mechanical problem.

If someone breaks down, they start crying.

If someone breaks into a building or a vehicle, they force their way in, usually to steal something.

to escape from somewhere like a jail or a detention centre

If you break up with your boyfriend or girlfriend, you end your relationship with him or her.

to fill your lungs with air by drawing it in through your nose or mouth

to push air out from your lungs through your nose or mouth

to make a place or a thing look more cheerful and more lively

to become happier and feel more cheerful

If you bring about something, you cause it to happen or you make it happen.

to bring something with you when you return from somewhere

to make something from the past come back, such as a memory, a feeling, an idea, etc.

to cause a government or a leader to lose power

to change the date or time of an event so that it happens earlier than originally planned

to succeed in doing something that's difficult

to cause something like an illness or a painful emotion

to release a new product

to make a quality in someone or something show itself

If you bring somebody up, you raise them from childhood to young adulthood.

to raise a new topic for discussion, or to mention a particular subject or issue in a conversation

to revise your knowledge of something that you learned in the past

to fasten a seatbelt in a car or on a plane

If you tell someone to bugger off, you're telling them to go away in a very impolite and aggressive way.

to add to what you've already succeeded in doing

to add a new section to a house or a building

to work at something and make it get stronger or bigger

to gradually increase

to meet somebody by chance

If something like a building or a forest burns down, it's completely destroyed in a fire.

If a fire burns out, it slowly dies down until it stops burning altogether.

to work too hard and suffer from physical and mental exhaustion

to start talking when somebody else is already talking

If you want to tell someone quite forcefully to mind their own business, you can tell them to butt out.

to say nice things to someone before asking them to do something for you or to give you something

to buy somebody's share of a company or a partnership in order to take control of it

to buy all or a lot of something that is in limited supply