A Phrasal Verb a Day - Learn English Phrasal Verbs with Luke Thompson

+ - ing = to find yourself in a situation or position as the result of doing other things. You don't set out to be in that situation, it just happens as a consequence of other things. "I went to Vegas for fun and I went to a casino. I ended up losing everything" "The Beatles started out as a hard working rock & roll band. They ended up becoming one of the most influential groups of all time"

=to encourage someone to do something that they shouldn't do "I didn't mean to do it, the others kept egging me on!“

= to make something last as long as possible, eg money, food, supplies "we have to eke out our food during the winter" "Don't eat all those biscuits! We'll need to eke them out if we're going to survive this zombie apocalypse "

= to eat a meal in a restaurant rather than at home "let's eat out tonight shall we? " " we don't have any food in the fridge, do you fancy eating out tonight? “

Something dumbs down To dumb something down the dumbing down of something = to make something simpler easier, or more appealing to a wide audience which reduces it's quality and makes it more stupid. "TV is dumbing down more and more these days with all these reality shows" "TV really dumbed down after the introduction of digital broadcasting" "Commercials cause the dumbing down of TV" Transcript here: http://teacherluke.wordpress.com/phrasal-verb-a-day/16-to-dumb-down/

1. To take someone somewhere by car. "could you drop me off at the station, do you think?" 2. To deliver something. "Jeff dropped this letter off for you" 3. To become weaker, smaller or lower in value or level. "his concentration drops off after lunch" 4. To doze off. "I missed that. I dropped off to sleep for a moment" 5. When something is attached and then falls off. "the wing mirror just dropped off my car!" Transcript here: http://teacherluke.wordpress.com/phrasal-verb-a-day/15-to-drop-off/

= to fall asleep for a short time, especially when you're not in bed and you don't intend to. "I was on the bus and I felt so sleepy that I just dozed off for a few minutes" "I often catch Jose dozing off at the back of the classroom"

= to leave in a hurry (synonyms are 'to shoot off' or to 'rush off') E.g. "Sorry, I can't hang around, I've got to dash off" "I'd love to hang around but I've got to dash off to the bank" http://teacherluke.wordpress.com/phrasal-verb-a-day/13-to-dash-off/

This means to get yourself in a really comfortable position on the sofa or in bed, with your legs bent and off the floor, so that you are in a curved shape - nice and comfy. "I curled up on the sofa with a cup of tea and a good book" "I can't wait to just curl up in bed and fall asleep" "The cat sat in front of the fire, curled himself up into a little ball, and fell asleep"

1. To become mentally ill. "He couldn't take the pressure any more and he cracked up" 2. To suddenly start laughing, to burst out laughing. "someone farted in the classroom and everyone cracked up!“