Category: Verbs

[no object] to argue about or disagree with something The children quarrel all the time. She and her husband are always quarreling about/over money. I don’t want to quarrel with you. I won’t quarrel  [=disagree]  with your version of what happened.

[+ object] to take away (someone) by force usually in order to keep the person as a prisoner and demand money for returning the person She had been kidnapped (from her home). — kidnapper also US kidnaper noun, plural kidnappers also US kidnapers [count] The kidnapper demanded one million dollars in ransom. Read More …

1 [+ object] : to remove (money) from a bank account She withdrew $200 from her checking account. 2 [+ object] : to take (something) back so that it is no longer available The pills were withdrawn  [=recalled]  from the market because they were unsafe. 3 Read More …

1 : to bring (someone or something) back to a normal, healthy condition after an illness, injury, drug problem, etc. [+ object] The clinic rehabilitates drug addicts. He’s still rehabilitating the knee he injured last summer. They try to rehabilitate horses that have suffered injuries. [no object] Read More …

A student asked me, “Is there a difference between finish and finish up?” The answer is no. There’s no difference in meaning. I’ll be home soon, I just need to finish a few things at the office. I’ll be home soon, I just need to finish Read More …

The word “circumscribe” has Latin roots that mean “written around.” To circumscribe something is to encircle it, to draw a circle around it, or, more figuratively, to limit it in a narrow way, as if you’re drawing a tight, strict circle around it. Read More …

phrasal verb 1 : ring (something) up or ring up (something) : to use a special machine (called a cash register) to calculate the cost of (something, such as goods or services) The cashier rang up our purchases. 2 : to achieve (something) The Read More …

[+ object] 1 : to produce (something) or cause (something) to be produced windmills used to generate electricity generate heat This business should generate a lot of revenue. 2 : to be the cause of or reason for (something, such as interest or excitement) His theories have generated a Read More …

Here are some common mistakes in the use of verbs. Incorrect: He asked that what I was doing. Correct: He asked what I was doing. If a noun-clause begins with a wh-word, ‘that’ is omitted. Incorrect: She asked had we finished Read More …

  Verb [no object] 1 : to try very hard to do, achieve, or deal with something that is difficult or that causes problems He has been struggling with the problem of how to keep good workers from leaving. They struggled for the right to Read More …