Phrasal Verb is the name given to an English verb which is composed of two or three words. One verb is combined with a preposition (like on, in, under) or an adverb (like up, down, away). Sometimes a phrasal verb can have a meaning that is very different to the meaning of at least one of those two or three words separately. Some text books call these verbs multi-word verbs. Phrasal verbs are used more frequently in everyday speech than in formal, official writing or speaking.
Examples:
Oscar didn't know the word, so she looked it up in the dictionary.
We've run out of beer!
I have to get up early tomorrow.
REMEMBER: There are four types of phrasal verbs:
1. Phrasal verbs which take objects and are separable
2. Phrasal verbs which take objects and are inseparable
3. Phrasal verbs which do not take objects (these are always inseparable)
4. Three-word phrasal verbs