Phrasal Verbs Practice – 119

hold off
: to delay doing something
.Buyers have been holding off until the price falls

hold off ( on) doing something
.Hold off making your decision until Monday

hold somebody off
: a. to prevent someone who is trying to attack or defeat you from succeeding
.Not even a gun could hold him off forever
: b. to prevent someone from coming towards you or succeeding in speaking to you
There’s already a crowd of reporters outside
.I’ll try to hold them off for a while
: if rain or bad weather holds off, it does not start, although it looked as if it would
.The rain held off until after the game

hold forth
to give your opinion on a subject, especially for a long time

hold forth on
.The speaker was holding forth on the collapse of modern society

jot something … down
: to write a short piece of information quickly
.Let me jot down your number and I’ll call you tomorrow

iron something out
: to solve or get rid of problems or difficulties, especially small ones
.We need to iron out a few problems first

inform on/against somebody
: to tell the police or an enemy information about someone that will harm them
.He denied that he had ever informed on his neighbors

: Fill in the blanks with the appropriate phrasal verbs

holding forth / inform on / iron out / hold – off(3) / jot down

.N1. Buyers have been ………………… until the price falls
.N2. Not even a gun could ………………… him ………………… forever
.N3. I’ll try to ………………… them ………………… for a while
.N4. The speaker was ………………… on the collapse of modern society
.N5. Let me ………………… your number and I’ll call you tomorrow
.N6. We need to ………………… a few problems first
.N7. He denied that he had ever ………………… his neighbors

:Answers

Holding off / hold… off / hold…off / holding forth / jot down / iron out / informed on