Phrasal Verbs Practice – 73

Encroach
to gradually take more of someone’s time, possessions, rights etc than you should

Encroach on/upon
.Bureaucratic power has encroached upon the freedom of the individual
to gradually cover more and more land

Encroach into
.The fighting encroached further east

Encroachment
noun foreign encroachment

Harp on bout something
Harp on something
: to talk about something continuously, especially in a way that is annoying or boring
.My grandfather harps on about the war all the time

gobble something up
: N1. if one company gobbles up a smaller company, it buys it and takes control of it
.Air France gobbled up its main French rivals, Air Inter and UTA
: N2. to quickly use a lot of a supply of something such as money or land
.Inflation has gobbled up our wage increases
: N3. to eat something very quickly, especially in an impolite or GREEDY way
.We gobbled up all of the cake in one evening

= Fuss over somebody/something
pay a lot of attention or too much attention to someone or something, especially to show that you are pleased with them or like them
.His aunts fussed over him all the time

Grate on = annoy someone
.Mr. Fen had a loud voice that grated on her ears

. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate phrasal verbs

Harp on / encroach / encroach upon / gobble up / grate on

.N1. Bureaucratic power has …………….. upon the freedom of the individual
.N2. The fighting ………………… further east
.N3. My grandfather ……………………about the war all the time
.N4. Mr. Fen had a loud voice that ……………………… her ears
.N5. We …………………….. all of the cake in one evening

:Answers

N1. Encroached upon
N2. Encroached
N3. Harps on
N4. Grated on
N5. Gobbled up