fall out

To have a serious argument or disagreement with someone that causes damage to your relationship with them. After falling out, people often stop speaking to each other for a period of time.

Type

Inseparable phrasal verb.

Notes

"Fall out" is an inseparable phrasal verb, meaning the verb and particle cannot be split by an object. You say "they fell out over money" — never "they fell the matter out." When used with a preposition indicating the cause, the pattern is "fall out over/about + noun" or "fall out with + person."

Conjugation

Narrative

Priya and her flatmate Jess had lived together for two years without any se problems. Then, last month, they fell out over a simple household bill — Priya felt Jess had been paying less than her fair share for months and finally said so directly. Jess got de , and within minutes they were barely speaking. For two weeks, the flat felt un cold despite the central heating. Ev , Priya kn on Jess's door with two cups of tea and the actual bank statements pr out. Facts on paper, a a cup of tea — it turned out to be enough to begin ma things right. S , they never really needed to fa that badly in the first place.

Register

Neutral

In the early 1840s, Abraham Lincoln and James Shields were both rising political figures in Illinois — but their relationship collapsed dramatically and nearly fatally. In 1842, Lincoln published a series of anonymous satirical letters in the Sangamo Journal mo Shields, then the Illinois State Auditor, as v , incompetent, and dishonest. When Shields discovered Lincoln was the author, he was furious and demanded a formal apology. Lincoln refused to give one he considered ad , and Shields challenged him to a duel. The two men actually traveled to an island on the Missouri River — Sunflower Island — on September 22, 1842, prepared to fight with cavalry broadswords. O last-minute mediation by their seconds pr bloodshed. The affair de embarrassed Lincoln, who rarely spoke of it afterward, and the two men maintained a fr distance for years. In , it is a vivid historical reminder of how thoroughly two people can fa — and how a disagreement, left without genuine repair, can es far beyond its original cause.

To reconcile with someone after a disagreement or argument; also, to invent a story or excuse that is not true; or to do something to compensate for a loss, mistake, or missed opportunity.

Type

Separable phrasal verb.

Notes

When 'make up' is used with an object, the verb and particle can be separated: 'She made a story up' or 'She made up a story' are both correct. However, when the object is a pronoun, it must go between the verb and particle: say 'She made it up,' not 'She made up it.' When the meaning is 'to reconcile,' the verb is typically used without a direct object or with 'with': 'They made up' or 'He made up with her.'

Conjugation

Narrative

Priya and her college roommate Jen hadn't spoken in two weeks — not since the argument over whose turn it was to pay the electricity bill. It was Priya who finally b first. She knocked on Jen's bedroom door one Tuesday evening, holding two mugs of chamomile tea. 'I was p ,' she said simply. 'I'm sorry.' Jen looked at the tea, then at Priya, and something in her face so . They sat on the ki floor for an hour, talking through the real frustrations underneath the fight. B midnight, they had ma , a the bill — split evenly — was paid. S , two mugs of tea turned out to be exactly enough.

Register

Informal

On the night of November 9, 1989, East and West Germany were on the verge of something that had seemed impossible for twenty-eight years. The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, had physically and politically divided families, neighbors, and a nation. When East German authorities unexpectedly announced that citizens could cross the border freely, thousands of people fl the checkpoints. Families who had been separated for decades em on Checkpoint Charlie and at the Brandenburg Gate. Siblings who had grown up on opposite sides of a co barrier — some who had not spoken in years, others who had never met their own relatives — stood together on the rubble of a wall being to by ordinary hands. The reunification process was not pa ; economic and cultural tensions between East and West Germans persisted for years. B November 9 represented a genuine, historic turning point: a broken relationship between two halves of a people beginning the slow, di work of healing. S , it is one of history's most dramatic examples of what it means to ma — not just between two people, b between two entire ways of life.

To organize, arrange, or resolve a problem, situation, or misunderstanding so that it is no longer confused or difficult. You sort something out when you bring it from a state of disorder or trouble into a clear, working order.

Type

Separable phrasal verb.

Notes

"Sort out" is a separable phrasal verb, meaning a noun object can be placed either after the full phrasal verb or between the two parts: "She sorted out the problem" and "She sorted the problem out" are both correct. However, when the object is a pronoun, it must go between the verb and the particle: you must say "She sorted it out," never "She sorted out it."

Conjugation

Narrative

Priya arrived at Barcelona Sants station at 7:45 a.m. with a printout of a booking confirmation that showed the wrong departure date — she had booked for the following Tuesday by mistake. The train left in fifteen minutes. Heart hammering, she found the Renfe customer-service window and ex the situation in ha Spanish. The agent checked her screen, sighed once, then st typing. Eight minutes later, Priya had a n ticket for the next available train to Valencia at no extra charge. S , she sat down on a bench, exhaled, a texted her sister: "Crisis so . On my way." E the agent seemed relieved it worked out.

Register

Informal

In the summer of 1815, after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, the diplomats of Europe gathered in Vienna had a st administrative challenge on their hands. Decades of Napoleonic reshuffling had left the borders of German states, Italian duchies, and Polish territories in genuine chaos — hundreds of competing claims overlapped on the same maps. Prince Klemens von Metternich of Austria, al Talleyrand of France and Castlereagh of Britain, s months in intensive negotiation through late 1814 and into 1815, working committee by committee, dispute by dispute, to establish who controlled which territory. The resulting Final Act of the Congress of Vienna, signed in June 1815, re the map of Europe with enough clarity and balance to prevent a general European war for nearly a century. It was im and often self-interested, b the sheer organizational achievement — transforming post-Napoleonic chaos into a fuing state system — stands as one of history's most consequential examples of powerful, patient effort to so an almost impossibly tangled situation. Noess , the peace it produced endured for generations.

To reach the same level or position as someone who is ahead of you, often after falling behind. It can also mean to update yourself on news, events, or information you have missed.

Type

Inseparable phrasal verb.

Notes

When 'catch up' is used with an object referring to a person or group, the preposition 'with' is required and the phrase cannot be split — you say 'catch up with her,' never 'catch her up with.' Note that in British English, 'catch someone up' (without 'with') is sometimes used to mean overtake or reach someone, but the standard international form remains 'catch up with someone.'

Conjugation

Narrative

Priya had taken a year off after her engineering degree to care for her mother. When she finally rejoined her postgraduate program in September 2022, her cohort was already deep into advanced coursework. She felt the gap imely — references to lectures she had never attended, terminology that meant nothing to her. Rahan panic, she made a plan: two extra hours of study each morning before class, weekly sessions with a study partner, and a color-coded revision calendar. B December, she had managed to ca with the group and even sc above average in the semester final. S , the gap that had felt inble in September had closed by winter. She cr the plan, not luck.

Register

Informal

In the early 1960s, the United States found itself dasly behind the Soviet Union in the space race. The USSR had launched Sputnik in 1957 and put Yuri Gagarin into orbit in April 1961 — milestones that stunned American scientists and politicians alike. NASA's budget was a fraction of what was needed, its rockets un , and its engineers racing against time. President John F. Kennedy responded on May 25, 1961, by co the nation before Congress to landing a man on the Moon before the decade was out. The declaration was au : the technology required barely existed. NASA ex rapidly, hiring thousands of engineers and scientists, establishing facilities in Houston and Cape Canaveral, and running parallel development programs sisly . On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface. The United States had not merely ca with its rival — in , it had surpassed it entirely. In , the episode remains one of history's most dramatic examples of what focused, resourced determination can ac when a nation decides, urgently and collectively, to catch up.