Phrasal verbs beginning with S

Safeguard against something

To safeguard against something is to do something to prevent harm.

• We safeguarded against burglary by installing a burglar alarm.

Save on

To save on something is to keep its cost low.

• He is trying to save on fuel costs by sharing rides with his friends.

Sail through something

To sail through something is to complete it in a very short span of time.

• He sailed through the presentation and went home.

Scare someone off

To scare somebody off is to make them not want to do something by talking about possible negative consequences.

• She was very keen on trying parasailing, but he scared her off.

Save up

To save money up is to save to buy something.

• I am trying to save up to buy a new laptop.

Scrape by

To scrape by is to survive with difficulty.

• Now that he has lost his job, he is just scraping by.

Scrape together

To scrape together is to gather small amounts of money from various sources.

• If I had managed to scrape together twenty dollars, I would have gone to the movies.

Screw something up

To screw something up is to make a major mistake.

• I don’t think I will get the job, I screwed up the interview.

Scrounge around

When you have to scrounge around for something you have to look in many places to find it.

• She scrounged around but couldn’t find her passport.

See through

When you can see through someone or something, you can understand things they may be hiding.

• She couldn’t see through his schemes.