prepositional verb

noun Grammar.

a combination of verb and preposition, often with idiomatic meaning, differing from other phrasal verbs in that an object must always follow the preposition, as take after in The children take after their mother.

Compare phrasal verb.

Origin of prepositional verb

First recorded in 1960–65

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018