* The surrounding words and sentences: The words before and after a phrasal compound can give clues to its meaning. For example, "The dog ran away from the park" suggests that "ran away" means to leave quickly.
* The situation or setting: The overall situation in which a phrasal compound is used can provide context. For example, "The team played up to the crowd" would make more sense if you knew the team was losing and needed to motivate their fans.
* The speaker or writer's intention: The speaker or writer's purpose and tone can influence the meaning of a phrasal compound. For example, "I'm going to put up with this" might mean to tolerate something, but it could also mean to confront someone depending on the tone of voice.
Essentially, context is like a puzzle piece that helps you fit the meaning of a phrasal compound into the bigger picture. By considering the surrounding information, you can often decipher the meaning of a phrasal compound even if you don't know its literal definition.