make

verb

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\ ˈmāk

made\ ˈmād

\; making; makes

Definition of make

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1a : to bring into being by forming, shaping, or altering material : fashion make a dress

b : to lay out and construct make a road

c : compose, write make verses

2 : to put together from components : constitute houses made of stone

3a : to cause to happen to or be experienced by someone made trouble for us

b : to cause to exist, occur, or appear : create make a disturbance

c : to favor the growth or occurrence of haste makes waste

d : to fit, intend, or destine by or as if by creating was made to be an actor

4a : enact, establish make laws

b : to execute (see execute sense 2) in an appropriate manner make a will

c : set, name make a price

5a : to cause to be or become made them happy makes it possible

b : appoint made him bishop

6 : to cause to act in a certain way : compel make her give it back

7a : to carry out (an action indicated or implied by the object) make war make a speech make a detour

b : to perform with a bodily movement make a sweeping gesture

8 : to frame or formulate in the mind make plans

9a : to set in order make beds

b : prepare, fix make dinner

c : to assemble and set alight the materials for (a fire)

d : to shuffle (a deck of cards) in preparation for dealing

10a : to amount to in significance makes a great difference

b : to count as that makes the third time you've said it

c : to form the essential being of clothes make the man

d : to form by an assembling of individuals make a quorum

11a : to be or be capable of being changed or fashioned into rags make the best paper

b : to develop into she will make a fine judge

c : form sense 6b

12a : reach, attain made port before the storm —often used with ityou'll never make it that far

b : to gain a place on or in make the team the story made the papers

c : to gain the rank of make major

d : to succeed in providing or obtaining make bail

13 : to gain (something, such as money) by working, trading, or dealing make a living

14a : to act so as to earn or acquire makes friends easily makes poor grades

b : to score in a game or sport make a field goal make a birdie

c : to convert (a split) into a spare in bowling

d : to succeed in holing make a putt

15a : to conclude as to the nature or meaning of something what do you make of this development?

b : to regard as being not the fool some make him

16a : to produce as a result of action, effort, or behavior with respect to something make a mess of the job tried to make a thorough job of it

b archaic : to turn into another language by translation

17a : to include in a route or itinerary make New York on the return trip —often used with itmake it to the party

b : catch sense 6b made the bus just in time

18 : to cause or assure the success or prosperity of can either make you or break you

19 : to provide the most enjoyable or satisfying experience of meeting the star of the show really made our day

20a : to compute or estimate to be I make it 23 miles to the border from here.

b : to form and hold in the mind make no doubt of it

21a : to begin or seem to begin (an action) made to go

b obsolete : behave, act

22a : to fulfill (a contract) in a card game

b : to win a trick (see trick entry 1 sense 4) with (a card)

23 : to prepare (hay) by cutting, drying, and storing

24a : to cause (an electric circuit) to be completed

b chiefly dialectal : shut the doors are made against you— William Shakespeare

25 : to persuade to consent to sexual intercourse : seduce

intransitive verb

1 : to have considerable effect courtesy makes for safer driving

2 : set out, head made after the fox made straight for home

3a : to begin or seem to begin a certain action made as though to hand it to me

b : to act so as to be or to seem to be make merry

c : behave, act Don't make as if you didn't hear me.

d slang : to play a part —usually used with likemake like a chicken

4 : to increase in height or size the tide is making now

5 : to reach or extend in a certain direction The forest makes up nearly to the snow line.

6 : to undergo manufacture or processing the silk makes up beautifully

7 archaic : to compose poetry

make a face or make faces

: to distort one's features : grimace He made a face when I mentioned her name.

make a mountain out of a molehill

: to treat a trifling matter as of great importance

make away with

1 : to carry off : steal made away with all the money

2 : kill

make believe

: pretend, feign made believe that everything was all right

make bold

: venture, dare making bold to think of himself as a guardian of culture— W. H. Pritchard

make book

: to accept bets at calculated odds on all the entrants in a race or contest a bartender who made book on the side

make common cause

: to unite to achieve a shared goal attempted to make common cause with the radicals in areas they could agree on

make do

: to get along or manage with the means at hand will just have to make do with what we've got

make ends meet

: to make one's means adequate to one's needs did all they could do to make ends meet

make eyes

: ogle Some guy was making eyes at her from across the room.

make friends with

: to establish a friendship or friendly relations with made friends with his new neighbors

make fun of

: to make an object of amusement or laughter : ridicule, mock the movie made fun of macho pretensions— Pauline Kael

make good

1 or make good on : to make valid or complete: such as

a : to carry out successfully made good their escape made good on his promise

b : indemnify make good the loss

c : to make up for (a deficiency) made good previous neglect of his child

d : prove made good a charge

2 : to prove to be capable also : succeed The play made good at the box office.

make hay

: to make use of a situation or circumstance especially in order to gain an advantage The candidate made hay of his opponent's scandalous behavior.

make head

1 : to make progress especially against resistance they made head against the wind— Charles Dickens

2 : to rise in armed revolt riflemen who … were called on to make head against a series of resolute efforts to drive them from Kentucky— Theodore Roosevelt

make it

1 : survive, live half the cubs won't make it through their first year

2a : to be successful trying to make it in the big time as a fashion photographer— Joe Kane

b : to be satisfactory or pleasing if it isn't danceable, it doesn't make it for me— Judy Hyman

3 : to have sexual intercourse

make light of

: to treat as of little account all these problems are humorously described but never made light of— Susan Kenney

make love

1a : to engage in sexual intercourse

b : neck, pet

2 : woo, court

make much of

1 : to treat as of importance The drill sergeant made much of his toughness.

2 : to treat with obvious affection or special consideration she had evidently enjoyed being made much of in Youngstown — New Yorker

make nice

: to be deliberately and often insincerely polite and agreeable must make nice to politicians they cannot stand— Ken Auletta

make no bones

: to be straightforward, unhesitating, or sure makes no bones about the seriousness of the matter

make one's mark

: to achieve success or fame made his mark as a literary critic— Eric Partridge

make public

: disclose None of those disagreements were made public.

make sail

1 : to set out on a voyage The ship made sail at midnight.

2 : to raise or spread sail

make shift

: to manage with difficulty We didn't have much money, but we made shift.

make sport of

: ridicule, mock it visibly grieved him when the rest of us made sport of our schoolmates— Tobias Wolff

make the grade

: to measure up to some standard : be successful clever and energetic enough to make the grade in a good law firm— John Train

make the most of

: to show or use to the best advantage made the most of her talents

make the scene

: to be present at or participate in a usually specified activity or event small time poets just making the scene at readings or in little mags— B. Frazer

make time

1 : to travel fast made fast time

2 : to gain time have to make time to get to the bank before it closes

3 : to make progress toward winning favor trying to make time with the waitress

make tracks

1 : to go in a hurry : run away, flee she quickly made tracks for New York — Glamour

2 : to proceed at a walk or run

make use of

: to put to use : employ Students made good use of the new gymnasium.

make water

1 of a boat : leak

2 : urinate

make waves

: to create a stir or disturbance continues to make waves with his unique, highly opinionated approach— Suzanne Biallot

make way

1 : to give room for passing, entering, or occupying many of the old villas were being torn down to make way for high rises— William Murray

2 : to make progress

make with

slang : produce, perform —usually used with theStraighten up and walk … make with the feet— Raymond Chandler

make

noun

Definition of make (Entry 2 of 2)

1a : brand sense 4a

b : the manner or style in which a thing is constructed

2 : the physical, mental, or moral constitution of a person men of his make are rare

3a : the action of producing or manufacturing

b : the actual yield or amount produced over a specified period : output

4 : the act of shuffling cards also : turn to shuffle

on the make

1 : in quest of a higher social or financial status

2 : in search of sexual adventure

3 : in the process of forming, growing, or improving

Other Words from make Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about make

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Examples of make in a Sentence

Verb He works in a factory that makes jet engines. She made the curtains herself. He collected wood to make a fire. She used cheese and a mixture of other ingredients to make a delicious sauce. Someone was making a disturbance. The car's engine has been making a strange noise lately. The rock made a dent in the car's fender. I'm not trying to make trouble. The typist made a mistake. I called the doctor's office to make an appointment. Noun “What make of car is that?” “I think it's a Ford.”

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb The film, which includes the voice work of Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey, will make its debut exclusively on the streaming service this Christmas. — Frank Pallotta, CNN, "Pixar's 'Soul' is skipping theaters for Disney+," 9 Oct. 2020 Always serve fresh word salad—old word salad will make your employees sick to their stomachs. — Natasha Vaynblat, The New Yorker, "Word-Salad Recipe for Your Upcoming Corporate Meeting," 9 Oct. 2020 Rules and regulations might make your job or other responsibilities more taxing than usual. — Tribune Content Agency, oregonlive, "Horoscope for Oct. 9, 2020: Leo, weekend is looking enjoyable; Scorpio, broaden your horizons," 9 Oct. 2020 For candidates seeking to cut Alaska’s budget, the level of spending on schools and Medicaid make those the two most obvious options to reduce. — Author: Nat Herz, Anchorage Daily News, "Alaska legislative candidates promise painless budget cuts, but experts are skeptical," 9 Oct. 2020 The agency will make all clinical trial data available, establish an independent advisory committee to review clinical trial outcomes, and recruit massive numbers of diverse participants for those trials. — Hallie Miller, baltimoresun.com, "Coronavirus in Maryland: 5 takeaways from the week," 9 Oct. 2020 Too many factorsinvolved to say teachers are safer in class than at Walmart COVID-19 doesn't make those conversations any easier. — Elinor Aspegren, USA TODAY, "'It feels wrong': Fear of mass teacher retirements due to COVID-19 may have been overblown," 9 Oct. 2020 Attendees can view the scarecrows on display outside, then make their selections via the event’s website or their phones. — Michele Herrmann, Smithsonian Magazine, "From Wider Corn Mazes to Virtual Haunted Houses, Halloween Looks Different This Year," 9 Oct. 2020 All of this blather about uncertainty might make for good actuarial policy. — Libby Watson, The New Republic, "The Pandemic Has Been Great for the Health Insurance Industry," 9 Oct. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Fractions of a second make the difference between triumph and 11th place. — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, "The World’s Fastest Family," 5 Oct. 2020 Candidate Trump raised the specter that the election of Democrat Hillary Clinton to the White House would tilt the court’s make-up for a generation. — Tom Benning, Dallas News, "Trump has stacked federal courts in Texas and beyond with conservative judges, but GOP, Cornyn want more," 10 Sep. 2020 Wednesday’s game was a make-up for the game between the two teams originally scheduled to take place on Aug. 26. — Alex Vejar, The Salt Lake Tribune, "Real Salt Lake hammers LAFC 3-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium," 10 Sep. 2020 This make-ahead turkey gravy recipe roasts turkey wings with veggies and herbs for full-bodied flavor without having to cook a whole bird. — The Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen, Good Housekeeping, "Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy," 8 Sep. 2020 But then the make-up and hair people worked their magic. — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, "Everything you need to know about THAT Mulan cameo," 8 Sep. 2020 That’s certainly the case in San Antonio, where the shrines have evolved to embody the of spirit of rasquachismo, that make-do, creative spark to use whatever is handy that’s so strong in Chicano culture. — René A. Guzman, ExpressNews.com, "San Antonio’s Virgin Mary front yard shrines part of Christian history of faith and devotion," 28 Sep. 2020 The additional postseason inventory this October will help MLB mitigate some of its economic losses, acting as a make-good for TV partners for the games that didn’t happen when the pandemic erased nearly two-thirds of the season. — Jared Diamond, WSJ, "MLB Finished Its Pandemic Season—but 2021 Would Be ‘Devastating’ Without Fans, Commissioner Says," 28 Sep. 2020 Concept cars meant to showcase an automaker's evolving design aesthetic make for great auto-show booth fodder. — Roberto Baldwin, Car and Driver, "Polestar Precept Concept, a Stunning Electric Sedan, Will Go into Production," 26 Sep. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'make.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near make

make a big deal (out) of (something)

make a big difference

Statistics for make

Last Updated

14 Oct 2020

Cite this Entry

“Make.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/make. Accessed 24 Oct. 2020.

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More Definitions for make

make

verb

\ ˈmāk

made\ ˈmād \; making

Kids Definition of make

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : to form or put together out of material or parts Do you know how to make a dress?

2 : to cause to exist or occur Don't make trouble. It makes a funny noise.

3 : to prepare food or drink She made breakfast for us.

4 : to cause to be or become Your visit made them happy.

5 : compel sense 1 Grandma will make them go to bed.

6 : to arrange the blankets and sheets on (a bed) so that the mattress is covered

7 : to combine to produce Two and two make four.

8 : get sense 1, gain We made a profit on the sale. Does she make friends easily?

9 : reach entry 1 sense 2 We made it home.

10 : do entry 1 sense 1, perform I'm making a speech. He made a gesture.

11 : to act so as to be Make sure you have your toothbrush.

make believe

: to act as if something known to be imaginary is real or true

make fun of

: to cause to be the target of laughter in an unkind way

make good

: fulfill sense 1, complete I made good my promise.

make out

1 : to write out I'll make out a list.

2 : understand sense 1 I can't make out what this says.

3 : identify sense 1 I can't make out who it is.

4 : fare entry 1 How did you make out on your tests?

make up

1 : to create from the imagination He made up a story.

2 : form entry 2 sense 3, compose Eleven players make up the team.

3 : to do something to correct or repay a wrong Volunteer work made up for their mischief.

4 : to become friendly again They quarreled but later made up.

5 : to put on makeup

6 : decide sense 1 I've finally made up my mind.

make

noun

Kids Definition of make (Entry 2 of 2)

: brand entry 1 sense 2 What make of car did you buy?

Choose the Right Synonym for make

Verb

make, form, and manufacture mean to cause to come into being. make is a word that can be used of many kinds of creation. She knows how to make a chair. They made many friends. form is used when the thing brought into being has a design or structure. The colonies formed a new nation. manufacture is used for the act of making something in a fixed way and usually by machinery. The company manufactures cars.