make out
Also found in: Thesaurus, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
make
(māk)v. made (mād), mak·ing, makes
v.tr.
1. To cause to exist or happen; bring about; create: made problems for us; making a commotion.
2. To bring into existence by shaping, modifying, or putting together material; construct: make a dress; made a stone wall.
3. To form by assembling individuals or constituents: We made a temporary information center using savvy volunteers.
4. To change from one form or function to another: make clay into bricks.
5.
a. To cause to be or become: made her position clear; a decision that made him happy.
b. To cause to assume a specified function or role: made her treasurer; made Austin his home.
6.
a. To cause to act in a specified manner: Heat makes gases expand.
b. To compel: made him quit.
7.
a. To form in the mind: make an estimate.
b. To compose: make verses.
8.
a. To prepare; fix: make dinner.
b. To get ready or set in order for use: made the bed.
c. To gather and light the materials for (a fire).
9.
a. To engage in: make war.
b. To carry out; perform: make a phone call; make an incision.
10. To achieve, produce, or attain: made peace between the two sides; not making sense; didn't make the quota.
11.
a. To institute or establish; enact: make laws.
b. To draw up and execute in a suitable form: make a will.
c. To arrange or agree to: make a date.
12.
a. To arrive at; reach: made Seattle in two hours.
b. To reach in time: just made the plane.
13.
a. To attain the rank or position of: made lieutenant.
b. To acquire a place in or on: made the baseball team; made the newspapers.
14.
a. To gain or earn, as by working: make money.
b. To behave so as to acquire: make friends.
c. To score or achieve, as in a sport: made a field goal.
15.
a. To assure the success of: Favorable reviews can make a play.
b. To favor the development of: Practice makes a winning team.
16. To be suited for: Oak makes strong furniture.
17. To develop into: will make a fine doctor.
18.
a. To draw a conclusion as to the significance or nature of: don't know what to make of the decision.
b. To calculate as being; estimate: I make the height 20 feet.
c. To consider as being: wasn't the problem some people made it.
19.
a. To constitute: They make a great team.
b. To add up to: Two and two make four.
c. To amount to: makes no difference.
20. To cover (a distance): made 200 miles before sunset
21. To constitute the essence or nature of: Clothes make the man.
22. To cause to be especially enjoyable or rewarding: Your being along really made the outing.
23. To appear to begin (an action): She made to leave.
24. Slang To persuade to have sexual intercourse.
v.intr.
1. To act or behave in a specified manner: make merry; make free.
2. To begin or appear to begin an action: made as if to shake my hand.
3. To cause something to be as specified: make ready; make sure.
4. To proceed in a certain direction: made for home; made after the thief.
5. Slang To pretend to be; imitate. Used with like: made like a ballerina.
6. To undergo fabrication or manufacture: This wool makes up into a warm shawl.
7. To rise or accumulate: The tide is making.
n.
Phrasal Verbs: 1.
a. The style or manner in which a thing is made: disliked the make of my coat.
b. A specific line of manufactured goods, identified by the manufacturer's name or the registered trademark: a famous make of shirt.
c. The origin of a product's manufacturing: a bicycle of a French make.
2.
a. The physical or moral nature of a person: found out what make of man he was.
b. The physical nature or build of an animal or person: a horse of a beautiful make.
3. Slang Identification of a person or thing, often from information in police records: Did you get a make on the thief?
make for
1. To have or produce (a particular effect or result): small details that make for comfort.
2. To help promote; further: makes for better communication.
make off
To depart in haste; run away.
make out
1. To discern or see, especially with difficulty: I could barely make out the traffic signs through the rain.
2. To understand: could not make out what she said.
3. To write out; draw up: made out the invoices.
4. To fill in (a form, for example).
5. Informal To represent as being: made me out to be a liar.
6. Informal To try to establish or prove: He made out that he was innocent.
7. To get along in a given way; fare: made out well in business.
8. Slang
a. To neck; pet.
b. To have sexual intercourse.
make over
1. To redo; renovate.
2. To change or transfer the ownership of, usually by means of a legal document: made over the property to her son.
make up
1. To put together; construct or compose: make up a prescription.
2. To constitute; form: Ten years make up a decade.
3. To alter one's appearance for a role on the stage, as with a costume and cosmetics.
4. To apply cosmetics.
5. To devise as a fiction or falsehood; invent: made up an excuse.
6. To make good (a deficit or lack): made up the difference in the bill.
7. To compensate for: make up for lost time.
8. To resolve a quarrel: kissed and made up.
9. To make ingratiating or fawning overtures. Used with to: made up to his friend's boss.
10. To take (an examination or course) again or at a later time because of previous absence or failure.
11. To set in order: make up a room.
12. Printing To select and arrange material for: made up the front page.
make with Slang
Idioms: 1. To bring into use: a flirt making with the eyes.
2. To put forth; produce: always making with the jokes.
make a clean breast of
To confess fully.
make a face
To distort the features of the face; grimace.
make a go of
To achieve success in: have made a go of the business.
make away with
1. To carry off; steal.
2. To use up or consume.
3. To kill or destroy.
make believe
To pretend.
make bold
To venture: I will not make so bold as to criticize such a scholar.
make book
To accept bets on a race, game, or contest.
make do
To manage to get along with the means available: had to make do on less income.
make ends meet
To manage so that one's means are sufficient for one's needs.
make eyes
To ogle.
make fun of
To mock; ridicule.
make good
1. To carry out successfully: made good his escape.
2. To fulfill: made good her promise.
3. To make compensation for; make up for: made good the loss.
4. To succeed: made good as a writer.
make hay
To turn to one's advantage: The candidate's opponents made hay of the scandal.
make heads or tails of
To understand: I couldn't make heads or tails of the report.
make history
To do something memorable or spectacular enough to influence the course of history: The first space flight made history.
make it
1. Informal To achieve a goal; be successful: finally made it as an actor.
2. Slang To have sexual intercourse.
make light of
To treat as unimportant: He made light of his illness.
make light work of
To do or accomplish easily.
make love
1. To engage in amorous caressing.
2. To engage in sexual intercourse.
make much of
To treat as of great importance.
make nice
To resolve a quarrel; make up.
make no bones about
To be forthright and candid about; acknowledge freely: They make no bones about their dislike for each other.
make off with
To snatch or steal: made off with the profits.
make (one's) day
To give one great pleasure.
make (one's) peace with
To bring oneself to accept; reconcile oneself to.
make (one's) way
1. To go forward; advance.
2. To succeed, especially in making a living.
make sail
1. To begin a voyage.
2. To set sail.
make sense
1. To be coherent or intelligible: an explanation that made sense.
2. To be practical or advisable: It makes sense to go now.
make something of
To start a fight or quarrel over.
make the grade
To measure up to a given standard.
make the most of
To use to the greatest advantage.
make the scene Slang
1. To put in an appearance: made the scene at the party.
2. To participate in a specified activity: made the drug scene.
make time
1. To travel speedily.
2. To travel at a specified rate: We made good time getting to town.
3. Slang To make progress toward attracting someone: tried to make time with the new neighbor.
make tracks Slang
To move or leave in a hurry.
make up (one's) mind
To decide between alternatives; come to a definite decision or opinion.
make waves Slang
To cause a disturbance or controversy.
make way
1. To give room for passage; move aside.
2. To make progress.
on the make Slang
1. Aggressively striving for financial or social improvement: a young executive on the make.
2. Eagerly seeking a sexual partner.
mak′a·ble, make′a·ble adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
make out
vb (adverb)
1. (tr) to discern or perceive: can you make out that house in the distance?.
2. (tr) to understand or comprehend: I can't make out this letter.
3. (tr) to write out: he made out a cheque.
4. (tr) to attempt to establish or prove: he made me out to be a liar.
5. (intr) to pretend: he made out that he could cook.
6. (intr) to manage or fare: how did you make out in the contest?.
7. informal chiefly (often foll by: with) US and Canadian to engage in necking or petting: Alan is making out with Jane.
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Verb | 1. | make out - detect with the senses; "The fleeing convicts were picked out of the darkness by the watchful prison guards"; "I can't make out the faces in this photograph" resolve - make clearly visible; "can this image be resolved?" discriminate - distinguish; "I could not discriminate the different tastes in this complicated dish" |
| 2. |  make out - make out and issue; "write out a check"; "cut a ticket"; "Please make the check out to me"write - communicate or express by writing; "Please write to me every week" check - write out a check on a bank account | |
| 3. |  make out - comprehend; "I cannot make out what this politician is saying"understand - know and comprehend the nature or meaning of; "She did not understand her husband"; "I understand what she means" | |
| 4. | make out - proceed or get along; "How is she doing in her new job?"; "How are you making out in graduate school?"; "He's come a long way" | |
| 5. | make out - come to terms with; "We got by on just a gallon of gas"; "They made do on half a loaf of bread every day" act, move - perform an action, or work out or perform (an action); "think before you act"; "We must move quickly"; "The governor should act on the new energy bill"; "The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel" extemporize, improvise - manage in a makeshift way; do with whatever is at hand; "after the hurricane destroyed our house, we had to improvise for weeks" fend - try to manage without help; "The youngsters had to fend for themselves after their parents died" hack, cut - be able to manage or manage successfully; "I can't hack it anymore"; "she could not cut the long days in the office" rub along, scrape along, scrape by, scratch along, squeak by, squeeze by - manage one's existence barely; "I guess I can squeeze by on this lousy salary" | |
| 6. |  make out - have sexual intercourse with; "This student sleeps with everyone in her dorm"; "Adam knew Eve"; "Were you ever intimate with this man?"bonk, do it, eff, fuck, get it on, get laid, have a go at it, have intercourse, have it away, have it off, have sex, be intimate, lie with, make love, roll in the hay, screw, sleep together, sleep with, hump, jazz, love, bed, bang, know | |
| 7. |  make out - kiss, embrace, or fondle with sexual passion; "The couple were necking in the back seat of the car"pet - stroke or caress gently; "pet the lamb" do it, get it on, get laid, have a go at it, have intercourse, have it away, have it off, be intimate, lie with, roll in the hay, screw, sleep together, sleep with, hump, jazz, love, bed, bang, make out, know - have sexual intercourse with; "This student sleeps with everyone in her dorm"; "Adam knew Eve"; "Were you ever intimate with this man?" | |
| 8. |  make out - write all the required information onto a form; "fill out this questionnaire, please!"; "make out a form" | |
| 9. | make out - imply or suggest; "Your remarks make me out to be stupid" | |
| 10. | make out - try to establish; "She made out that she know nothing about the crime" claim - assert or affirm strongly; state to be true or existing; "He claimed that he killed the burglar" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
make
verb1. To cause to come into existence:
Idiom: give birth to.
2. To be the cause of:
bring, bring about, bring on, cause, effect, effectuate, generate, induce, ingenerate, lead to, occasion, result in, secure, set off, stir (up), touch off, trigger.
Idioms: bring to pass, give rise to.
3. To create by forming, combining, or altering materials:
6. To cause (a person or thing) to act or move in spite of resistance:
7. To cause to be ready, as for use, consumption, or a special purpose:
8. To put in force or cause to be by legal authority:
10. To proceed in a specified direction:
11. To receive, as wages, for one's labor:
Informal: pull down.
Idioms: earn a living, earn one's keep.
12. To be the constituent parts of.Also used with up:
make out
1. To perceive and fix the identity of, especially with difficulty:
2. To perceive and recognize the meaning of:
accept, apprehend, catch (on), compass, comprehend, conceive, fathom, follow, get, grasp, read, see, sense, take, take in, understand.
Informal: savvy.
Slang: dig.
Chiefly British: twig.
Scots: ken.
Idioms: get a handle on, get the picture.
3. Informal. To progress or perform adequately, especially in difficult circumstances:
Idioms: make do, make shift.
4. Slang. To engage in kissing, caressing, and other amorous behavior:
make over
phrasal verb
make up
1. To use ingenuity in making, developing, or achieving:
Informal: cook up.
Idiom: come up with.
2. To compose or recite without preparation:
Idiom: wing it.
3. To act as an equalizing weight or force to:
4. To reestablish friendship between:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
يُحاوِل أن يجْعَل الأمر يبدويَرى، يَسْمَع، يَفْهَميُعِدُّ ، يَكْتُبُ، يَملأُيُقَبِّل، يُعانِق، يُداعِب
muchlovat senapsatpředstíratrozeznatvyhodit
få til at se ud som omgå til denskelneskrivetyde
feltüntet
greina, eygjaláta líta út semskrifa, fylla út
mojkať saoblizovať sa
make
(meik) – past tense, past participle made (meid) – verb1. to create, form or produce. God made the Earth; She makes all her own clothes; He made it out of paper; to make a muddle/mess of the job; to make lunch/coffee; We made an arrangement/agreement/deal/bargain.
2. to compel, force or cause (a person or thing to do something). They made her do it; He made me laugh.
3. to cause to be. I made it clear; You've made me very unhappy.
4. to gain or earn. He makes $100 a week; to make a profit.
5. (of numbers etc) to add up to; to amount to. 2 and 2 make(s) 4.
6. to become, turn into, or be. He'll make an excellent teacher.
7. to estimate as. I make the total 483.
8. to appoint, or choose, as. He was made manager.
9. used with many nouns to give a similar meaning to that of the verb from which the noun is formed. He made several attempts (= attempted several times); They made a left turn (= turned left); He made (= offered) a suggestion/proposal; Have you any comments to make?
noun a (usually manufacturer's) brand. What make is your new car?
ˈmaker noun a person who makes. a tool-maker; a dressmaker.
ˈmaking noun the process of producing or forming something. glassmaking; (also adjective) the road-making industry.
ˌmake-beˈlieve noun the act or art of pretending and imagining. a world of make-believe; (also adjective) a make-believe world.
ˈmake-ˌover noun a (complete) change in a person's appearance made by cosmetic treatment, new hairstyle, new clothes etc.
ˈmakeshift adjective temporary and usually of poor quality. a makeshift garden shed.
ˈmake-up noun1. cosmetics applied to the face etc. She never wears any make-up.
2. the set, or combination, of characteristics or ingredients that together form something, eg a personality; composition. Violence is just not part of his make-up.
have the makings of to have the clear ability for becoming. Your son has the makings of an engineer.
in the making being made or formed at this very moment. A revolution is in the making.
make a/one's bed to tidy and straighten the sheets, blankets etc on a bed after it has been used. The children make their own beds every morning.
make believe to pretend (that). The children made believe they were animals.
make do (with with) to use something as a poor-quality or temporary alternative to the real thing. There's no meat, so we'll have to make do with potatoes.
make for to go towards. We're making for home.
make it to be successful. After twenty years, we've finally made it.
make it up1. to become friends again after a quarrel. It's time you two made it up (with each other).
2. to give compensation or make amends for something. I'm sorry – I'll make it up to you somehow.
make (something) of (something) to understand (something) by or from (something). What do you make of all this?
make out1. to see, hear or understand. He could make out a ship in the distance.
2. to make it seem that. He made out that he was earning a huge amount of money.
3. to write or fill in. The doctor made out a prescription.
4. (slang) to kiss, hug and caress; to neck. They were making out in the back seat.
make over (American) to change something or turn it into something else. They made over the room as an office; The plastic surgeon made her face over.
make up1. to invent. He made up the whole story.
2. to compose or be part(s) of. The group was made up of doctors and lawyers.
3. to complete. We need one more player – will you make up the number(s)?
4. to apply cosmetics to (the face). I don't like to see women making up (their faces) in public.
5. to become friends again (after a quarrel etc). They've finally made up (their disagreement).
make up for to supply a reward, substitute etc for disappointment, damage, loss (of money or time) etc. Next week we'll try to make up for lost time.
make up one's mind to make a decision. He finally made up his mind about the job.
make up to to try to gain the favour or love of by flattery etc. She's always making up to the teacher by bringing him presents.
made of is used in speaking of the material from which an object is constructed etc: This table is made of wood/plastic/steel .
made from is used in speaking of the raw material from which something has been produced by a process of manufacture: Paper is made from wood/rags .
made from is used in speaking of the raw material from which something has been produced by a process of manufacture: Paper is made from wood/rags .
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.