make good

make good idiom
  1. Carry out successfully, make sure of, as in He made good his escape. This usage was first recorded in 1606.
  2. Fulfill, as in She made good her promise. This usage was first recorded in Miles Coverdale's 1535 translation of the Bible (II Chronicles 6:16): “Make good unto my father, David ... that which thou hast promised him.”
  3. Compensate for, make up for, as in They made good the loss. This usage first appeared in William Langland's Piers Ploughman (1377).
  4. Succeed, as in He made good as a writer. [c. 1900]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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