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make1 definition

make (māk)

transitive verb made, making mak′·ing

  1. to bring into being; specif.,
    1. to form by shaping or putting parts or ingredients together, physically or mentally; build, construct, fabricate, fashion, create, compose, devise, formulate, etc.
    2. to fit or destine, as if by fashioning they were made for each other
    3. to cause; bring about; produce to make corrections
    4. to bring together materials for and start to make a fire
    5. to cause to be available; provide to make change, to make room
    6. to present for consideration to make a suggestion
  2. to bring into a specified condition; specif.,: sometimes used reflexively make yourself comfortable
    1. to cause to be or become; specif., to elect or appoint make her director
    2. to cause to seem the portrait makes him an old man
  3. to prepare by arranging the sheets, blankets, etc.: said of a bed
    1. to amount to; form as a total two pints make a quart
    2. to count as; constitute this makes his fifth novel
  5. to turn out to be; have, or prove to have, the essential qualities of to make a fine leader
  6. to set up; establish to make rules
    1. to get or acquire, as by one's behavior to make friends
    2. to get by earning, investing, etc. to make a fortune
  8. to cause the success of that venture made her
  9. to understand or regard as the meaning (of) what do you make of the poem?
  10. to estimate to be; regard as I make the distance about 500 miles
    1. to do or perform (a specified action); execute; accomplish to make a quick turn
    2. to engage in; carry on to make war
  12. to deliver (a speech) or utter (remarks, etc.)
  13. to cause or force: followed by an infinitive without to make the machine work, make him behave
    1. to arrive at; reach the ship made port
    2. to arrive at in time to make a train
  15. to go or travel; traverse to make 500 miles the first day, to make 90 miles an hour
  16. Informal to succeed in getting membership in, a position on, the status of, recognition in, etc. to make the team, to make the headlines
  17. ☆ Slang to succeed in becoming the lover of; seduce
  18. Slang to identify or recognize
  19. Slang to induct, for one's lifetime, into the Mafia: usually used as a participial adj. a made man
  20. Archaic to shut (a door) tight
  21. Card Games
    1. to win (tricks) or fulfill (one's bid)
    2. to take a trick with (a specified card)
    3. to shuffle (the cards)
  22. Elec. to close (a circuit); effect (a contact)
  23. Games to score; get as a score
  24. Law to perform, execute, or sign (a legal document)

Etymology: ME maken < OE macian, akin to Ger machen < IE base *maĝ-, to knead, press, stretch > mason, Gr magis, kneaded mass, paste, dough, mageus, kneader

intransitive verb

  1. to start (to do something) she made to go
  2. to tend, extend, or point (to, toward, etc.)
  3. to behave in a specified manner: with a following adjective make bold, make merry, etc.
  4. to cause something to be in a specified condition make ready, make fast, etc.
  5. to increase in depth or volume; rise or accumulate, as tide, snow, water in a ship, etc.
  6. to mature: said of hay, etc.

noun

  1. the act or process of making; esp., manufacture
  2. the amount made; output, esp. of manufacture
  3. the way in which something is made; style; build
  4. type, sort, or brand: with reference to the maker or the place, time, etc. of making a foreign make of car
  5. disposition; character; nature a man of this make
  6. Slang the act or process of identifying a person, taking fingerprints, etc. in police work run a make on the suspect
  7. Elec. the closing of a circuit by making contact

Related Forms:

make Idioms

make a fool (or an ass, etc.) of

to cause to seem a fool (or an ass, etc.)

make after

to chase or follow

make a meal on

or make a meal of
to eat as a meal

make as if

or make as as though
to behave as if

make away with

  1. to steal
  2. to get rid of
  3. to eat all of
  4. to kill

make believe

to pretend; act a part

make do

to get along, or manage, with what is available

make for

  1. to head for; go toward
  2. to charge at; attack
  3. to tend toward; help effect

make good

☆
  1. to give or do something as a substitute for; repay or replace
  2. to fulfill
  3. to succeed in doing; accomplish
  4. to be successful
  5. to prove

make it

  1. Informal to do or achieve a certain thing
  2. ☆ Slang to have sexual intercourse (with)

make like

☆
Slang to imitate; impersonate

make off

to go away; run away

make off with

to steal

make or break

to cause the success or failure of

make out

  1. to see or hear with some difficulty but clearly enough to understand
  2. to understand
  3. to write out
  4. to fill out (as a blank form)
  5. to show or prove to be
  6. to try to show, affirm, or imply to be
  7. to succeed; get along
  8. ☆ Slang
    1. to kiss and caress as lovers
    2. to have sexual intercourse

make over

  1. to change; renovate
  2. to transfer the ownership of by or as by signing a legal document
  3. Informal to be demonstrative toward or about

make someone's day

☆
Slang to give pleasure that will be the high point of someone's day

make something of

  1. to find a use for
  2. to treat as of great importance
  3. ☆ Informal to make an issue of

make up

  1. to put together; compose; compound
  2. to form; constitute
  3. to invent; create
  4. to complete by providing what is lacking
  5. to compensate (for)
  6. to arrange
    1. to become friendly again after a disagreement or quarrel
    2. to settle (an argument or differences) in a friendly manner
    1. to put on what is required for a role in a play, as a costume, wig, greasepaint, rouge, powder, etc.
    2. to put cosmetics on
  9. to resolve or decide (one's mind)
  10. to select and arrange type, illustrations, etc. for (a book, magazine, page, etc.)
  11. ☆ Educ. to take again (an examination or course that one has failed) or to take (an examination that one has missed)

make up to

to flatter, or try to be agreeable to, in order to become friendly or intimate with

make with

Slang
  1. to use, or do something with, in the way indicated or implied
  2. to produce or supply to make with the jokes

on the make

☆
  1. Informal trying to succeed financially, socially, etc., esp. in an aggressive way
  2. Slang seeking a lover

put the make on

Slang to make sexual advances to
make2 definition

make (māk)

noun

  1. an equal; peer
  2. a mate, companion, or spouse

Etymology: ME < OE gemaca (akin to Ger gemach, fitting, suitable) < base of macian: see make

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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