M

mad about someone or something Go to crazy

about someone or something.

mad as a hatter Go to (as) mad as a

hatter.

mad as a hornet Go to (as) mad as a

hornet.

mad as a March hare Go to (as) mad as

a March hare.

mad as a wet hen Go to (as) mad as a wet

hen.

mad as hell Go to (as) mad as hell.

mad enough to chew nails and angry

enough to chew nails angry enough to

bite through metal nails I am mad

enough to chew nails! Who took my check-

book? Her sudden tirade made him an-

gry enough to chew nails.

mad for someone or something Go to mad

about someone or something.

made for each other [for two people] to

be very well suited romantically. Bill

and Jane were made for each other. Mr.

and Mrs. Smith were not exactly made for

each other. They really don’t get along.

made from the same mold Go to cut from

the same cloth.

made to measure [of clothing] made es-

pecially to fit the measurements of a par-

ticular person. Jack has his suits made

to measure because he’s rather large.

Having clothes made to measure is rather

expensive.

made to order put together on request.

(Compare this with in stock.) This suit

fits so well because it’s made to order.

His feet are so big that all his shoes have

to be made to order.

maiden voyage the first voyage of a ship

or boat. The liner sank on its maiden

voyage. Jim is taking his yacht on its

maiden voyage.

main strength and awkwardness great

force; brute force. (Folksy.) They fi-

nally got the piano moved in to the living

room by main strength and awkwardness.

Lifting the table must be done carefully.

This is not a job requiring main strength

and awkwardness.

make a bed and make someone’s bed to

arrange neatly the sheets and blankets of

a bed. The hotel maid made our bed.

Billy had to make his bed before he went

to school.

make a beeline for someone or something to

head straight toward someone or some-

thing. (Refers to the way bees fly in a

straight line. Informal.) Billy came into

the kitchen and made a beeline for the

cookies. After the game, we all made a

beeline for John, who was serving cold

drinks.

make a big deal about something Go to

make a federal case out of something.

make a break for something or somewhere to

move or run quickly to something or

somewhere. (Informal.) Before we

could stop her, she made a break for the

door and got away.  The mouse got

frightened and made a break for a hole in

the wall.

make a bundle and make a pile to make

a lot of money. (Slang.) John really

made a bundle on that deal. I’d like to

make a pile and retire.

make a check out (to someone) to write a

check naming someone as payee.

Please make a check out to John Jones. T

Do you want cash, or should I make out a

check?

make a clean breast of something to con-

fess something; to get something off one’s

chest. You’ll feel better if you make a

clean breast of it. Now tell us what hap-

pened.  I was forced to make a clean

breast of the whole affair.

make a clean sweep to do something

completely or thoroughly, with no ex-

ceptions. (Informal.) The boss decided

to fire everybody, so he made a clean

sweep.   They made a clean sweep

through the neighborhood, repairing all

the sidewalks.

make a comeback to return to one’s for-

mer (successful) career. (Informal.)

After ten years in retirement, the singer

made a comeback. You’re never too old

to make a comeback.

make a day of doing something and make

a day of it to spend the whole day do-

ing something. We went to the museum

to see the new exhibit and then decided to

make a day of it. They made a day of

cleaning the attic.

make a day of it Go to make a day of do-

ing something.

make a dent in something to begin to con-

sume or accomplish something. (Also lit-

eral. Informal.) Bob, you’ve hardly

made a dent in your dinner! There is a

lot of rice left. We hardly made a dent in

it all week. Get busy! You haven’t even

made a dent in your work.

make a face to twist one’s face into a

strange expression in order to show one’s

dislike, ridicule, etc., or in order to make

someone laugh. The comedian made

faces in order to amuse the children.

Jane made a face when she was asked to

work late.

make a face (at someone) 1. to make a face

at someone in ridicule. Mother, Billy

made a face at me! The teacher sent

Jane to the principal for making a face in

class. 2. to attempt to communicate to

someone through facial gestures, usually

an attempt to say “no” or “stop.”

started to tell John where I was last night,

but Bill made a face so I didn’t. John

made a face at me as I was testifying, so I

avoided telling everything.

make a fast buck and make a quick

buck to make money with little effort.

(Slang.) Tom is always ready to make

a fast buck. I made a quick buck selling

used cars.

make a federal case out of something and

make a big deal about something to ex-

aggerate the seriousness of something.

(The first entry head can be literal.

Slang.) Come on. It was nothing! Don’t

make a federal case out of it.  I only

stepped on your toe. Don’t make a big deal

about it.

make a fool out of someone and make a

monkey out of someone to make some-

one look foolish. John made a monkey

out of himself while trying to make a fool

out of Jim. John made a fool out of him-

self at the party. Are you trying to make

a monkey out of me?

make a friend and make friends to es-

tablish a link of friendship with someone.

I have never found it difficult to make

friends. Mary had to make new friends

when she changed schools.

make a fuss (over someone or something)

and make over someone or something 1. to

worry about or make a bother about

someone or something. Why do you

fuss over a problem like that?  Please

don’t make a fuss. Everything will be all

right.  Don’t make over me so much!

2. to be very solicitous and helpful

toward a person or a pet. How can any-

one make a fuss over a cat? Billy was

embarrassed when his mother made a fuss

over him. 3. to argue about someone or

something. Please don’t make a fuss

over who gets the last cookie. Please dis-

cuss it. Don’t make a fuss over it!

make a go of it to make something work

out all right. (Informal.) It’s a tough sit-

uation, but Ann is trying to make a go of

it. We don’t like living here, but we have

to make a go of it.

make a great show of something to make

something obvious; to do something in

a showy fashion. Ann made a great

show of wiping up the drink that John

spilled. Jane displayed her irritation at

our late arrival by making a great show of

serving the cold dinner.

make a hit (with someone or something) to

please someone. (Informal.) The singer

made a hit with the audience. She was

afraid she wouldn’t make a hit. John

made a hit with my parents last evening.

make a killing to have a great success, es-

pecially in making money. (Slang.)

John has got a job selling insurance. He’s

not exactly making a killing. Bill made

a killing at the racetrack yesterday.

make a laughingstock of oneself or some-

thing and make oneself or something a

laughingstock to make oneself a source

of ridicule or laughter; to do something

that invites ridicule. Laura made her-

self a laughingstock by arriving at the fast-

food restaurant in full evening dress.

The board of directors made the company

a laughingstock by hiring an ex-convict as

president.

make a living to earn enough money to

live on. I’ll be glad when I get a job and

can make a living. I can hardly make a

living with the skills I have.

make allowance(s) (for someone or some-

thing) 1. to allow time, space, food, etc.,

for someone or something. When

planning the party, please make allowances

for John and his family. I’m making al-

lowance for ten extra guests. 2. to make

excuses or explanations for someone or

something; to take into consideration the

negative effects of someone or some-

thing. You’re very late even when we

make allowance for the weather.  We

have to make allowance for the age of the

house when we judge its condition.

make a long story short to bring a story

to an end. (A formula that introduces a

summary of a story or a joke.) And—

to make a long story short—I never got

back the money that I lent him. If I can

make a long story short, let me say that

everything worked out fine.

make a meal of something to eat only a large

portion of one kind of food as an entire

meal. There were lots of salad makings,

so we fixed a large salad and made a meal

of it. We had tons of leftover turkey af-

ter the festival, so the next day we sat down

and made a meal of it.

make amends (for something) to do some-

thing as an act of restitution or to make

up for some error, injury, or loss that one

has caused. After the argument, Jane

later called her friend to make amends.

After amends had been made, Jane took

her friend to dinner.

make a monkey out of someone Go to

make a fool out of someone.

make a mountain out of a molehill to

make a major issue out of a minor one;

to exaggerate the importance of some-

thing. Come on, don’t make a mountain

out of a molehill. It’s not that important.

Mary is always making mountains out

of molehills.

make an all-out effort to make a thor-

ough and energetic effort. (See also all-

out effort.) Sally made an all-out effort

to get to class on time. In my job, I have

to make an all-out effort every day.

make a name (for oneself) to become fa-

mous. Sally wants to work hard and

make a name for herself. It’s hard to

make a name without a lot of talent and

hard work.

make an appearance to appear; to appear

in a performance. (Compare this with

put in an appearance.) We waited for

thirty minutes for the professor to make an

appearance, then we went home. The

famous singing star made an appearance

in Detroit last August.

make an appointment (with someone) to

schedule a meeting with someone. I

made an appointment with the doctor for

late today. The professor wouldn’t see me

unless I made an appointment.

make an example of someone to make

a public issue out of someone’s bad

behavior. The judge decided to make an

example of John, so he fined him the full

amount. The teacher made an example

of Mary, who had disturbed the class con-

stantly with her whispering.

make an exception (for someone) to sus-

pend a rule or practice for someone in a

single instance. Please make an excep-

tion just this once. The rule is a good

one, and I will not make an exception for

anyone.

make an exhibition of oneself to embarrass

oneself by showing off or doing some-

thing daring in public. (Sometimes un-

der the influence of alcohol.) You can

be certain that Joan will have too much to

drink and make an exhibition of herself.

Sit down and be quiet. Stop making an

exhibition of yourself.

make a night of doing something to do some-

thing for the entire night. We partied

until three in the morning and then de-

cided to make a night of it. Once or

twice in the early spring we make a night

of fishing.

make an impression (on someone) to pro-

duce a memorable effect on someone.

(Often with good, bad, or some other ad-

jective.) Tom made a bad impression on

the banker. I’m afraid that you haven’t

made a very good impression on our visi-

tors. You made quite an impression on

my father.

make an issue of someone or something Go to

make a point of someone or something.

make a note of something to write some-

thing down. Please make a note of this

address. This is important. Make a note

of it.

make a nuisance of oneself to be a constant

bother. I’m sorry to make a nuisance

of myself, but I do need an answer to my

question Stop making a nuisance of

yourself and wait your turn.

make an uproar Go to create an uproar.

make a pass at someone to flirt with some-

one; to make a romantic advance at

someone. (This often has sexual impli-

cations. Compare this with make a play

(for someone).) I was shocked when Ann

made a pass at me. I think Bob was

making a pass at me, but he did it very

subtly.

make a pile Go to make a bundle.

make a pitch (for someone or something) to

say something in support of someone or

something; to attempt to promote, sell,

or advance someone or something. (In-

formal.) Bill is making a pitch for his

friend’s new product again. The the-

atrical agent came in and made a pitch for

her client. Every time I turn on the tele-

vision set, someone is making a pitch.

make a play (for someone) to attempt to at-

tract the romantic interest of someone.

(Informal. Compare this with make a

pass at someone.) Ann made a play for

Bill, but he wasn’t interested in her. I

knew he liked me, but I never thought he’d

make a play.

make a point to state an item of impor-

tance. (Also literal, as in sports and

games.) You made a point that we all

should remember. He spoke for an hour

without making a point.

make a point of doing something to make an

effort to do something. Please make a

point of mailing this letter. It’s very im-

portant. The hostess made a point of

thanking me for bringing f lowers.

make a point of someone or something and

make an issue of someone or something to

turn someone or something into an im-

portant matter. Please don’t make a

point of John’s comment. It wasn’t that im-

portant. I hope you make an issue of

Tom’s success and the reasons for it. Tom

has a lot of problems. Please don’t make an

issue of him.

make a practice of something and make

something a practice to turn something

into a habitual activity. Jane makes a

practice of planting daisies every summer.

Her mother also made it a practice.

make a quick buck Go to make a fast

buck.

make a reservation and make reserva-

tions to reserve a seat, as in an airplane,

restaurant, or theater in advance; to re-

serve a room, as in a hotel in advance.

Did you make a reservation or are we just

going to chance getting a table? I made

reservations for a f light at twelve noon.