make

make arrangements (for someone or some-

thing) 1. to make plans for someone or

something. I’m making arrangements

for the convention. It starts next week,

and I hardly have time to make arrange-

ments. 2. [with someone] to plan accom-

modations for someone. John is com-

ing for a visit next week. Please make

arrangements for him at the hotel. I will

make arrangements for everyone when I

call the hotel.

make a run for it to run fast to get away

or get somewhere. (Informal. Compare

this with make a break for something or

somewhere.) When the guard wasn’t look-

ing, the prisoner made a run for it. In

the baseball game, the player on first base

made a run for it, but he didn’t make it to

second base.

make a scene and create a scene to

make a public display or disturbance.

When John found a f ly in his drink, he

started to create a scene. Oh, John

please don’t make a scene. Just forget about it

make as if to do something to act as if one

were about to do something. The thief

made as if to run away but changed his

Jane made as if to smack the

child.

make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear to

create something of value out of some-

thing of no value. (Often in the negative.)

Don’t bother trying to fix up this old

bicycle. You can’t make a silk purse out of

a sow’s ear. My mother made a lovely

jacket out of an old coat. She succeeded in

making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

make a stink (about something) Go to cre-

ate a stink (about something).

make away with someone or something and

make off with someone or something to take

someone or something away; to make

someone or something disappear. The

robber made away with the jewelry. The

maid quickly made off with the children.

We only saw them for a moment.

make book on something to make or accept

bets on something. (Slang.) It looks as

if it will rain, but I wouldn’t make book on

it. John’s making book on the football

game this Saturday.

make (both) ends meet to manage to live

on a small amount of money. (Also lit-

eral.) It’s hard these days to make ends

meet. I have to work overtime to make

both ends meet.

make chin music to talk or chatter.

(Slang.) We sat around all evening mak-

ing chin music. You were making chin

music when you should have been

listening.

make cracks (about someone or something) to

ridicule or make jokes about someone or

something. (Informal.) Please stop

making cracks about my haircut. It’s the

new style. Some people can’t help mak-

ing cracks. They are just rude.

make do (with someone or something) to do

as well as possible with someone or

something. You’ll have to make do with

less money next year. The economy is very

weak. We’ll have to make do with John

even though he’s a slow worker. Yes, we’ll

have to make do.

make eyes (at someone) to flirt with some-

one. Tom spent all afternoon making

eyes at Ann. How could they sit there

in class making eyes?

make fast work of someone or something Go

to make short work of someone or something.

make for somewhere to run or travel to

somewhere. (Slang, especially criminal

slang.) When I got out of class, I made

for the gym. When he got out of jail, he

made for Toledo.

make free with someone or something 1.

[with someone] Go to take liberties with

someone or something. 2. [with something]

to take advantage of or use something as

if it were one’s own. (Compare this with

take liberties with someone or something.)

I wish you wouldn’t come into my house

and make free with my food and drink.

Please make free with my car while I’m

gone.

make friends Go to make a friend.

make fun (of someone or something) to ridi-

cule someone or something. Please stop

making fun of me. It hurts my feelings.

Billy teases and makes fun a lot, but he

means no harm.

make good as something to succeed in a

particular role. I hope I make good as

a teacher. John made good as a football

player.

make good (at something) to succeed at

something. Bob worked hard to make

good at selling. Jane was determined to

make good.

make good money to earn a large amount

of money. (Informal.) Ann makes good

money at her job. I don’t know what she

does, but she makes good money.

make good on something 1. to fulfill a

promise. Tom made good on his pledge

to donate $1,000. Bill refused to make

good on his promise. 2. to repay a debt.

(See also make something good.) I could-

n’t make good on my debts, and I got in a

lot of trouble. If you don’t make good on

this bill, I’ll have to take back your car.

make good time to travel fast; to progress

rapidly. I am making good time. My re-

port is almost finished. Now that we are

clear of the city traffic, we can make good

time.

make hamburger out of someone or some-

thing and make mincemeat out of some-

one or something to beat up or overcome

someone or something. (Literal when re-

ferring to foodstuffs. Figurative with

people. Slang.) Stop acting silly, or I’ll

make hamburger out of you. Our team

made mincemeat out of the other team.

make it to succeed. (See also make some-

thing.) I hope Bob’s new business makes

it. Donna wants to graduate this year.

I hope she makes it.

make it as far as something Go to make it

(until something).

make it hot for someone to make things dif-

ficult for someone; to put someone un-

der pressure. (Also literal. Slang.)

Maybe if we make it hot for them, they’ll

leave. John likes making it hot for peo-

ple. He’s sort of mean.

make it one’s business to do something to do

something on one’s own even if it means

interfering in something that does not di-

rectly concern one. (As opposed to mind-

ing one’s own business. See also take it

upon oneself to do something.) I know I

doesn’t concern me, but I made it my busi-

ness to call city hall because someone had

to. Jane made it her business to find out

exactly what had happened to the old lady.

make it to something Go to make it (until

something).

make it (until something) and make it to

something; make it as far as something to

endure until something; to last until

some time. I hope my car can make it

to the next town. Do you think you can

make it until we come to a stopping point?

I made it as far as the first turn and de-

cided to give up.

make it worth someone’s while to make

something profitable enough for some-

one to do. (See also worth someone’s

while.) If you deliver this parcel for me,

I’ll make it worth your while. The boss

said he’d make it worth our while if we

worked late.

make life miserable for someone to make

someone unhappy over a long period of

time. My shoes are tight, and they are

making life miserable for me. Jane’s boss

is making life miserable for her.

make light of something to treat something

as if it were unimportant or humorous.

I wish you wouldn’t make light of his

problems. They’re quite serious. I make

light of my problems, and that makes me

feel better.

make little of someone or something to min-

imize someone or something; to play

someone or something down; to belittle some-

one or something. John made little of my

efforts to collect money for charity.

neighbors made little of John and thought

he would amount to nothing.

make love (to someone) to share physical or

emotional love (or both) with someone.

(This phrase usually has a sexual mean-

ing.) Tom and Ann turned out the lights

and made love. The actress refused to

make love to the leading man on stage.

make merry to have fun; to have an en-

joyable time. The guests certainly made

merry at the wedding. The children were

making merry in the backyard.

make mincemeat out of someone or some-

thing Go to make hamburger out of some-

one or something.

make mischief to cause trouble. Bob

loves to make mischief and get other peo-

ple into trouble.  Don’t believe what

Mary says. She’s just trying to make

mischief.

Make no bones about it. Make no mis-

take (about it).; Do not doubt it. (Folksy.)

This is the greatest cake I’ve ever eaten.

Make no bones about it. Make no bones

about it, Mary is a great singer.

make no difference (to someone) not to

matter to someone; for someone not to

care (about something). It makes no

difference to me what you do. Do what-

ever you want. It really makes no

difference.

make no mistake (about it) without a

doubt; certainly. (Informal.) This car

is a great buy. Make no mistake about it.

We support your candidacy—make no

mistake.

make nothing of something to ignore some-

thing as if it had not happened; to think

no more about something. (Often with

it.) My father caught me throwing the

snowball, but he made nothing of it. I

made nothing of the remark, even though

it seemed quite rude. I saw him leave,

but I made nothing of it.

make off with someone or something Go to

make away with someone or something.

make oneself at home to make oneself

comfortable as if one were in one’s own

home. Please come in and make your-

self at home. I’m glad you’re here. Dur-

ing your visit, just make yourself at home.

make oneself conspicuous to attract atten-

tion to oneself. Please don’t make your-

self conspicuous. It embarrasses me.

Ann makes herself conspicuous by wearing

brightly colored clothing.

make oneself heard to speak loudly so that

one will be heard above the noise. I

had to shout to make myself heard. He

screamed to make himself heard over the

sound of the plane’s engines.

make oneself or something a laughingstock

Go to make a laughingstock of oneself or

something.

make oneself scarce to go away. (Slang.)

Hey, kid, go away. Make yourself scarce.

When there is work to be done, I make my-

self scarce.

make (oneself) up to put makeup on one-

self. I have to make up now. I go on

stage in ten minutes. I will make my-

self up. I don’t need your help.

make one’s mind up to decide.

make your mind up. Which do you want?

T Would you help me make up my mind?

make one’s way through something Go to

pick one’s way through something.

make or break someone either to improve

or ruin someone. The army will either

make or break him. It’s a tough assign-

ment, and it will either make or break her.

make out (with someone or something) 1. to

manage to do (something) with someone

or something. I think I can make out

with this hammer. If I can’t make out

with John, I’ll have to ask for more help. 2.

[with someone] to flirt with, kiss, or hug

someone; to make love (to someone).

(Slang.) Bob was trying to make out

with Sally all evening. She didn’t want

to make out, so she left.

make over someone or something Go to make

a fuss (over someone or something).

make overtures to give hints about some-

thing; to present or suggest ideas. The

company made overtures about hiring me.

Tom is making overtures about inviting

us to his country home next month.

make peace (with someone) to end a quar-

rel with someone. (Compare this with

kiss and make up.) Don’t you think it’s

time to make peace with your brother?

There is no point in arguing anymore.

Yes, it’s time we made peace.

make points (with someone) to gain favor

with someone. (Slang.) Tom is trying

to make points with Ann. He wants to ask

her out. He’s trying to make points by

smiling and telling her how nice she looks.

make reservations Go to make

reservation.

make sense to be understandable to some-

one. John doesn’t make sense. What

John says makes sense.

make sense out of someone or something to

understand or interpret someone or

something. (Also with some, as in the

second example.) I can hardly make

sense out of John. I’m trying to make

some sense out of what John is saying.

make short work of someone or something

and make fast work of someone or some-

thing to finish with someone or something

quickly. I made short work of Tom so I

could leave the office to play golf. Billy

made fast work of his dinner so he could

go out and play.

make someone eat crow to cause someone

to retract a statement or admit an error.

(Informal.) Because Mary was com-

pletely wrong, we made her eat crow.

They won’t make me eat crow. They don’t

know I was wrong.

make someone look good to cause someone

to appear successful or competent (espe-

cially when this is not the case). (Also lit-

eral.) John arranges all his affairs to

make himself look good. The manager

didn’t like the quarterly report because it

didn’t make her look good.

make someone look ridiculous to make

someone look foolish (not funny). This

hat makes me look ridiculous.

make me look good. Don’t make me look

ridiculous!

make someone or something available to some-

one to supply someone with someone or

something. I made my car available to

Bob. They made their maid available

to us.

make someone or something over Go to do

someone or something over.

make someone’s bed Go to make a bed;

make the bed.

make someone’s blood boil to make some-

one very angry. (Informal.)

makes my blood boil to think of the

amount of food that gets wasted around

here. Whenever I think of that dishon-

est mess, it makes my blood boil.

make someone’s blood run cold to shock or

horrify someone. The terrible story in

the newspaper made my blood run cold.

I could tell you things about prisons that

would make your blood run cold.

make someone’s flesh crawl to cause some-

one’s skin to feel funny or get goose pim-

ples through fright. Just to hear the

story of the killings made my f lesh crawl.

The horror movie made our f lesh crawl.

make someone’s gorge rise to cause some-

one to become very angry. The unnec-

essary accident made my gorge rise. Get-

ting his tax bill made Bob’s gorge rise.

make someone’s hair curl Go to curl some-

one’s hair.

make someone’s hair stand on end to cause

someone to be very frightened. (Literal if

referring to the effects of a charge of sta-

tic electricity. Informal.) The horrible

scream made my hair stand on end. The

ghost story made our hair stand on end.

make someone’s head spin Go to make

someone’s head swim.

make someone’s head swim and make

someone’s head spin 1. to make someone

dizzy or disoriented. Riding in your car

makes my head spin. Breathing the gas

made my head swim. 2. to confuse or

overwhelm someone. All these numbers

make my head swim. The physics lec-

ture made my head spin.

make someone sick to disgust someone.

I am really tired of your vile talk. You

make me sick! She screamed at him that

he made her sick and then she ran out of

the house.

make someone’s mouth water to make

someone hungry (for something). (Also

literal for causing saliva to flow into

someone’s mouth. Informal.) That

beautiful salad makes my mouth water.

Talking about food makes my mouth

water.

make someone’s position clear to clarify

where someone stands on an issue. I

don’t think you understand what I said.

Let me make my position clear. I can’t

tell whether you are in favor of or against

the proposal. Please make your position

clear.

make someone the scapegoat for something

to make someone take the blame for

something. They made Tom the scape-

goat for the whole affair. It wasn’t all his

fault. Don’t try to make me the scape-

goat. I’ll tell who really did it.

make someone up to put makeup on some-

one. She made herself up before leav-

ing the house. T The crew made up the

cast before the play.

make something to attend an event. (See also

make it.) I hope you can make our

party. I am sorry, but I won’t be able to

make it.

make something a practice Go to make a

practice of something.

make something from scratch to make

something by starting with the basic in-

gredients. (Informal.) We made the

cake from scratch, using no prepared in-

gredients. I didn’t have a ladder, so I

made one from scratch.

make something good and make something

right to replace or restore something.

(Informal. See also set something right.)

I know I owe you some money, but don’t

worry, I’ll make it good.  I’m sorry I

broke your window. I’ll make it right,

though.

make something out of nothing 1. to make

an issue of something of little impor-

tance. (See also make a mountain out of

a molehill.) Relax, John, you’re making

a big problem out of nothing. You have

no evidence. You’re making a case out of

nothing. 2. to create something of value

from nearly worthless parts. My un-

cle—he sells sand—made a fortune out of

nothing. My model airplane won the

contest even though I made it out of

nothing.

make something (out) of something 1. to

make an interpretation of something.

Can you make anything out of this mes-

sage? I don’t understand it. I’m sorry, I

can’t make any sense out of it. 2. to inter-

pret something negatively, possibly lead-

ing to a disagreement. (Informal. Com-

pare this with make nothing of something.)

So, I’m wrong! You want to make some-

thing of it? The hostess made too much

out of my absence.

make something right Go to make something

good.

make something to order to put something

together only when someone requests it.

(Usually said about clothing. See also

build something to order.) This store only

makes suits to order. Our shirts fit per-

fectly because we make each one to order.