I. CARRYING OUT AN ACTION
/meɪk/
( makes, making, made)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
Note: 'Make' is used in a large number of expressions which are explained under other words in this dictionary. For example, the expression ‘to make sense’ is explained at ‘sense’.
1.
You can use make with a wide range of nouns to indicate that someone performs an action or says something. For example, if you make a suggestion, you suggest something.
I’d just like to make a comment...
I made a few phone calls...
I think you’re making a serious mistake...
VERB : V n , V n , V n
2.
You can use make with certain nouns to indicate that someone does something well or badly. For example, if you make a success of something, you do it successfully, and if you make a mess of something, you do it very badly.
Apparently he made a mess of his audition...
Are you really going to make a better job of it this time?
VERB : V n of n , V n of n
3.
If you make as if to do something or make to do something, you behave in a way that makes it seem that you are just about to do it. ( WRITTEN )
Mary made as if to protest, then hesitated...
He made to chase Davey, who ran back laughing.
VERB : V as if to-inf , V to-inf
4.
In cricket, if a player makes a particular number of runs, they score that number of runs. In baseball or American football, if a player makes a particular score, they achieve that score.
He made 1,972 runs for the county.
= score
VERB : V amount
5.
If you make do with something, you use or have it instead of something else that you do not have, although it is not as good.
Why make do with a copy if you can afford the genuine article?...
PHRASE : make inflects , oft PHR with n
6.
If you make like you are doing something, you act as if you are doing it, and if you make like someone, you act as if you are that person. ( INFORMAL )
Bob makes like he’s a fish blowing bubbles.
PHRASE : V inflects , PHR cl , PHR n
II. CAUSING OR CHANGING
/meɪk/
( makes, making, made)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
Please look at category 11 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.
1.
If something makes you do something, it causes you to do it.
Grit from the highway made him cough...
I was made to feel guilty and irresponsible.
VERB : V n inf , be V-ed to-inf
2.
If you make someone do something, you force them to do it.
You can’t make me do anything...
They were made to pay $8.8 million in taxes.
VERB : V n inf , be V-ed to-inf
3.
You use make to talk about causing someone or something to be a particular thing or to have a particular quality. For example, to make someone a star means to cause them to become a star, and to make someone angry means to cause them to become angry.
...James Bond, the role that made him a star...
She made life very difficult for me...
She’s made it obvious that she’s appalled by me...
Rationing has made it easier to find some products like eggs, butter and meat...
Does your film make a hero of Jim Garrison?
VERB : V n n , V n adj , V it adj that , V it adj to-inf , V n of n
4.
If you say that one thing or person makes another seem, for example, small, stupid, or good, you mean that they cause them to seem small, stupid, or good in comparison, even though they are not.
They live in fantasy worlds which make Euro Disney seem uninventive...
VERB : V n inf adj / prep / n
5.
If you make yourself understood, heard, or known, you succeed in getting people to understand you, hear you, or know that you are there.
Aron couldn’t speak Polish. I made myself understood with difficulty...
VERB : V pron-refl -ed
6.
If you make someone something, you appoint them to a particular job, role, or position.
Mr Blair made him transport minister...
VERB : V n n
7.
If you make something into something else, you change it in some way so that it becomes that other thing.
We made it into a beautiful home...
VERB : V n into n
8.
To make a total or score a particular amount means to increase it to that amount.
This makes the total cost of the bulb and energy £27...
VERB : V n amount
9.
When someone makes a friend or an enemy, someone becomes their friend or their enemy, often because of a particular thing they have done.
Lorenzo was a natural leader who made friends easily...
He was unruly in class and made an enemy of most of his teachers.
VERB : V n , V n of n
10.
If someone makes something of themselves or makes something of their life , they become successful.
My father lived long enough to see that I’d made something of myself...
The nuns who taught him urged him to make something of his life and he did.
PHRASE : V inflects
11.
to make friends: see friend
III. CREATING OR PRODUCING
/meɪk/
( makes, making, made)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
To make something means to produce, construct, or create it.
She made her own bread...
Having curtains made professionally can be costly...
They make compost out of all kinds of waste.
VERB : V n , have n V-ed , V n from/out of n
2.
If you make a note or list, you write something down in that form.
Mr Perry made a note in his book...
Make a list of your questions beforehand.
= write
VERB : V n , V n
3.
If you make rules or laws, you decide what these should be.
The police don’t make the laws, they merely enforce them...
VERB : V n
4.
If you make money, you get it by working for it, by selling something, or by winning it.
I think every business’s goal is to make money...
Can it be moral to make so much money out of a commodity which is essential to life?
VERB : V n , V n out of/from n
5.
If something makes something else, it is responsible for the success of that thing.
What really makes the book are the beautiful designs.
VERB : V n
6.
The make of something such as a car or radio is the name of the company that made it.
...a certain make of wristwatch.
= brand
N-COUNT : supp N , N of n
7.
If you say that someone is on the make , you disapprove of them because they are trying to get a lot of money or power, possibly by illegal or immoral methods.
PHRASE : v-link PHR [ disapproval ]
IV. LINK VERB USES
/meɪk/
( makes, making, made)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
You can use make to say that someone or something has the right qualities for a particular task or role. For example, if you say that someone will make a good politician, you mean that they have the right qualities to be a good politician.
You’ve a very good idea there. It will make a good book...
I’m very fond of Maurice and I’d make him a good wife.
V-LINK : V n , V n n
2.
If people make a particular pattern such as a line or a circle, they arrange themselves in this way.
A group of people made a circle around the Pentagon.
= form
V-LINK : V n
3.
You can use make to say what two numbers add up to.
Four twos make eight...
V-LINK : V amount
V. ACHIEVING OR REACHING
/meɪk/
( makes, making, made)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
If someone makes a particular team or makes a particular high position, they do so well that they are put in that team or get that position.
The athletes are just happy to make the British team...
He knew he was never going to make director.
VERB : V n , V n
2.
If you make a place in or by a particular time, you get there in or by that time, often with some difficulty.
They were trying to make New Orleans by nightfall.
VERB : V n prep
3.
If you make it somewhere, you succeed in getting there, especially in time to do something.
...the hostages who never made it home...
I just made it!
PHRASE : V inflects , oft PHR prep / adv
4.
If you make it , you are successful in achieving something difficult, or in surviving through a very difficult period.
I believe I have the talent to make it...
PHRASE : V inflects
5.
If you cannot make it , you are unable to attend an event that you have been invited to.
He hadn’t been able to make it to our dinner.
PHRASE : V inflects , usu with brd-neg , oft PHR to n
VI. STATING AN AMOUNT OR TIME
/meɪk/
( makes, making, made)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
You use make it when saying what you calculate or guess an amount to be.
All I want to know is how many T-shirts Jim Martin has got. I make it three...
VERB : V it amount
2.
You use make it when saying what time your watch says it is.
I make it nearly 9.30...
‘What time d’you make it?’—‘Thirteen past.’
VERB : V it n , V it n , also V n n