Pronunciations (5)
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/meɪk/
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[meɪkʲ]
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[meːk]
Pronunciation notes
- Canada
- Multicultural-London-English
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/mɛk/
Pronunciation notes
- Northumbria
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/mæk/
Pronunciation notes
- Wearside
Verb
To create. To build, construct, produce, or originate.
Usage- Transitive
- Synonyms
- Examples
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I make bread.
We made a bird feeder for our yard.
I'll make a man out of him yet.
More examples (4)
He makes deodorants.
Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.
I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.
Yet in “Through a Latte, Darkly”, a new study of how Starbucks has largely avoided paying tax in Britain, Edward Kleinbard[…]shows that current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate what he calls “stateless income”:[…]. In Starbucks’s case, the firm has in effect turned the process of making an expensive cup of coffee into intellectual property.
To create. To write or compose.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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I made a poem for her wedding.
He made a will.
To create. To bring about; to effect or produce by means of some action.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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make war
They were just a bunch of ne'er-do-wells who went around making trouble for honest men.
More examples (1)
But whether or not the VCR makes a complete comeback, VHS enthusiasts agree that these tapes occupy an irreplaceable place in culture.
To create. To create (the universe), especially (in Christianity) from nothing.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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God made earth and heaven.
Thine are these orbs of light and shade; Thou madest Life in man and brute; Thou madest Death; and lo, thy foot Is on the skull which thou hast made.
To create. To prepare (food); to cook (food).
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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I'm making cereal for breakfast. Who wants some?
To behave, to act.
Usage- Colloquial
- Intransitive
- Examples
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To make like a deer caught in the headlights.
They made nice together, as if their fight never happened.
More examples (1)
He made as if to punch him, but they both laughed and shook hands.
To tend; to contribute; to have effect; with for or against.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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And all Israel's language about this power, except that it makes for righteousness, is approximate language
Follow after the things which make for peace.
More examples (1)
Considerations infinite Do make against it.
To constitute.
- Examples
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They make a cute couple.
This makes the third infraction.
More examples (4)
One swallow does not a summer make.
We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner. He could not be induced to remain permanently at Mohair because Miss Trevor was at Asquith, but he appropriated a Hempstead cart from the Mohair stables and made the trip sometimes twice in a day.
Style alone does not make a writer.
So if your prospective school is proudly displaying that "We Are Outstanding" banner on its perimeter fence, well, that is wonderful … but do bear in mind that in all likelihood it has been awarded for results in those two subjects, rather than for its delivery of a broad and balanced curriculum which brings out the best in every child. Which is, of course, what makes a great primary school.
To add up to, have a sum of.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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Two and four make six.
To interpret.
Usage- Transitive
- construed with of
- Examples
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I don’t know what to make of it.
They couldn't make anything of the inscription.
More examples (1)
What time do you make it?
To bring into success.
Usage- stressed
- Transitive
- usually
- Examples
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This company is what made you.
She married into wealth and so has it made.
More examples (2)
who makes or ruins with a smile or frown
A great expression and amazing eye contact, in particular, can make a photograph, and without them, you can end up with very little.
To cause to be.
Usage- Ditransitive
- Synonyms
- Examples
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The blisters on my foot made it a problem to walk without a cane.
Caesar made rich men of his supporters back in Rome.
More examples (6)
The citizens made their objections clear.
This might make you a bit woozy.
Did I make myself heard?
Scotch will make you a man.
Mom made it clear what she expected from me in college.
Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.
To cause to appear to be; to represent as.
- Examples
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Homer makes Aphrodite the daughter of Zeus, unlike Hesiod who depicted her as born from the sea foam.
1709–1710, Thomas Baker, Reflections on Learning He is not that goose and Ass that Valla would make him.
More examples (1)
So this was my future home, I thought! Certainly it made a brave picture. I had seen similar ones fired-in on many a Heidelberg stein. Backed by towering hills,[…]a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
To cause (to do something); to compel (to do something).
Usage- Ditransitive
- Examples
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You're making her cry.
I was made to feel like a criminal.
More examples (1)
In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.[…]Strangers might enter the room, but they were made to feel that they were there on sufferance: they were received with distance and suspicion.
To force to do.
Usage- Ditransitive
- Examples
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The teacher made the student study harder.
Don’t let them make you suffer.
To indicate or suggest to be.
Usage- Ditransitive
- of a fact
- Examples
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His past mistakes don’t make him a bad person.
To cover neatly with bedclothes.
Usage- Transitive
- of a bed
To recognise, identify, spot.
Usage- US usage
- Slang
- Transitive
- Examples
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I caught sight of him two or three times and then made him turning north into Laurel Canyon Drive.
Linus Caldwell: Well, she just made Danny and Yen, which means in the next 48 hours the three o' your pictures are gonna be in every police station in Europe.
More examples (1)
David Sinclair: (walking) Almost at Seventh; I should have a visual any second now. (rounds a corner, almost collides into Kaleed Asan) Damn, that was close. Don Eppes: David, he make you? David Sinclair: No, I don't think so.
To arrive at a destination, usually at or by a certain time.
Usage- Colloquial
- Transitive
- Examples
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We should make Cincinnati by 7 tonight.
I won't be able to make dinner; something's come up at work.
More examples (1)
They that sail in the middle can make no land of either side.
To proceed (in a direction).
Usage- Colloquial
- Intransitive
- Examples
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They made westward over the snowy mountains.
Make for the hills! It's a wildfire!
More examples (2)
They made away from the fire toward the river.
As the guard's whistle shrilled the "right away," I made to join my companions in the train, but with a smile the driver, whose name was Abdul, bade me take the fireman's seat.
To cover (a given distance) by travelling.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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More examples (2)
I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. I was completely mystified at such an unusual proceeding.
I made over twenty miles that day, for I was now hardened to fatigue and accustomed to long hikes, having spent considerable time hunting and exploring in the immediate vicinity of camp.
To move at (a speed).
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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The ship could make 20 knots an hour in calm seas.
This baby can make 220 miles an hour.
To appoint; to name.
- Examples
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On November 15, 1396,[…]Benedict XIII made him bishop of Noyon;
To induct into the Mafia or a similar organization (as a made man).
Usage- Slang
- Transitive
- Examples
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Jimmy Conway: They're gonna make him. Henry Hill: Paulie's gonna make you?
To defecate or urinate.
Usage- Colloquial
- euphemistic
- Intransitive
- Examples
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When my father comes back with a dark wet spot on his pants, right in front, as if he has made in his pants, he starts eating his food in great shovelfuls.
More examples (1)
"He made in his pants, okay? I hope everybody's satisfied!" She flung her hat on the floor and kicked it. "He'll never come back to school now! Never! And it's all your fault!
To earn, to gain (money, points, membership or status).
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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They hope to make a bigger profit.
He didn't make the choir after his voice changed.
More examples (4)
She made ten points in that game.
Wales' defence had an unfamiliar look with Cardiff youngster Darcy Blake preferred to 44-cap Danny Gabbidon of Queen's Park Rangers, who did not even make the bench.
Bart spies an opportunity to make a quick buck so he channels his inner carny and posits his sinking house as a natural wonder of the world and its inhabitants as freaks, barking to dazzled spectators, “Behold the horrors of the Slanty Shanty! See the twisted creatures that dwell within! Meet Cue-Ball, the man with no hair!”
I lived in tiny apartments with rotating roommates, paying rent wildly disproportionate to what I made.
To achieve coverage in; to appear in.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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The special classes seemed to help because, Mrs. Zinmer recalled with some pride, in the seventh grade he made the honor roll.
More examples (2)
Ordinary New York kinds of things happened to him. He was mugged in Central Park. Somebody stole his sport utility vehicle. Strangers talked to him on the subway. A friend of a friend got him Yankees tickets. But when it happened to Kennedy, it made the papers. He was public property for years: the tabloids long ago baptised him a Page One "Hunk."
He said the database was created using very conservative standards. Inclusion on a credit agency watch list was not enough to make the list, he said. For example, Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, a complex of 110 rent-regulated buildings in Manhattan that Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Realty bought in 2006 for $5.4 billion, is not listed as potentially troubled, […]
The Brexit results made the front page for both second editions, below the fold.
To pay, to cover (an expense); chiefly used after expressions of inability.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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More examples (1)
Whether, […], the construction of additional roads […] would present a case in which the exaction of prohibitory or otherwise onerous rates may be prevented, though it result in an impossibility for some or all of the roads to make expenses, we need not say; no such case is before us.
At first glance, you may be able to make rent and other overhead expenses because the business is doing well, but if sales drop can you still make rent?
More examples (1)
So you can’t make payroll. This happens.[…]many business owners who have never confronted it before will be forced to deal with this most difficult matter of not making payroll.
To compose verses; to write poetry; to versify.
Usage- Intransitive
- Obsolete
- Examples
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ca.1360-1387, William Langland, Piers Plowman to solace him some time, as I do when I make
To enact; to establish.
- Examples
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More examples (1)
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
To develop into; to prove to be.
- Examples
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She'll make a fine president.
Classical literature usually makes heavy reading.
To study or train so as to become (a profession); to grow up to be (something).
Usage- Appalachia
- Examples
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He'll make a doctor one day.
To form or formulate in the mind.
- Examples
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make plans
made a questionable decision
To perform a feat.
- Examples
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make a leap
make a pass
More examples (2)
make a u-turn
Say, you know? I knew I should have made a left toin at Albuquerque.
To gain sufficient audience to warrant its existence.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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In the end, my class didn't make, which left me with a bit of free time.
To act in a certain manner; to have to do; to manage; to interfere; to be active; often in the phrase to meddle or make.
Usage- Obsolete
- Examples
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a scurvy, jack-a-nape priest to meddle or make
To increase; to augment; to accrue.
Usage- Obsolete
To be engaged or concerned in.
Usage- Obsolete
- Examples
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Gomez, what makest thou here, with a whole brotherhood of city bailiffs?
To cause to be (in a specified place), used after a subjective what.
Usage- Archaic
- Examples
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Footman. Madam! Mr. Dorimant! Lov. What makes him here?
What makes her in the wood so late, A furlong from the castle gate?
To take the virginity of.
Usage- euphemistic
- Transitive
- Examples
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More examples (1)
I was a young un at 'Oogli, Shy as a girl to begin; Aggie de Castrer she made me, — An' Aggie was clever as sin; Older than me, but my first un — More like a mother she were Showed me the way to promotion an' pay, An' I learned about women from 'er!
To have sexual intercourse with.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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He could see that her face was thin, proud. She looked like she'd be a hard dame to make. He didn't want just that. She'd be a hard dame to win.
The boys in the lower classes who had already dropped out of school derived much of their prestige among their peers from their skill in “making” girls.
More examples (3)
And I'm trying to make some girl / Who tells me, "Baby, better come back, maybe next week" / "'Cause you see, I'm on a losing streak"
The only thing she wants to make is you!
Monday night, I'm makin' Jen Tuesday night, I'm makin' Lyn Wednesday night, I'm makin' Catherine Oh, why can't I be makin' love come true?
Of water, to flow toward land; to rise.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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The flood had made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for us was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide.
To establish two or more men on (a point) so that it cannot be captured.
Usage- Transitive
Noun
Brand; marque; manufacturer; maker.
- Examples
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Near-synonyms: kind, type
we service all makes and models
More examples (1)
Q: What make and model of car do you drive? A: It's a Buick LaCrosse.
Manner or style of construction (style of how a thing is made).
- Examples
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Near-synonyms: makeup, form, conformation, composition; form factor
I can name the tribe every moccasin belongs to by the make of it.
Origin (of a manufactured article); manufacture; production.
- Examples
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The cane was undoubtedly of foreign make, for it had a solid silver ferrule at one end, which was not English hall–marked.
More examples (1)
The Royal Typewriter Company is distributing a very attractive eight page folder, announcing the Royal Number 10, the first machine of Royal make which uses levers instead of wires to operate the type-bars.
The camera was of German make.
More examples (1)
The camera was of recent make.
A person's character or disposition.
- Examples
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I never feel very much excited about any old thing; it's not my make; but I've got a sort of shiver inside of me, and a watery feeling in the heart region.
The act or process of making something, especially in industrial manufacturing.
Usage- Dated
- Broader terms
- Examples
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[…] papers are respectively of second or inferior quality, the last being perhaps torn or broken in the "make" — as the manufacture is technically termed.
Quantity produced, especially of materials.
Usage- Uncountable
- Synonyms
- Examples
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In 1880 the make of pig iron in all countries was 18,300,000 tons.
A software utility for automatically building large applications, or an implementation of this utility.
- Examples
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However, the unzip and make programs weren't found, so the default was left blank.
Identification: recognition (of identity), especially from police records or evidence.
Usage- Slang
- Synonyms
- Examples
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"They ever get a make on the blood type?" Horn asked, staring at the stained mattress.
More examples (3)
"I'm sure we'll get a make on the suspect's prints by day break, so if you come down town, I'll see you get everything available. Go ahead and process the car, we won't have any need of it."
He got out his binoculars, trying for a make on the plate, but the plate light was conveniently not working. The windows must have been tinted, because he could not see inside the van, either.
“Okay, if I could understand correctly what Oscar was saying through all the doubletalk, we've got a make on the bigwig occupant of the convoy ahead. Chaim Lieberman, Israeli Ambassador to the United States.” “Shit,” said Gardner.
A promotion.
Usage- Slang
- Examples
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Sent back the list of makes with only Post and Hamilton on it. (Buckner had recommended 10 staff officers and 1 combat soldier!)
A homemade project, particularly one demonstrated on television.
- Examples
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Blue Peter "make"
Turn to declare the trump for a hand (in bridge), or to shuffle the cards.
- Examples
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It's your make as the cards lie. Take your time.
'Not your make,' said the adjutant sternly and started dealing the cards with his white be-ringed hands as though he was in haste to get rid of them.
A made basket.
The closing of an electrical circuit.
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Examples
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If the interrupter operated every 2 sec., the current would rise to 10 amp. and drop to zero with successive "makes" and "breaks."
Noun
Past, present, or future target of seduction (usually female).
Usage- Slang
- Examples
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To me, if I weren't going with someone and was taking pills, it would be like advertising that I'm an easy make.
She's your make, not mine. […] It isn't anything short of difficult to entertain someone else's pregnant fiancee.
Mate; a spouse or companion; a match.
Usage- UK usage
- dialectal
- Examples
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Th'Elfe therewith astownd, Vpstarted lightly from his looser make, And his vnready weapons gan in hand to take.
Where their maids and their makes At dancing and wakes, Had their napkins and posies And the wipers for their noses
More examples (2)
But then sometimes I thought, it's a black Crake That never to her-sell can get a Make.
Every cake hath its make; but a scrape cake hath two.
Noun
A halfpenny.
Usage- Ireland
- Northern-England
- Scotland
- Archaic
- Examples
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the last we shall have, I take it; for a make to a million, but we trine to the nubbing cheat to-morrow.
More examples (1)
Only as he climbed the steps did he mind that he hadn't even a meck upon him, and turned to jump off as the tram with a showd swung grinding down to the Harbour […]
Noun
An agricultural tool resembling a scythe, used to cut (harvest) certain plants such as peas, reeds, or tares.
Usage- East-Anglia
- Essex
- Obsolete
- Related words
- Examples
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Harvest.—When left for seed, they are cut and wadded as pease, with a make. Produce.—From three to six sacks an acre.
Harvest. Taken up by a pease-make, and left in small heaps, and turned as often as the weather may make it necessary.
Noun
a recognizable kind
- Synonyms
- Examples
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there's a new brand of hero in the movies now
what make of car is that?
the act of mixing cards haphazardly
- Broader terms
Verb
engage in
- Synonyms
- Examples
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make love, not war
make an effort
More examples (3)
do research
do nothing
make revolution
give certain properties to something
- Synonyms
- Examples
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get someone mad
She made us look silly
More examples (4)
He made a fool of himself at the meeting
Don't make this into a big deal
This invention will make you a millionaire
Make yourself clear
make or cause to be or to become
- Synonyms
- Examples
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make a mess in one's office
create a furor
cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner
- Examples
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The ads induced me to buy a VCR
My children finally got me to buy a computer
More examples (1)
My wife made me buy a new sofa
give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally
- Broader terms
- Examples
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cause a commotion
make a stir
More examples (1)
cause an accident
create or manufacture a man-made product
- Broader terms
- Examples
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We produce more cars than we can sell
The company has been making toys for two centuries
make, formulate, or derive in the mind
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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I draw a line here
draw a conclusion
More examples (3)
draw parallels
make an estimate
What do you make of his remarks?
compel or make somebody or something to act in a certain way
- Examples
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People cannot be made to integrate just by passing a law!
Heat makes you sweat
create by artistic means
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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create a poem
Schoenberg created twelve-tone music
More examples (2)
Picasso created Cubism
Auden made verses
earn on some commercial or business transaction; earn as salary or wages
- Examples
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How much do you make a month in your new job?
She earns a lot in her new job
More examples (2)
this merger brought in lots of money
He clears $5,000 each month
create or design, often in a certain way
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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Do my room in blue
I did this piece in wood to express my love for the forest
to compose or represent
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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This wall forms the background of the stage setting
The branches made a roof
More examples (1)
This makes a fine introduction
reach a goal
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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make the first team
We made it!
More examples (1)
She may not make the grade
be or be capable of being changed or made into
- Broader terms
- Examples
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He makes a great host
He will make a fine father
make by shaping or bringing together constituents
- Broader terms
- Examples
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make a dress
make a cake
More examples (1)
make a wall of stones
perform, produce, or carry out
- Examples
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make a decision
make a move
More examples (2)
make advances
make a phone call
make by combining materials and parts
- Broader terms
- Examples
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this little pig made his house out of straw
Some eccentric constructed an electric brassiere warmer
change from one form into another
- Examples
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make water into wine
make lead into gold
More examples (1)
make clay into bricks
act in a certain way so as to acquire
- Examples
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make friends
make enemies
charge with a function; charge to be
- Examples
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She was named Head of the Committee
She was made president of the club
achieve a point or goal
- Examples
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Nicklaus had a 70
The Brazilian team got 4 goals
More examples (1)
She made 29 points that day
reach a destination, either real or abstract
- Examples
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We hit Detroit by noon
The water reached the doorstep
More examples (2)
We barely made it to the finish line
I have to hit the MAC machine before the weekend starts
institute, enact, or establish
- Broader terms
- Examples
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make laws
carry out or commit
- Broader terms
- Examples
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make a mistake
commit a faux-pas
form by assembling individuals or constituents
- Broader terms
- Examples
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Make a quorum
organize or be responsible for
- Broader terms
- Examples
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hold a reception
have, throw, or make a party
More examples (1)
give a course
put in order or neaten
- Synonyms
- Examples
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make the bed
make up a room
head into a specified direction
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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The escaped convict took to the hills
We made for the mountains
have a bowel movement
- Examples
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The dog had made in the flower beds
undergo fabrication or creation
- Broader terms
- Examples
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This wool makes into a nice sweater
be suitable for
- Broader terms
- Examples
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Wood makes good furniture
add up to
- Examples
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four and four make eight
amount to
- Broader terms
- Examples
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This salary increase makes no difference to my standard of living
constitute the essence of
- Broader terms
- Examples
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Clothes make the man
appear to begin an activity
- Examples
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He made to speak but said nothing in the end
She made as if to say hello to us
proceed along a path
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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work one's way through the crowd
make one's way into the forest
gather and light the materials for
- Broader terms
- Examples
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make a fire
prepare for eating by applying heat
- Broader terms
- Examples
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Cook me dinner, please
can you make me an omelette?
More examples (1)
fix breakfast for the guests, please
induce to have sex
- Broader terms
- Examples
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Harry finally seduced Sally
Did you score last night?
More examples (1)
Harry made Sally
assure the success of
- Antonyms
- Examples
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A good review by this critic will make your play!
represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like
- Synonyms
- Examples
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She makes like an actress
consider as being
- Examples
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It wasn't the problem some people made it
calculate as being
- Broader terms
- Examples
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I make the height about 100 feet
cause to be enjoyable or pleasurable
- Examples
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make my day
favor the development of
- Broader terms
- Examples
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Practice makes the winner
develop into
- Examples
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He will make a splendid father!
behave in a certain manner
- Examples
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make merry
eliminate urine
- Synonyms
- Examples
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Again, the cat had made on the expensive rug
reach in time
- Synonyms
- Examples
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I have to catch a train at 7 o'clock
We barely made the plane