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Contents
make definition
Overview
This page has 89 definitions of make with English translations in 7 languages. Make is a verb, noun and romanization. Examples of how to use make in a sentence are shown. Also define these 0 related words and terms: .
English make definition
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English maken, from Old English macian (“to make, build, work”), from Proto-West Germanic *makōn (“to make, build, work”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂ǵ- (“to knead, mix, make”). Cognate with Scots mak (“to make”), Saterland Frisian moakje (“to make”), West Frisian meitsje (“to make”), Dutch maken (“to make”), Dutch Low Saxon maken (“to make”), German Low German maken (“to make”), German machen (“to make, do”), Danish mage (“to make, arrange (in a certain way)”), Latin mācerō, macer, Ancient Greek μάσσω (mássō). Related to match.
Alternative forms
Verb
make (third-person singular simple present makes, present participle making, simple past and past participle made or (dialectal or obsolete) maked)
- (transitive) To create.
- To build, construct, produce, or originate.
- Synonyms: fabricate; see also Thesaurus:build
- We made a bird feeder for our yard.
- I'll make a man out of him yet.
- He makes deodorants.
- 1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
- 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.
- 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 7, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
- 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.
- 2013 June 22, “T time”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 68:
- 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 write or compose.
- I made a poem for her wedding.
- He made a will.
- To bring about; to effect or produce by means of some action.
- make war
- They were just a bunch of ne'er-do-wells who went around making trouble for honest men.
- (religious) To create (the universe), especially (in Christianity) from nothing.
- God made earth and heaven.
- (transitive) To prepare (food); to cook (food).
- I'm making cereal for breakfast. Who wants some?
- To build, construct, produce, or originate.
- (intransitive, now mostly colloquial) To behave, to act.
- To make like a deer caught in the headlights.
- They made nice together, as if their fight never happened.
- He made as if to punch him, but they both laughed and shook hands.
- (intransitive) To tend; to contribute; to have effect; with for or against.
- 1873, Matthew Arnold, Literature and Dogma:
- And all Israel's language about this power, except that it makes for righteousness, is approximate language
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 14:19:
- Follow after the things which make for peace.
- c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
- Considerations infinite / Do make against it.
- To constitute.
- They make a cute couple.
- This makes the third infraction.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
- 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.
- 1995, Harriette Simpson Arnow: Critical Essays on Her Work, p.46:
- Style alone does not make a writer.
- 2014 September 23, A teacher, “Choosing a primary school: a teacher's guide for parents”, in The Guardian:
- 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.
- (transitive) To add up to, have a sum of.
- Two and four make six.
- (transitive, construed with of, typically interrogative) To interpret.
- I don’t know what to make of it.
- They couldn't make anything of the inscription.
- What time do you make it?
- (transitive, usually stressed) To bring into success.
- This company is what made you.
- She married into wealth and so has it made.
- 1668, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, M. DC. LXVI. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number):
- who makes or ruins with a smile or frown
- 2006, Michael Grecco, Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait, Amphoto Books, →ISBN, page 124:
- A great expression and amazing eye contact, in particular, can make a photograph, and without them, you can end up with very little.
- (ditransitive, second object is an adjective or participle) To cause to be.
- Synonym: render
- The citizens made their objections clear.
- This might make you a bit woozy.
- Did I make myself heard?
- Scotch will make you a man.
- 2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist[1], volume 408, number 8845:
- 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.
- 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.
- 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
- 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.
- (ditransitive, second object is a verb) To cause (to do something); to compel (to do something).
- You're making her cry.
- I was made to feel like a criminal.
- 1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
- 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.
- (ditransitive, second object is a verb, can be stressed for emphasis or clarity) To force to do.
- The teacher made the student study.
- Don’t let them make you suffer.
- (ditransitive, of a fact) To indicate or suggest to be.
- His past mistakes don’t make him a bad person.
- (transitive, of a bed) To cover neatly with bedclothes.
- (transitive, US slang, crime, law enforcement) To recognise, identify, spot.
- Synonyms: twig, notice; see also Thesaurus:identify
- 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 33:
- I caught sight of him two or three times and then made him turning north into Laurel Canyon Drive.
- 2004, George Nolfi et al., Ocean's Twelve, Warner Bros. Pictures, 0:50:30:
- 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.
- 2007 May 4, Andrew Dettmann et al., "Under Pressure", episode 3-22 of Numb3rs, 00:01:16:
- 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.
- 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.
- (transitive, colloquial) To arrive at a destination, usually at or by a certain time.
- We should make Cincinnati by 7 tonight.
- 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC:
- They that sail in the middle can make no land of either side.
- (intransitive, colloquial) To proceed (in a direction).
- They made westward over the snowy mountains.
- Make for the hills! It's a wildfire!
- They made away from the fire toward the river.
- 1942 July-August, Philip Spencer, “On the Footplate in Egypt”, in Railway Magazine, page 208:
- 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.
- (transitive) To cover (a given distance) by travelling. [from 16thc.]
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
- 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.
- 1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter VIII, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I, II, or III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC:
- 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.
- (transitive) To move at (a speed). [from 17thc.]
- The ship could make 20 knots an hour in calm seas.
- This baby can make 220 miles an hour.
- To appoint; to name.
- 1991, Bernard Guenée, Between Church and State: The Lives of Four French Prelates, →ISBN:
- On November 15, 1396, […] Benedict XIII made him bishop of Noyon;
- (transitive, slang) To induct into the Mafia or a similar organization (as a made man).
- 1990, Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese, Goodfellas:
- Jimmy Conway: They're gonna make him.
Henry Hill: Paulie's gonna make you?
- (intransitive, colloquial, euphemistic) To defecate or urinate.
- 1992, Merrill Joan Gerber, The kingdom of Brooklyn, page 30:
- 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.
- 2003, Mary Anne Kelly, The Cordelia Squad, page 121:
- "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!
- (transitive) To earn, to gain (money, points, membership or status).
- They hope to make a bigger profit.
- He didn't make the choir after his voice changed.
- She made ten points in that game.
- 2011 September 2, “Wales 2-1 Montenegro”, in BBC:
- 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.
- 2012 May 20, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: The Simpsons (classic): “Marge Gets A Job” (season 4, episode 7; originally aired 11/05/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club:
- 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!”
- (transitive) To pay, to cover (an expense); chiefly used after expressions of inability.
- 1889 May 1, Chief Justice George P. Raney, Pensacola & A. R. Co. v. State of Florida (judicial opinion), reproduced in The Southern Reporter, Volume 5, West Publishing Company, p.843:
- 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.
- 2011, Donald Todrin, Successfully Navigating the Downturn, Entrepreneur Press, →ISBN, page 194:
- 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.
- 1889 May 1, Chief Justice George P. Raney, Pensacola & A. R. Co. v. State of Florida (judicial opinion), reproduced in The Southern Reporter, Volume 5, West Publishing Company, p.843:
- (obsolete, intransitive) To compose verses; to write poetry; to versify.
- ca.1360-1387, William Langland, Piers Plowman
- to solace him some time, as I do when I make
- ca.1360-1387, William Langland, Piers Plowman
- To enact; to establish.
- 1791, The First Amendment to the United States Constitution:
- 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.
- 1791, The First Amendment to the United States Constitution:
- To develop into; to prove to be.
- She'll make a fine president.
- To form or formulate in the mind.
- make plans
- made a questionable decision
- To perform a feat.
- make a leap
- make a pass
- make a u-turn
- (intransitive) To gain sufficient audience to warrant its existence.
- In the end, my class didn't make, which left me with a bit of free time.
- (obsolete) 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.
- c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:
- a scurvy, jack-a-nape priest to meddle or make
- (obsolete) To increase; to augment; to accrue.
- (obsolete) To be engaged or concerned in.
- 1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):
- Gomez, what makest thou here, with a whole brotherhood of city bailiffs?
- (now archaic) To cause to be (in a specified place), used after a subjective what.
- 1676, George Etherege, A Man of Mode:
- Footman. Madam! Mr. Dorimant!
Lov. What makes him here?
- 1816, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Christabel:
- What makes her in the wood so late, / A furlong from the castle gate?
- (transitive, euphemistic) To take the virginity of.
- 1896, Rudyard Kipling, The Ladies:
- 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!
- (transitive) To have sexual intercourse with.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:copulate with
- 1934, James T. Farrell, chapter 16, in The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan:
- 1959, Vance Packard, The Status Seekers, Pocket Books, published 1971, →ISBN, page 138:
- 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.
- 1979, Mark Tuttle, “The Loan Shark”, in Three's Company, season 4, episode 10 (television production):
- The only thing she wants to make is you!
- 1996, Rivers Cuomo (lyrics and music), “Tired of Sex”, in Pinkerton, performed by Weezer:
- 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?
- (intransitive) Of water, to flow toward land; to rise.
- 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 193:
- 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.
Usage notes
- In older forms of English, when the pronoun thou was in active use, and verbs used -est for distinct second-person singular indicative forms, the verb make had the form makest, and had madest for its past tense.
- Similarly, when the ending -eth was in active use for third-person singular present indicative forms, the form maketh was used.
Conjugation
infinitive | (to) make | ||
---|---|---|---|
present tense | past tense | ||
1st-person singular | make | made, maked* | |
2nd-person singular | make, makest† | made, maked*, madest† | |
3rd-person singular | makes, maketh† | made, maked* | |
plural | make | ||
subjunctive | make | made, maked* | |
imperative | make | — | |
participles | making, makeing† | made, maked* |
Derived terms
- clothes don't make the man
- doctors make the worst patients
- don't get your honey where you make your money
- don't make me laugh
- empty vessels make the most sound
- enough to make a cat laugh
- enough to make the angels weep
- fine feathers make fine birds
- foremake
- good fences make good neighbors
- good fences make good neighbours
- it takes a heap of living to make a house a home
- it takes a heap o' livin' to make a house a home
- it takes all kinds to make a world
- it takes all sorts to make a world
- it takes a lot of living to make a house a home
- it takes two to make a quarrel
- know how many beans make five
- Mackem
- mackerel sky and mare's-tails make lofty ships carry low sails
- mackerel sky and mare's-tails make tall ships carry low sails
- make a better door than a window
- make a big thing out of
- make a book
- make a break for it
- make a career of
- make a case for
- make a cat laugh
- make a clean breast
- make a day of it
- make a deal
- make a decision
- make a difference
- make a dollar out of fifteen cents
- make a face
- make a federal case out of something
- make a fist of
- make a fool of
- make a fortune
- make after
- make a fuss
- make against
- make a good fist of
- make a go of
- make a habit of
- make a hash of
- make-ahead
- make a joke of
- make a killing
- make a leg
- make a light
- make a lip
- make a living
- make all the difference
- make a long arm
- make a mark
- make a meal of
- make a meal out of
- make amends
- make a mistake
- make a mockery of
- make a monkey of
- make a monkey out of
- make a mountain out of a molehill
- make a move
- make a muscle
- make a name for oneself
- make an appearance
- make an ass of
- make-and-break
- make an effort
- make an entrance
- make an errand
- make an example of
- make an exhibition of oneself
- make an honest woman
- make an honest woman out of
- make a night of it
- make an impression
- make an offer
- make a noise in the world
- make a nuisance of oneself
- make a pass
- make a pig of oneself
- make a pig out of oneself
- make a pig's ear of
- make a pile
- make a play
- make a point
- make a production out of
- make a promise
- make a public spectacle of oneself
- make a rabbit bite a bulldog
- make a run for it
- make a scene
- make a show of oneself
- make a silk purse of a sow's ear
- make a spectacle of oneself
- make a splash
- make a stand
- make a stick for one's own back
- make a stink
- make a virtue of necessity
- make away
- make away with
- make a wish
- make a wrong turn at Albuquerque
- make baby Jesus cry
- make bank
- make beautiful music together
- make-before-break
- make belief
- make-believe
- make believe
- make biscuits
- make bold
- make book
- make both ends meet
- make bricks without straw
- make bricks without straws
- make capital out of
- make certain
- make common cause
- make conscience
- make contact with
- make conversation
- make-debate
- make default
- make do
- make down
- make due
- make ends meet
- make eyes
- make faces
- make fair weather
- make fast
- make fetch happen
- make file
- make fish of one and flesh of another
- make fish of one and fowl of another
- make flexible
- make for
- make foul water
- make free of
- make free with
- make friendly
- make friends
- make fun of
- make game of
- make garden
- make good
- make good on
- make good on
- make good time
- make ground
- make hard work of
- make haste
- make hay
- make hay while the sun shines
- make head against
- make head nor tail of
- make head or tail of
- make headway
- make heavy going of
- make heavy weather
- make heavy weather of
- make history
- make interesting
- make into
- make it
- make it count
- make it do or do without
- make it make sense
- make it one's business
- make it rain
- make it snappy
- make-king
- make known
- make lemonade
- make light of
- make light work of
- make like
- make like a baby and head out
- make like a banana and split
- make like a tree and leave
- make little of
- make love
- make matters worse
- make merry
- make mileage out of
- make mincemeat of
- make mincemeat out of
- make moan
- make money
- make mouths
- make much
- make muffins
- make music
- make neither head nor tail of
- make news
- make nice
- make no bones about
- make noise
- make noises
- make no mistake
- make no odds
- make no secret of
- make nothing of
- make of
- make off
- make off with
- make old bones
- make one
- make one's bed
- make one's bed and lie in it
- make one's bones
- make one's bow
- make oneself at home
- make oneself scarce
- make one's entrance
- make one's hand
- make one's manners
- make one's mark
- make one's number
- make one's own
- make one's own luck
- make one's presence felt
- make one's toilet
- make one's way
- make-or-break
- make or break
- make out
- make out like a bandit
- make out of
- make over
- make peace
- make pigs and whistles of something
- make quick work of
- make-ready
- make right
- make room
- make sail
- make semblant
- make sense
- make shift
- make ship
- make shit of
- make short work of
- make some noise
- make someone hard to catch
- make someone's acquaintance
- make someone's blood boil
- make someone's blood run cold
- make someone's day
- make someone's ears sad
- make someone's flesh creep
- make someone's hair curl
- make someone's hair stand on end
- make someone's jaw drop
- make someone's skin crawl
- make someone's teeth itch
- make something of
- make something of oneself
- make-sport
- make strange
- make strides
- make sure
- make terms
- make the angels blush
- make the bald man cry
- make the bed
- make the best of
- make the best of a bad bargain
- make the best of a bad job
- make the best of one's way
- make the blood run cold
- make the case for
- make the cheese more binding
- make the cut
- make the dust fly
- make the feathers fly
- make the first move
- make the fur fly
- make the grade
- make the headlines
- make the most of
- make the news
- make the passes
- make the perfect the enemy of the good
- make the riffle
- make the road shorter
- make the rounds
- make the weather
- make the welkin ring
- make the world go around
- make the world go round
- make the wrong turn at Albuquerque
- make this world go around
- make this world go round
- make tick
- make time
- make tracks
- make tracks for
- make up
- make use
- make water
- make waves
- make way
- make whole
- make whoopee
- make with
- make-work
- make yourself at home
- make yourselves at home
- many a mickle makes a muckle
- many hands make light work
- meddle and make
- mismake
- newmake
- not make any bones about
- one swallow does not a spring make
- one swallow does not make a spring
- one swallow does not make a summer
- one swallow doesn't a spring make
- one swallow doesn't a summer make
- one swallow doesn't make a spring
- one swallow doesn't make a summer
- put two and two together and make five
- short accounts make long friends
- short reckonings make long friends
- tailor-make
- tailor make
- the cowl does not make the monk
- two wrongs don't make a right
- two wrongs make a right
- unmake
- upmake
- ve haf vays of making you talk
- wanton kittens make sober cats
- we all make mistakes
- you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs
- you can't make a silk purse of a sow's ear
- you make the bed you lie in
- you've got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette
Translations
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See also
Noun
make (plural makes)
- Brand or kind; model.
- Synonyms: type, manufacturer
- What make of car do you drive?
- Manner or style of construction (style of how a thing is made); form.
- 1907, Mark Twain, A Horse's Tale[2]:
- Origin (of a manufactured article); manufacture; production.
- 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 2, in The Ayrsham Mystery[3]:
- The cane was undoubtedly of foreign make, for it had a solid silver ferrule at one end, which was not English hall–marked.
- 1914, Judicious Advertising, page 158:
- 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.
- A person's character or disposition.
- 1914, Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton, Perch of the Devil[4], page 274:
- 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.
- (dated) The act or process of making something, especially in industrial manufacturing.
- Synonyms: making, manufacture, manufacturing, production
- 1908, Charles Thomas Jacobi, Printing: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Typography as Applied More Particularly to the Printing of Books[5], page 331:
- […] papers are respectively of second or inferior quality, the last being perhaps torn or broken in the "make" — as the manufacture is technically termed.
- (uncountable) Quantity produced, especially of materials.
- Synonyms: production, output
- 1902 September 16, “German Iron and Steel Production”, in The New York Times[6], page 8:
- In 1880 the make of pig iron in all countries was 18,300,000 tons.
- (computing) A software utility for automatically building large applications, or an implementation of this utility.
- (slang) Identification or recognition (of identity), especially from police records or evidence.
- Synonym: ID
- 2003, Harlan Wygant, The Samurai Conspiracy: A Story of Revenge by the Author of "The Junkyard Dog.", →ISBN, page 36:
- "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."
- 2007, P. T. Deutermann, Hunting Season: A Novel, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN:
- 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.
- 2008, H.A. Covington, The Brigade, →ISBN, page 660:
- “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.
- (slang, military) A promotion.
- A home-made project.
- 1978, Biddy Baxter, Hazel Gill, Margaret Parnell, Rachel Barnes, Kate Pountney, The 'Blue Peter' Make, Cook & Look Book[10], page i:
- Blue Peter "make"
- (card games) Turn to declare the trump for a hand (in bridge), or to shuffle the cards.
- 1925, Robert William Chambers, The Talkers[11], page 195:
- It's your make as the cards lie. Take your time.
- 1962 (edition), Leo Tolstoy, Hadji Murat: A Tale of the Caucasus:
- '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.
- (basketball) A made basket.
- (physics) The closing of an electrical circuit.
- Synonyms: completion, actuation
- Antonym: break
Related terms
Translations
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Etymology 2
From Middle English make, imake, ȝemace, from Old English ġemaca (“a mate, an equal, companion, peer”), from Proto-West Germanic *gamakō, from Proto-Germanic *gamakô (“companion, comrade”), from Proto-Indo-European *maǵ- (“to knead, oil”). Reinforced by Old Norse maki (“an equal”). Cognate with Icelandic maki (“spouse”), Swedish make (“spouse, husband”), Danish mage (“companion, fellow, mate”). Doublet of match.
Noun
make (plural makes)
- (slang, usually in phrase "easy make") Past, present, or future target of seduction (usually female).
- 1962, Ralph Moreno, A Man's Estate[14], page 12:
- She's your make, not mine. […] It isn't anything short of difficult to entertain someone else's pregnant fiancee.
- (UK, dialectal) Mate; a spouse or companion; a match.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- Th'Elfe therewith astownd, / Vpstarted lightly from his looser make, / And his vnready weapons gan in hand to take.
- 1624, Ben Jonson, The Masque of Owls at Kenilworth:
- Where their maids and their makes / At dancing and wakes, / Had their napkins and posies / And the wipers for their noses
- 1684, Meriton, Praise Ale:
- But then sometimes I thought, it's a black Crake / That never to her-sell can get a Make.
- 1678 (later reprinted: 1855), John Ray, A Hand-book of Proverbs:
- Every cake hath its make; but a scrape cake hath two.
Derived terms
Etymology 3
Uncertain.
Alternative forms
- meck (Scotland)
Noun
make (plural makes)
- (Scotland, Ireland, Northern England, now rare) A halfpenny. [from 16th c.]
- 1826, Sir Walter Scott, Woodstock; Or, the Cavalier:
- the last we shall have, I take it; for a make to a million, but we trine to the nubbing cheat to-morrow.
- 1934, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Grey Granite, Polygon 2006 (A Scots Quair), page 606:
- 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 […]
Etymology 4
Origin unclear.
Noun
make (plural makes)
- (East Anglia, Essex, obsolete) An agricultural tool resembling a scythe, used to cut (harvest) certain plants such as peas, reeds, or tares.
- 1797, Arthur Young, General View of the Agriculture of the County of Suffolk: Drawn Up for the Consideration of the Board of Agriculture and Internal Improvement, page 73:
- Harvest.—When left for seed, they are cut and wadded as pease, with a make.
Produce.—From three to six sacks an acre.
- 1811, William Gooch, General view of the agriculture of the county of Cambridge; drawn up for the consideration of the Board of Agriculture and Internal Improvement, page 142, section VI "Pease":
- Harvest. Taken up by a pease-make, and left in small heaps, and turned as often as the weather may make it necessary.
References
- “make”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- “make”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
See also
- make-koshi (etymologically unrelated)
Anagrams
Dutch make definition
Pronunciation
Verb
make
Hawaiian make definition
Etymology
From Proto-Polynesian *mate, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *m-atay, *atay, from Proto-Austronesian *m-aCay, *aCay (compare Cebuano matay, Chamorro matai, Fijian mate, Ilocano matay, Indonesian mati, Javanese mati, Kapampangan mate, mete, Malagasy maty, Maori mate, Rapa Nui mate, Tagalog matay, Tahitian mate).
Noun
make
Verb
make
Japanese make definition
Romanization
make
Middle English make definition
Etymology 1
From Old English maca, ġemaca, from Proto-West Germanic *makō, *gamakō, from Proto-Germanic *makô. Compare macche (“bride, equal”).
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Noun
make (plural makes or (early) imaken)
- A bride or mate; a romantic partner.
- A lover; a sexual partner.
- An equal or match.
- A comrade or companion.
- (rare) A competitor or opponent.
Derived terms
Descendants
References
- “imāke, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- “māke, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2
A back-formation from maken.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Noun
make (uncountable)
Descendants
References
- “māke, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 3
Verb
make
- Alternative form of maken
- late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Knight's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 1053-1054:
- [...] She gadereth floures, party whyte and rede,
To make a sotil gerland for hir hede, [...]- [...] She gathers flowers, mixed white and red,
To make an intricate garland for her head, [...]
- [...] She gathers flowers, mixed white and red,
- late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Knight's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 1053-1054:
Moore make definition
Etymology
Pronunciation
/má.kè/
Verb
make
- to measure, to weigh
- to compare oneself with
Norwegian Bokmål make definition
Etymology
Noun
make m (definite singular maken, indefinite plural maker, definite plural makene)
- a mate (especially animals and birds), a spouse
- an equal, match, peer
- one of a pair (e.g. shoe, sock)
- something that is similar or alike
Derived terms
References
- “make” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk make definition
Etymology
Noun
make m (definite singular maken, indefinite plural makar, definite plural makane)
- a mate (especially animals and birds), a spouse
- an equal, match, peer
- one of a pair (e.g. shoe, sock)
- something that is similar or alike
Derived terms
References
- “make” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Portuguese make definition
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
make m or f (plural makes)
- (Brazil, informal) makeup (cosmetics and colorants applied to the skin)
- Synonym: maquilhagem
Swazi make definition
Noun
máke class 1a (plural bómáke class 2a)
- my mother
Inflection
This noun needs an inflection-table template.
Swedish make definition
Etymology
From Old Swedish maki, from Old Norse maki, from Proto-Germanic *makô. Doublet of maka.
Pronunciation
Noun
make c
- (slightly archaistic or formal) a spouse, a husband, a married man (mostly referring to a specific relation)
- Hon hade inte sett sin make på hela dagen.
- She had not seen her husband all day.
- Makarna hade råkat ta in på samma hotell.
- The man and his wife happened to board at the same hotel.
- something alike
Declension
Declension of make | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | make | maken | makar | makarna |
Genitive | makes | makens | makars | makarnas |
Synonyms
References
- make in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- make in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- make in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
Tabaru make definition
Pronunciation
Verb
make
- (transitive) to see
- (transitive) to meet
- (transitive) to find, come across
- womimake ― he found her
References
- Edward A. Kotynski (1988), “Tabaru phonology and morphology”, in Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session, volume 32, Summer Institute of Linguistics