[make ends meet]{v. phr.} To have enough money to pay one’s bills; earn what it costs to live. •/Both husband and wife had to work to make ends meet./
[make eyes at]{v. phr.}, {informal} To look at a girl or boy in a way that tries to attract him to you; flirt. •/The other girls disliked her way of making eyes at their boyfriends instead of finding one of her own./
[make faces at]{v. phr.} To grimace; scowl. •/"Stop making faces at each other, you children," my aunt said, "and start eating."/
[make for]{v.} To go toward; start in the direction of. •/The children took their ice skates and made for the frozen pond./ •/The bee got his load of pollen and made for the hive./
[make free with]{v.} 1. To take or use (things) without asking. •/Bob makes free with his roommate’s clothes./ •/A student should not make free with his teacher’s first name./ 2. To act toward (someone) in a rude or impolite way. •/The girls don’t like Ted because he makes free with them./ Compare: TAKE LIBERTIES.
[make friends]{v. phr.} To become friends; form a friendship. •/Mrs. Jones invited Bobby to her home to play with Don. She hoped that they would make friends with each other./ •/You can make friends with an elephant by giving him peanuts./
[make fun of] or [poke fun at] {v. phr.}, {informal} To joke about; laugh at; tease; mock. •/Men like to make fun of the trimmings on women’s hats./ •/James poked fun at the new pupil because her speech was not like the other pupils./
[make good]{v. phr.} 1. To do what one promised to do; make something come true. •/Mr. Smith borrowed some money. He promised to pay it back on payday. He made good his promise./ •/Joe made good his boast to swim across the lake./ •/John’s mother promised to take him and his friends to the zoo on Saturday. She made good her promise./ Compare: CARRY OUT. 2. To compensate; pay for loss or damage. •/The policeman told the boy’s parents that the boy must make good the money he had stolen or go to jail./ — Often used in the phrase "make it good". •/The radio was broken while it was being delivered so the store had to make it good and send us a new radio./ Compare: MAKE UP. 3. To do good work at one’s job; succeed. •/Kate wanted to be a nurse. She studied and worked hard in school. Then she got a job in the hospital and made good as a nurse./
[make good time]{v. phr.} To make unimpeded progress on a journey; arrive at one’s destination sooner than estimated. •/There was not much traffic on the expressway so we made good time on our way to the airport./
[make haste]{v. phr.} To move fast; hurry. — Rarely used in speaking. •/The dog wriggled into one end of the hollow log, and the rabbit made haste to get out the other end./ •/Mary saw that she had hurt Jane’s feelings, and made haste to say she was sorry./ Compare: MAKE TRACKS.
[make haste with] See: HURRY ON WITH.
[make hay while the sun shines]{v. phr.} To do something at the right time; not wait too long. •/Dick had a free hour so he made hay while the sun shone and got his lesson for the next day./ Compare: MAKE THE MOST OF.
[make head or tail of]{v. phr.}, {informal} To see the why of; finding a meaning in; understand. — Used in negative, conditional, and interrogative sentences. •/She could not make head or tail of the directions on the dress pattern./ •/Can you make head or tail of the letter?/
[make headway]{v. phr.} To move forward; make progress. •/The university is making headway with its campus reorganization project./
[make it hot]{v. phr.}, {informal} To bring punishment; cause trouble. •/Dick threatened to make it hot for anyone who tied knots in his pajama legs again./
[make it snappy]{v. phr.}, {informal} To move quickly; be fast; hurry. — Usually used as a command. •/"Make it snappy," Mother said, "or we’ll be late for the movie."/ •/The man hurried into the restaurant and told the waitress, "A cup of coffee, and make it snappy."/
[make it with]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal} 1. To be accepted by a group. •/Joe finally made it with the in crowd in Hollywood./ 2. {vulgar} To have sex with (someone). •/I wonder if Joe has made it with Sue./
[make light of]{v. phr.} To treat an important matter as if it were trivial. •/One ought to know which problems to make light of and which ones to handle seriously./ Compare: LAUGH OFF. Contrast: MAKE MUCH OF.
[make little of]{v. phr.} To make (something) seem unimportant; belittle. •/Mary made little of Jane’s new bicycle because she was jealous./ •/Tom made little of his saving the drowning boy./ Contrast: MAKE MUCH OF.
[make love]{v. phr.} 1. To be warm, loving, and tender toward someone of the opposite sex; try to get him or her to love you too. •/There was moonlight on the roses and he made love to her in the porch swing./ 2. To have sexual relations with (someone). •/It is rumored that Alfred makes love to every girl he hires as a secretary./
[make merry]{v. phr.}, {literary} To have fun, laugh, and be happy, •/In Aesop’s fable the grasshopper made merry while the ant worked and saved up food./ •/In the Bible story a rich man ate and drank and made merry./
[make mincemeat (out) of]{v. phr.} To destroy completely. •/The defense attorney made mincemeat of the prosecution’s argument./
[make much of]{v. phr.} To make something seem of more worth or importance than it really is; praise. •/Visitors made much of the new collie./ •/The boy made much of the hard things of his mountain climb./ Contrast: MAKE LIGHT OF, MAKE LITTLE OF.
[make neither head nor tail of]{v. phr.} To be unable to figure something out. •/This puzzle is so complicated that I can make neither head nor tail of it./ Compare: HEADS OR TAILS.
[make no bones]{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To have no doubts; not to worry about right or wrong; not to be against. — Used with "about". •/Bill makes no bones about telling a lie to escape punishment./ •/The boss made no bones about hiring extra help for the holidays./ 2. To make no secret; not keep from talking; admit. — Used with "about" or "of the fact". •/John thinks being poor is no disgrace and he makes no bones of the fact./ •/Mary made no bones about her love of poetry even after some of her friends laughed at her./
[make of]{v. phr.} To interpret; understand. •/What do you make of his sudden decision to go to Africa?/
[make off]{v.} To go away; run away; leave. •/When the deer saw the hunter it made off at once./ •/A thief stopped John on a dark street and made off with his wallet./ Compare: TAKE OFF.
[make one feel at home]{v. phr.} To be hospitable; welcome; make someone feel at ease. •/They are very popular hosts because they always manage to make their guests feel at home./
[make one out to be]{v. phr.} To accuse someone of being something. •/Don’t make me out to be such a grouch; I am really quite happy-go-lucky./
[make one’s bed and lie in it] To be responsible for what you have done and so to have to accept the bad results. •/Billy smoked one of his father’s cigars and now he is sick. He made his bed, now let him lie in it./ Compare: FACE THE MUSIC(2).
[make one’s blood boil] or [make the blood boil] {v. phr.}, {informal} To make someone very angry. •/When someone calls me a liar it makes my blood boil./ •/It made Mary’s blood boil to see the children make fun of the crippled girl./ Compare: BOILING POINT.
[make one’s blood run cold] See: BLOOD RUNS COLD.
[make one’s ears burn] See: EARS BURN.
[make oneself at home]{v. phr.} To feel comfortable; act as if you were in your own home. •/If you get to my house before I do, help yourself to a drink and make yourself at home./ •/John was an outdoor man and could make himself at home in the woods at night./ Compare: AT EASE, AT HOME(2).
[make oneself scarce]{v. phr.}, {slang} To leave quickly; go away. •/The boys made themselves scarce when they saw the principal coming to stop their noise./ •/A wise mouse makes himself scarce when a cat is nearby./
[make one’s hair stand on end] See: HAIR STAND ON END.
[make one’s head spin]{v. phr.} To be bewildered; be confused. •/It makes my head spin to think about the amount of work I still have to do./
[make one’s mark]{v. phr.} To become known to many people; do well the work you started to do; make a reputation. •/Shakespeare made his mark as a playwright./
[make one’s mouth water]{v. phr.} 1. To look or smell very good; make you want very much to eat or drink something you see or smell. •/The pies in the store window made Dan’s mouth water./ •/The picture of the ice cream soda made his mouth water./ 2. To be attractive; make you want to have something very much. •/Judy collects folk song records, and the records in the store window made her mouth water./ Compare: LICK ONE’S CHOPS.
[make one’s pile]{v. phr.} To make one’s fortune. •/The rich man made his pile in the stock market./
[make one’s way]{v. phr.} 1. To go forward with difficulty; find a path for yourself. •/They made their way through the crowd./ 2. To do many hard things to earn a living; make a life work for yourself. •/He was anxious to finish school and make his own way in the world./ Compare: SHIFT FOR ONESELF.
[make one tick]{v. phr.} To cause to operate; to motivate. •/He is so secretive that we are unable to figure out what makes him tick./
[make or break]{v. phr.} To bring complete success or failure, victory or defeat. •/Playing the role of Hamlet will make or break the young actor./
[make out]{v.} 1. To write the facts asked for (as in an application blank or a report form); fill out. •/The teacher made out the report cards and gave them to the students to take home./ •/Mrs. Smith gave the clerk in the store some money and the clerk made out a receipt./ 2. To see, hear, or understand by trying hard. •/It was dark, and we could not make out who was coming along the road./ •/They could not make out what the child had drawn. /•/The book had many hard words and Anne could not make out what the writer meant./ •/Mr. White does many strange things. No one can make him out./ Syn.: FIGURE OUT. 3. {informal} To make someone believe; show; prove. •/Charles and Bob had a fight, and Charles tried to make out that Bob started it./ •/The boy said he did not take the money but the teacher found the money in the boy’s desk and it made him out to be a liar./ 4. {informal} Do well enough; succeed. •/John’s father wanted John to do well in school and asked the teacher how John was making out./ •/The sick woman could not make out alone in her house, so her friend came and helped her./ 5. To kiss or pet. •/What are Jack and Jill up to? — They’re making out on the back porch./
[make over]{v.} 1. To change by law something from one owner to another owner; change the name on the title (lawful paper) from one owner to another. •/Mr. Brown made over the title to the car to Mr. Jones./ 2. To make something look different; change the style of. •/He asked the tailor to make over his pants. The tailor cut off the cuffs and put a belt across the back./
[make passes at] See: MAKE A PASS AT.
[make rounds]{v. phr.} To travel the same route, making several stops along the way. •/The milkman makes his rounds every morning./ •/The doctor makes the rounds of the hospital rooms./
[make sense]{v. phr.} 1. To be something you can understand or explain; not be difficult or strange. •/The explanation in the school book made no sense because the words were hard./ Compare: MAKE HEAD OR TAIL OF. 2. To seem right to do; sound reasonable or practical. •/Does it make sense to let little children play with matches?/
