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[meyk] /meɪk/

verb (used with object), made, making.
1.
to bring into existence by shaping or changing material, combining parts, etc.:
to make a dress; to make a channel; to make a work of art.
2.
to produce; cause to exist or happen; bring about:
to make trouble; to make war.
3.
to cause to be or become; render:
to make someone happy.
4.
to appoint or name:
The president made her his special envoy.
5.
to put in the proper condition or state, as for use; fix; prepare:
to make a bed; to make dinner.
6.
to bring into a certain form:
to make bricks out of clay.
7.
to convert from one state, condition, category, etc., to another:
to make a virtue of one’s vices.
8.
to cause, induce, or compel:
to make a horse jump a barrier.
9.
to give rise to; occasion:
It’s not worth making a fuss over such a trifle.
10.
to produce, earn, or win for oneself:
to make a good salary; to make one’s fortune in oil.
11.
to write or compose:
to make a short poem for the occasion.
12.
to draw up, as a legal document; draft:
to make a will.
13.
to do; effect:
to make a bargain.
14.
to establish or enact; put into existence:
to make laws.
15.
to become by development; prove to be:
You’ll make a good lawyer.
16.
to form in the mind, as a judgment or estimate:
to make a decision.
17.
to judge or interpret, as to the truth, nature, meaning, etc. (often followed by of):
What do you make of it?
18.
to estimate; reckon:
to make the distance at ten miles.
19.
to bring together separate parts so as to produce a whole; compose; form:
to make a matched set.
20.
to amount to; bring up the total to:
Two plus two makes four. That makes an even dozen.
21.
to serve as:
to make good reading.
22.
to be sufficient to constitute:
One story does not make a writer.
23.
to be adequate or suitable for:
This wool will make a warm sweater.
24.
to assure the success or fortune of:
a deal that could make or break him; Seeing her made my day.
25.
to deliver, utter, or put forth:
to make a stirring speech.
26.
to go or travel at a particular speed:
to make 60 miles an hour.
27.
to arrive at or reach; attain:
The ship made port on Friday. Do you think he’ll make 80?
28.
to arrive in time for:
to make the first show.
29.
to arrive in time to be a passenger on (a plane, boat, bus, train, etc.):
If you hurry, you can make the next flight.
30.
Informal. to gain or acquire a position within:
He made the big time.
31.
to receive mention or appear in or on:
The robbery made the front page.
32.
to gain recognition or honor by winning a place or being chosen for inclusion in or on:
The novel made the bestseller list. He made the all-American team three years in a row.
33.
Slang. to have sexual intercourse with.
34.
Cards.

35.
to earn, as a score:
The team made 40 points in the first half.
36.
Slang.

37.
to close (an electric circuit).
38.
South Midland and Southern U.S. to plant and cultivate or produce (a crop):
He makes some of the best corn in the country.
verb (used without object), made, making.
39.
to cause oneself, or something understood, to be as specified:
to make sure.
40.
to show oneself to be or seem in action or behavior (usually followed by an adjective):
to make merry.
41.
to be made, as specified:
This fabric makes up into beautiful drapes.
42.
to move or proceed in a particular direction:
They made after the thief.
43.
to rise, as the tide or water in a ship.
44.
South Midland and Southern U.S. (of a crop) to grow, develop, or mature:
It looks like the corn’s going to make pretty good this year.
45.
make down, Chiefly Pennsylvania German. to rain or snow:
It’s making down hard.
46.
make fast, Chiefly Nautical. to fasten or secure.
47.
make shut, Chiefly Pennsylvania German. to close:
Make the door shut.
noun
48.
the style or manner in which something is made; form; build.
49.
production with reference to the manufacturer; brand:
our own make.
50.
disposition; character; nature.
51.
the act or process of making.
52.
quantity made; output.
53.
Cards. the act of naming the trump, or the suit named as trump.
54.
Electricity. the closing of an electric circuit.
55.
Jewelry. the excellence of a polished diamond with regard to proportion, symmetry, and finish.
56.
Slang. identifying information about a person or thing from police records:
He radioed headquarters for a make on the car’s license plate.
Verb phrases
57.
make out,

58.
make over,

59.
make for,

60.
make off,

61.
make off with, to carry away; steal:
While the family was away, thieves made off with most of their valuables.
62.
make on, Chiefly Pennsylvania German. to turn on, light, or ignite (especially a light or fire):
Make the light on.
63.
make up,

64.
make up to,

Idioms
65.
make a play for, to try to get:
He made a play for his brother’s girlfriend. They made a play for control of the company’s stock.
66.
make as if / as though, Informal. to act as if; pretend:
We will make as if to leave, then come back and surprise him.
67.
make away with,

68.
make believe, to pretend; imagine:
The little girl dressed in a sheet and made believe she was a ghost.
69.
make (so) bold, to have the temerity; be so rash; dare:
May I make so bold as to suggest that you stand when they enter?
70.
make book, Slang.

71.
make colors, Nautical. to hoist an ensign, as on board a warship.
72.
make do, to function, manage, or operate, usually on a deprivation level with minimal requirements:
During the war we had no butter or coffee, so we had to make do without them.
73.
make good,

74.
make heavy weather,

75.
make it,

76.
make it so, Nautical. strike the ship’s bell accordingly: said by the officer of the watch when the hour is announced.
77.
make like, Informal. to try or pretend to be like; imitate:
I’m going to go out and make like a gardener.
78.
make one’s manners, Southern U.S.

79.
make sail, Nautical.

80.
make time. (def 52).
81.
make water,

82.
make with, Slang.

83.
on the make, Informal.

84.
put the make on, Slang. to make sexual overtures to.
[meyk] /meɪk/
noun, British Dialect.
1.
a peer or equal.
2.
a spouse, mate, consort, or lover.
3.
a friend; companion.
/meɪk/
verb (mainly transitive) makes, making, made
1.
to bring into being by shaping, changing, or combining materials, ideas, etc; form or fashion; create: to make a chair from bits of wood, make a poem
2.
to draw up, establish, or form: to make a decision, make one’s will
3.
to cause to exist, bring about, or produce: don’t make a noise
4.
to cause, compel, or induce: please make him go away
5.
to appoint or assign, as to a rank or position: they made him chairman
6.
to constitute: one swallow doesn’t make a summer
7.
(also intransitive) to come or cause to come into a specified state or condition: to make merry, make someone happy
8.
(copula) to be or become through development: he will make a good teacher
9.
to cause or ensure the success of: your news has made my day
10.
to amount to: twelve inches make a foot
11.
to be part of or a member of: did she make one of the party?
12.
to serve as or be suitable for: that piece of cloth will make a coat
13.
to prepare or put into a fit condition for use: to make a bed
14.
to be the essential element in or part of: charm makes a good salesman
15.
to carry out, effect, or do: to make a gesture
16.
(intransitive; foll by to, as if to, or as though to) to act with the intention or with a show of doing something: they made to go out, he made as if to hit her
17.
to use for a specified purpose: I will make this town my base
18.
to deliver or pronounce: to make a speech
19.
to judge, reckon, or give one’s own opinion or information as to: what time do you make it?
20.
to cause to seem or represent as being: that furniture makes the room look dark
21.
to earn, acquire, or win for oneself: to make friends, make a fortune
22.
to engage in: make love not war
23.
to traverse or cover (distance) by travelling: we can make a hundred miles by nightfall
24.
to arrive in time for: he didn’t make the first act of the play
25.
(cards)

26.
(cricket) to score (runs)
27.
(electronics) to close (a circuit) permitting a flow of current Compare break (sense 44)
28.
(intransitive) to increase in depth: the water in the hold was making a foot a minute
29.
(intransitive) (of hay) to dry and mature
30.
(informal) to gain a place or position on or in: to make the headlines, make the first team
31.
(informal) to achieve the rank of
32.
(slang) to seduce
33.
make a book, to take bets on a race or other contest
34.
make a day of it, to cause an activity to last a day
35.
make a night of it, to cause an activity to last a night
36.
make do, See do1 (sense 37)
37.
make eyes at, to flirt with or ogle
38.
make good, See good (sense 44)
39.
(nautical) make heavy weather, to roll and pitch in heavy seas
40.
(informal) make heavy weather of something, to carry something out with great difficulty or unnecessarily great effort
41.
make it

42.
(slang, mainly US & Canadian) make like, to imitate
43.
make love

44.
make love to someone

45.
make or break, to bring success or ruin
46.
make time, See time (sense 45)
47.
make water

noun
48.
brand, type, or style: what make of car is that?
49.
the manner or way in which something is made
50.
disposition or character; make-up
51.
the act or process of making
52.
the amount or number made
53.
(bridge) the contract to be played
54.
(cards) a player’s turn to shuffle
55.
on the make

/meɪk/
noun (archaic)
1.
a peer or consort
2.
a mate or spouse
v.

Old English macian “to make, form, construct, do; prepare, arrange, cause; behave, fare, transform,” from West Germanic *makon “to fashion, fit” (cf. Old Saxon makon, Old Frisian makia “to build, make,” Middle Dutch and Dutch maken, Old High German mahhon “to construct, make,” German machen “to make”), from PIE *mag- “to knead, mix; to fashion, fit” (see macerate). If so, sense evolution perhaps is via prehistoric houses built of mud. Gradually replaced the main Old English word, gewyrcan (see work (v.)).

Meaning “to arrive at” (a place), first attested 1620s, originally was nautical. Formerly used in many places where specific verbs now are used, e.g. to make Latin (c.1500) “to write Latin compositions.” This broader usage survives in some phrases, e.g. to make water “to urinate,” to make a book “arrange a series of bets” (1828), make hay “to turn over mown grass to expose it to sun.” Make the grade is 1912, perhaps from the notion of railway engines going up an incline.

Read the valuable suggestions in Dr. C.V. Mosby’s book — be prepared to surmount obstacles before you encounter them — equipped with the power to “make the grade” in life’s climb. [advertisement for “Making the Grade,” December 1916]

But the phrase also was in use in a schoolwork context at the time. Make do “manage with what is available” is attested from 1867. Make time “go fast” is 1849; make tracks in this sense is from 1834. To make a federal case out of (something) popularized in 1959 movie “Anatomy of a Murder;” to make an offer (one) can’t refuse is from Mario Puzo’s 1969 novel “The Godfather.” To make (one’s) day is from 1909; menacing make my day is from 1971, popularized by Clint Eastwood in film “Sudden Impact” (1983). Related: Made; making.

n.

“match, mate, companion” (now archaic or dialectal), from Old English gemaca “mate, equal; one of a pair, comrade; consort, husband, wife,” from Proto-Germanic *gamakon-, related to Old English gemæcc “well-matched, suitable,” macian “to make” (see make (v.)). Meaning “manner in which something is made, design, construction” is from c.1300. Phrase on the make “intent on profit or advancement” is from 1869.

noun

verb

Related Terms

easy make, on the make, on the take, put the make on someone, run a make

programming, tool
The Unix tool to automate the recompilation, linking etc. of programs, taking account of the interdependencies of modules and their modification times. Make reads instructions from a “makefile” which specifies a set of targets to be built, the files they depend on and the commands to execute in order to produce them.
Most C systems come with a make. There is also one produce by GNU.
[“Make – A Program for Maintaining Computer Programs”, A.I. Feldman, TR No 57, Bell Labs Apr 1977].
(1995-01-05)