Make a hit

verb phrase

To be successful; be received with approval, gratitude, etc: She made a hit with my family (1829+)
1.
Also, be a hit. Achieve (or be) a success, especially a popular one, as in She made a big hit in this performance, or In out-of-town tryouts the play was already a hit. This seemingly modern term, which transfers the literal meaning of hit as “a stroke or blow,” has been around since the early 1800s. It was used then, as now, for theatrical performances, books, songs, and the like
2.
In underworld slang, commit a murder, as in Known for his deadly accuracy, he was about to make his third hit. This usage also has been extended to such terms as hit list, a roster of persons to be killed, and hit man, a killer who is usually hired by someone else. [ Second half of 1900s ]

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Make a killing
verb phrase To get a large, quick profit; win hugely: Where did he get all that money? Made a killing on the stock market, he says (1888+) Enjoy a large and quick profit, as in They made a killing in real estate. This expression alludes to a hunter’s success. [ ; late 1800s ]
Make a laughingstock of
Lay open to ridicule, as in They made a laughingstock of the chairman by inviting him to the wrong meeting-place, or She felt she was making a laughingstock of herself, always wearing the wrong clothes for the occasion. The noun laughingstock replaced the earlier mockingstock and sportingstock, now obsolete. The idiom was first recorded in […]
Make a living
Earn enough to support oneself, as in Can he make a living as a freelance trumpeter? This term was first recorded in 1632.

Make a long story short
Get to the point, as in To make a long story short, they got married and moved to Omaha. Although the idea of abbreviating a long-winded account is ancient, this precise phrase dates only from the 1800s. Henry David Thoreau played on it in a letter of 1857: “Not that the story need be long, […]
Make a mess
verb phrase To defecate; crap, shit: I’m afraid the kid has made a mess in his pants (1903+)