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make

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verb British English pronunciation: make /meɪk/ 
Word Forms
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present tense
I/you/we/theymake
he/she/itmakes
present participlemaking
past tensemade
past participlemade
Other entries for this word
 
  1. 1
    [transitive] to create or produce something by working

    Jane made coffee while the guests were finishing their dessert.

    She makes all her own clothes.

    made in:

    This furniture is made in South America.

    make something from something:

    They make paper from old rags.

    make something out of something:

    We made curtains out of some old material we found.

    made (out) of something:

    a bowl made of metal/plastic/wood

    make someone something:

    Joan made me a beautiful dress for my wedding.

    make something about someone/something:

    They're making a TV programme about the case.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of make
  2. 2
    [transitive] to cause something to be formed by breaking, cutting, or tearing an object or by pushing one object into or through another
    make a hole/scratch/dent etc in something:

    Something's made a scratch in the counter.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of make
  3. 3
    [transitive] used with some nouns for showing that someone performs the action referred to by the noun

    Over 340 arrests were made.

    make an attempt/effort:

    Helen made no attempt to stop him.

    make a decision:

    No one wanted to make a clear decision on the project.

    make a mistake/error:

    Nobody's perfect – we all make mistakes.

    make progress:

    We've made some progress, but there's still a long way to go.

    make a change/alteration/adjustment etc:

    People can eat more healthily without making major changes to their diet.

    make a contribution:

    This study makes an outstanding contribution to our understanding of the disease.

    make a noise/sound:

    Stop making so much noise!

    make a note of something (=keep a written record of something):

    Matthew made a note of the car's number and informed the police.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of make
    1. a.
      used with some nouns for showing that someone says something
      make a statement/suggestion/complaint etc:

      The minister will make a statement on that issue later today.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of make
  4. 4
    [transitive] to cause someone or something to be in a particular state or to change to another state
    make someone do something:

    This film always makes me cry.

    make yourself heard/understood etc:

    I know enough Japanese to make myself understood.

    make something difficult/easy etc:

    The noise in the school makes learning difficult.

    make someone feel ill/sad/strange etc:

    The smell of fish makes me feel ill.

    make someone look fat/thin/younger etc:

    That haircut makes you look ten years younger.

    make someone happy/sad/angry etc:

    Listening to the news just makes me angry these days.

    make something nice/pretty/attractive etc:

    I want to make the place nice for when they arrive.

    make someone famous/popular etc:

    It was television that made her so popular.

    make it clear/obvious/plain etc (that):

    I'd like to make it clear that I had nothing to do with this.

    make it known/understood (that):

    She made it known that she was the mayor's wife.

    make someone something:

    They made him head teacher after Joanne left.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of make
  5. 5
    [transitive] to force someone to do something

    I'm not going to apologize and you can't make me!

    make someone do something:

    They made us work for 12 hours a day.

    They made him tell the truth by depriving him of food.

    be made to do something:

    We were made to learn fifty new words every week.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of make
  6. 6
    [transitive] to arrange or organize something
    make an appointment/date:

    I've made an appointment for you with the doctor for tomorrow morning.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of make
  7. 7
    [transitive] to earn or get money

    She makes about £2,000 a month.

    make money:

    You can make a lot of money playing the stock market.

    make a living (=make enough money to buy the things that you need):

    Can you make a living from painting?

    make a profit:

    The company made a small profit in its first year.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of make
  9. 9
    [transitive] to cause something to be successful

    It was the children's choir that really made the performance.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of make
  10. 10
    [linking verb] to have the right qualities for a particular job, purpose etc

    Diane would make a good teacher – she's so patient.

    Don't you think the novel would make a great film?

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of make
  11. 11
    [transitive] to reach a particular place, especially so that there is time to do something

    At this rate we won't make Jedda before midnight.

    Dan just managed to make his 7 o'clock flight to Toronto.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of make
    1. a.
      to be able to be present at a particular event

      We can't make the conference after all.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of make
  12. 12
    [transitive] to succeed in achieving something by reaching the necessary level or standard

    We've made our target of 10,000 sales this month.

    make a deadline:

    They'll never make the deadline now that the computers have crashed.

    make the headlines/papers/news etc (=be important enough to be reported):

    Their search for a heart donor made the headlines in April.

    make a team/squad (=be chosen for it):

    Dawson has failed to make the team for Saturday's big match.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of make

phrases

This is the British English definition of make. View American English definition of make.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

View the pronunciation for make.

 

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