Meaning of make In English

• 0 to produce something, often using a particular substance or material:

  • Do you want me to make some coffee?

  • He made a chocolate cake.

  • She makes all her own clothes.

  • [ + two objects ] He made us some coffee./He made some coffee for us.

  • The pot is made to withstand high temperatures.

  • He works for a company that makes furniture.

  • The label on the box said "made in China".

  • Butter is made out of/from milk.

  • earrings made of gold

  • Her new trainer has promised to make an Olympic athlete of her.

  • John Huston made some great movies.

  • The movie was made by Goldcrest Productions.

  • So why didn't Garbo make any films after 1941?

• 1 to cause something:

  • The kids made a real mess in the kitchen.

  • The bullet made a hole right through his chest.

  • [ + infinitive without to ] The wind is making my eyes water.

  • What made you change your mind?

  • Just seeing Woody Allen's face is enough to make me laugh.

  • The photograph makes me look about 80!

• 2 to cause to be, to become, or to appear as:

  • [ + noun ] It's the good weather that makes Spain such a popular tourist destination.

  • [ + past participle ] She had to shout to make herself heard above the sound of the music.

  • I can make myself understood in French, but I'm not fluent.

  • They went up to the Ambassador and made themselves known (to her).

  • [ + adj ] The company accounts have not yet been made public.

  • The book's advertised as "navigation made easy".

  • The president has made Henry Paulson his Secretary of the Treasury.

  • I'll have a steak - no, make that chicken.

  • I'll just make sure I've turned the oven off.

  • Make certain (that) we have enough food for the party.

  • Make sure you're home by midnight.

  • Jones made sure of his place on the team with three great goals.

  • I think I locked the door but I'll go back and check just to make sure.

• 3 to force someone or something to do something:

  • You can't make him go if he doesn't want to.

  • The vet put something down the dog's throat to make it vomit.

  • The prisoners are made to dig holes and fill them up again.

• 4 to perform an action:

  • I have to make a phone call.

  • Somebody has made a donation of £1 million to the charity Oxfam.

  • I need to make a doctor's appointment.

  • On foot they could only make about 20 miles a day.

  • We must make a decision by tomorrow.

  • You're not making any effort.

  • Someone has made a mistake/an error.

  • We're making good progress.

  • She has made a request for a new car.

  • We made an offer of £450,000 for the house.

  • She made a short speech.

  • Is it time to make a start on the work?

  • Can I make a suggestion?

  • We made good time getting across town.

  • There's a drunk at the door making trouble.

  • She hurried upstairs and quickly made the beds.

• 5 to produce a total when added together:

  • 12 and 12 make 24.

  • Today's earthquake makes five since the beginning of the year.

  • [ + obj + noun ] I have 29 different teapots in my collection - if I buy this one that'll make it 30.

• 6 to calculate as:

  • How much do you make the total?

  • I make the answer (to be) 105.6.

  • What do you make the time?/What time do you make it?

• 7 to earn or get:

  • She makes $100,000 a year as a doctor.

  • How do you make a living as a painter?

  • The company has made huge profits/losses.

  • He's very good at making new friends.

• 8 to arrive at or reach, especially successfully:

  • She made it to the airport just in time to catch her plane.

  • He made it to the bed and then collapsed.

  • Could you make a meeting at 8 a.m.?/Could you make an 8 a.m. meeting?

• 9 to succeed in getting a place in a team:

  • She failed to make the Olympic squad.

• 10 to appear as a story in the news:

  • His story made the papers back home.

  • The civil war in Mozambique made few headlines around the globe.

• 11 to cause to be perfect:

  • Those little bows around the neck really make the dress!

• 12 a type of product or the name of the company that made it:

  • What make is your laptop?

• 13 to bring something into existence, esp. using a particular substance or material; produce:

  • Does that company make computers?

  • Butter is made from cream.

  • My wedding ring is made of gold.

  • He made us some coffee.

• 14 to cause something:

  • The kids made a mess in the kitchen.

  • Don’t make any noise.

• 15 to cause something to be, become, or appear in a particular way:

  • If you open some windows, you’ll make it cooler.

  • He said something that made her angry.

  • We can sit closer together and make room (= provide space) for one more.

  • We’re making our attic into a spare bedroom.

• 16 to perform an action:

  • I’ve got to make a (phone) call to Ricardo.

  • We must make a decision by tomorrow.

  • Someone has made a mistake.

  • Latisha is making progress in her reading.

  • Can I make a suggestion?

  • We might as well make use of the car, since we’ve got it for the whole weekend.

• 17 to force someone or something to do something:

  • Ambition will make you get up off your sofa and go out and work for what you want.

• 18 to be or become something, esp. by having the necessary characteristics:

  • I don’t think he will ever make a good lawyer.

  • Hector and Wanda make a delightful couple.

  • He worked really hard, but he didn’t make the team (= was not chosen to be a member of it).

• 19 to add up to (a total):

  • 6 and 6 make 12.

• 20 to earn or get:

  • She makes $70,000 a year.

  • Can you make a living as a painter?

• 21 to arrive at or reach:

  • We should make Whitefish Bay by nightfall.

  • He made it to the bed and then collapsed.

• 22 a particular product, or the name of the company that made it:

  • What make of air conditioner do you recommend?

• 23 to produce or prepare goods, etc.:

  • The firm is only a small player in the industry, making around 1,000 vehicles a year.

  • We make software that allows mobile employees to connect securely to their corporate networks.

  • made of sth The bottles are made of opaque glass so that the contents cannot be seen.

  • made from sth All our coffee is made from beans sourced locally.

• 24 to earn or receive money:

  • make money Investors are hoping that one day "green" companies will make serious money.

  • make $30,000/£500/€75m, etc. The state of Alaska makes around $50 million a year on tobacco taxes.

  • She makes around £100,000 a year as a dentist.

  • make sth on sth They made $500,000 in total on the deal.

  • make a living In this area it's hard to make a living as a gardener.

• 25 to do a particular thing:

  • make a decision/mistake/improvement No major decisions are made without the CEO's approval.

  • make a deal/purchase/offer The deal includes a $25 million break-up fee, which could encourage other bidders to make a competing offer.

• 26 to say something officially or formally:

  • make a recommendation/statement/judgment The audit makes a series of recommendations.

  • make an announcement/a comment/a speech Both parties plan to make an announcement before Christmas.

• 27 to choose someone as something, or employ someone as something:

  • He was made Principal Analyst within a year of joining the company.

• 28 to cause someone or something to be in a particular state:

  • In August this year, she was made redundant from her job at the bank after 15 years' service.

  • make sth available/accessible/user-friendly One of the project's key goals is to make the website available in different languages.

• 29 to be ready, willing, and able to buy or sell particular bonds, shares, etc. as a dealer:

  • Western investment banks are being allowed to make a market in Chinese domestic shares.

• 30 to pay, lend, invest, etc. money:

  • Shareholders may authorize a third party, such as a bank or employer, to make investments directly to their Fund accounts.

• 31 to earn or lose more money than you spend:

  • The business made a pre-tax profit of £14.9m last year.

• 32 to make something successful:

  • They spent nearly all their savings trying to make a go of the business.

  • It has become increasingly difficult for independent operators to make a go of it.

• 33 to become rich and successful:

  • After years of hard work, she finally made good.

  • Los Angeles is full of people who go there to "make it big" like the stars in Hollywood.

• 34 to reduce the bad effect of there not being enough of something, for example money:

  • Many employers have been called upon to make good the deficits in their pension plans.

  • Exports of North Sea oil and gas dried up and failed to make good the shortfall in the manufacturing sector.

• 35 to pay for or repair something that has been damaged:

  • The company is not under any liability to make good any damage to the site.

• 36 to do something that you have promised to do, for example paying back money that you owe or paying for the cost of damage you have caused:

  • The company did not acknowledge its future obligation to make good on the losses sustained by its offshore partnerships.

• 37 to cause someone or something either to be very successful, or to cause them to fail:

  • The first year of trading can make or break a new business.

• 38 the name of a product made by a particular company, rather than by other companies that make similar products:

  • Depending on the make and model, delivery could take as little as a week.

  • What make of car do you drive?

• 39 to be trying very hard to get more money or power for yourself:

  • Many people assume that politicians are just on the make.