Word.ws English Dictionary

make

/meɪk/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Canada[meːk]

make verb: to build, construct, produce, or originate.

Verb

make (third-person singular simple present makes, present participle making, simple past and past participle made or (dialectal or obsolete) maked)

  1. (transitive) To build, construct, produce, or originate.
    • We made a bird feeder for our yard.
    • I'll make a man out of him yet.
  2. (transitive) To write or compose.
    • I made a poem for her wedding.
    • He made a will.
  3. (transitive) To bring about; to effect or produce by means of some action.
    • make war
    • They were just a bunch of ne'er-do-wells who went around making trouble for honest men.
  4. (transitive, religious) To create (the universe), especially (in Christianity) from nothing.
    • God made earth and heaven.
    • Thine are these orbs of light and shade;
      ⁠Thou madest Life in man and brute;
      ⁠Thou madest Death; and lo, thy foot
      Is on the skull which thou hast made.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Prologue”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC
  5. (transitive) To prepare (food); to cook (food).
    • I'm making cereal for breakfast. Who wants some?
  6. (colloquial, intransitive) To behave, to act.
    • To make like a deer caught in the headlights.
    • They made nice together, as if their fight never happened.
  7. (intransitive) To tend; to contribute; to have effect; with for or against.
    • And all Israel's language about this power, except that it makes for righteousness, is approximate language1873, Matthew Arnold, Literature and Dogma
    • Follow after the things which make for peace.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 14:19
  8. To constitute.
    • They make a cute couple.
    • This makes the third infraction.
  9. (transitive) To add up to, have a sum of.
    • Two and four make six.
  10. (transitive, typically interrogative) To interpret.
    • I don’t know what to make of it.
    • They couldn't make anything of the inscription.
  11. (stressed, transitive, usually) To bring into success.
    • This company is what made you.
    • She married into wealth and so has it made.
  12. (ditransitive, second object is an adjective or participle) To cause to be.
    • The blisters on my foot made it a problem to walk without a cane.
    • Caesar made rich men of his supporters back in Rome.
    Synonyms:
    render
Show 31 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. To cause to appear to be; to represent as.
    • Homer makes Aphrodite the daughter of Zeus, unlike Hesiod who depicted her as born from the sea foam.
    • He is not that goose and Ass that Valla would make him.1709–1710, Thomas Baker, Reflections on Learning
  2. (ditransitive, second object is a verb) To cause (to do something); to compel (to do something).
    • You're making her cry.
    • I was made to feel like a criminal.
  3. (ditransitive, second object is a verb, can be stressed for emphasis or clarity) To force to do.
    • The teacher made the student study harder.
    • Don’t let them make you suffer.
  4. (ditransitive) To indicate or suggest to be.
    • His past mistakes don’t make him a bad person.
  5. (transitive) To cover neatly with bedclothes.
  6. (US, slang, transitive, crime) To recognise, identify, spot.
    • I caught sight of him two or three times and then made him turning north into Laurel Canyon Drive.1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 33
    • Linus Caldwell: Well, she just made Danny and Yen, which means in the next 48 hours the three o' your pictures are gonna be in every police station in Europe.2004, George Nolfi et al., Ocean's Twelve, Warner Bros. Pictures, 0:50:30
    Synonyms:
    twig, notice, clock, ID, identify, ken, to make someone, recognize
  7. (colloquial, transitive) To arrive at a destination, usually at or by a certain time.
    • We should make Cincinnati by 7 tonight.
    • I won't be able to make dinner; something's come up at work.
  8. (colloquial, intransitive) To proceed (in a direction).
    • They made westward over the snowy mountains.
    • Make for the hills! It's a wildfire!
  9. (transitive) To cover (a given distance) by travelling.
    • I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. I was completely mystified at such...1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
    • I made over twenty miles that day, for I was now hardened to fatigue and accustomed to long hikes, having spent considerable time hunting and exploring in the immediate vicinity of camp.1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter VIII, in Hugo Gernsback, editor...
  10. (transitive) To move at (a speed).
    • The ship could make 20 knots an hour in calm seas.
    • This baby can make 220 miles an hour.
  11. To appoint; to name.
    • On November 15, 1396,[…]Benedict XIII made him bishop of Noyon;1991, Bernard Guenée, Between Church and State: The Lives of Four French Prelates, →ISBN
  12. (slang, transitive) To induct into the Mafia or a similar organization (as a made man).
    • Jimmy Conway: They're gonna make him.
    • Henry Hill: Paulie's gonna make you?1990, Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese, Goodfellas
  13. (colloquial, euphemistic, intransitive) To defecate or urinate.
    • When my father comes back with a dark wet spot on his pants, right in front, as if he has made in his pants, he starts eating his food in great shovelfuls.1992, Merrill Joan Gerber, The kingdom of Brooklyn, page 30
    • "He made in his pants, okay? I hope everybody's satisfied!" She flung her hat on the floor and kicked it. "He'll never come back to school now! Never! And it's all your fault!2003, Mary Anne Kelly, The Cordelia Squad, page 121
  14. (transitive) To earn, to gain (money, points, membership or status).
    • They hope to make a bigger profit.
    • He didn't make the choir after his voice changed.
  15. (transitive) To achieve coverage in; to appear in.
    • The special classes seemed to help because, Mrs. Zinmer recalled with some pride, in the seventh grade he made the honor roll.1977 July 9, William Robbins, “Mother Recalls Anger and Conflict of Boy Held in Fire Fatal to 42”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the...
    • Ordinary New York kinds of things happened to him. He was mugged in Central Park. Somebody stole his sport utility vehicle. Strangers talked to him on the subway. A friend of a friend got him Yankees tickets. But when it happened to Kennedy, it made the papers. He was public property for years: the...1999 July 23, Susan Sachs, “New Yorkers Fondly Recall a 'Regular Guy' Who Fascinated Them”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original...
  16. (transitive) To pay, to cover (an expense); chiefly used after expressions of inability.
    • Whether, […], the construction of additional roads […] would present a case in which the exaction of prohibitory or otherwise onerous rates may be prevented, though it result in an impossibility for some or all of the roads to make expenses, we need not say; no such case is before us.1889 May 1, Chief Justice George P. Raney, Pensacola & A. R. Co. v. State of Florida (judicial opinion), reproduced in The Southern Reporter, Volume 5, West Publishing Company, p.843
    • At first glance, you may be able to make rent and other overhead expenses because the business is doing well, but if sales drop can you still make rent?2005, Yuvi Shmul, Ron Peltier, Make It Big with Yuvi: How to Buy Or Start a Small Business, the Best Investment, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 67
  17. (intransitive, obsolete) To compose verses; to write poetry; to versify.
    • ca.1360-1387, William Langland, Piers Plowman
      to solace him some time, as I do when I make
  18. To enact; to establish.
    • Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.1791, The First Amendment to the United States Constitution
  19. To develop into; to prove to be.
    • She'll make a fine president.
    • Classical literature usually makes heavy reading.
  20. (Appalachia) To study or train so as to become (a profession); to grow up to be (something).
    • He'll make a doctor one day.
  21. To form or formulate in the mind.
    • make plans
    • made a questionable decision
  22. To perform a feat.
    • make a leap
    • make a pass
  23. (intransitive) To gain sufficient audience to warrant its existence.
    • In the end, my class didn't make, which left me with a bit of free time.
  24. (obsolete) To act in a certain manner; to have to do; to manage; to interfere; to be active; often in the phrase to meddle or make.
    • a scurvy, jack-a-nape priest to meddle or makec. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  25. (obsolete) To increase; to augment; to accrue.
  26. (obsolete) To be engaged or concerned in.
    • Gomez, what makest thou here, with a whole brotherhood of city bailiffs?1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number)
  27. (archaic) To cause to be (in a specified place), used after a subjective what.
    • Footman. Madam! Mr. Dorimant!
      Lov. What makes him here?1676, George Etherege, The Man of Mode
    • What makes her in the wood so late,
      A furlong from the castle gate?1816, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Christabel
  28. (euphemistic, transitive) To take the virginity of.
    • I was a young un at 'Oogli,
      Shy as a girl to begin;
      Aggie de Castrer she made me,
      — An' Aggie was clever as sin;
      Older than me, but my first un —
      More like a mother she were
      Showed me the way to promotion an' pay,
      An' I learned about women from 'er!1896, Rudyard Kipling, The Ladies
  29. (transitive) To have sexual intercourse with.
    • He could see that her face was thin, proud. She looked like she'd be a hard dame to make. He didn't want just that. She'd be a hard dame to win.1934, James T. Farrell, chapter 16, in The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan
    • The boys in the lower classes who had already dropped out of school derived much of their prestige among their peers from their skill in “making” girls.1959, Vance Packard, The Status Seekers, Pocket Books, published 1971, →ISBN, page 138
    Synonyms:
    Formal terms, bed, coit, coitize, dight, enjoy, feague, go in unto, go to bed with, have
  30. (intransitive) Of water, to flow toward land; to rise.
    • The flood had made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for us was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide.1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 193
  31. (transitive) To establish two or more men on (a point) so that it cannot be captured.

Noun (1)

make (plural makes)

  1. Brand; marque; manufacturer; maker.
    • Near-synonyms: kind, type
    • we service all makes and models
    Synonyms:
    kind, type
  2. Manner or style of construction (style of how a thing is made).
    • Near-synonyms: makeup, form, conformation, composition; form factor
    • I can name the tribe every moccasin belongs to by the make of it.1907, Mark Twain, A Horse's Tale
  3. Origin (of a manufactured article); manufacture; production.
    • The cane was undoubtedly of foreign make, for it had a solid silver ferrule at one end, which was not English hall–marked.1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Ayrsham Mystery”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London...
    • The Royal Typewriter Company is distributing a very attractive eight page folder, announcing the Royal Number 10, the first machine of Royal make which uses levers instead of wires to operate the type-bars.1914, Judicious Advertising, page 158
  4. A person's character or disposition.
    • I never feel very much excited about any old thing; it's not my make; but I've got a sort of shiver inside of me, and a watery feeling in the heart region.1914, Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton, Perch of the Devil, page 274
  5. (dated) The act or process of making something, especially in industrial manufacturing.
    • […] papers are respectively of second or inferior quality, the last being perhaps torn or broken in the "make" — as the manufacture is technically termed.1908, Charles Thomas Jacobi, Printing: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Typography as Applied More Particularly to the Printing of Books, page 331
  6. (uncountable) Quantity produced, especially of materials.
    • In 1880 the make of pig iron in all countries was 18,300,000 tons.1902 September 16, “German Iron and Steel Production”, in The New York Times, page 8
    Synonyms:
    production, output
  7. A software utility for automatically building large applications, or an implementation of this utility.
    • However, the unzip and make programs weren't found, so the default was left blank.2003, D. Curtis Jamison, Perl Programming for Biologists, →ISBN, page 115
  8. (slang) Identification: recognition (of identity), especially from police records or evidence.
    • "They ever get a make on the blood type?" Horn asked, staring at the stained mattress.2003, John Lutz, The Night Spider, →ISBN, page 53
    • "I'm sure we'll get a make on the suspect's prints by day break, so if you come down town, I'll see you get everything available. Go ahead and process the car, we won't have any need of it."2003, Harlan Wygant, The Samurai Conspiracy: A Story of Revenge by the Author of "The Junkyard Dog.", →ISBN, page 36
    Synonyms:
    ID
  9. (slang) A promotion.
    • Sent back the list of makes with only Post and Hamilton on it. (Buckner had recommended 10 staff officers and 1 combat soldier!)2004, Joseph Stilwell, Seven Stars: The Okinawa Battle Diaries of Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. and Joseph Stilwell, →ISBN, page 94
  10. A homemade project, particularly one demonstrated on television.
    • Blue Peter "make"1978, Biddy Baxter, Hazel Gill, Margaret Parnell, Rachel Barnes, Kate Pountney, The 'Blue Peter' Make, Cook & Look Book, page i
  11. Turn to declare the trump for a hand (in bridge), or to shuffle the cards.
    • It's your make as the cards lie. Take your time.1925, Robert William Chambers, The Talkers, page 195
    • 'Not your make,' said the adjutant sternly and started dealing the cards with his white be-ringed hands as though he was in haste to get rid of them.1962 (edition), Leo Tolstoy, Hadji Murat: A Tale of the Caucasus
  12. A made basket.
  13. The closing of an electrical circuit.
    • If the interrupter operated every 2 sec., the current would rise to 10 amp. and drop to zero with successive "makes" and "breaks."1947, Charles Seymour Siskind, Electricity, page 94
    Antonyms:
    break

Noun (2)

make (plural makes)

  1. (slang, usually in phrase “easy make”) Past, present, or future target of seduction (usually female).
    • To me, if I weren't going with someone and was taking pills, it would be like advertising that I'm an easy make.2007, Prudence Mors Rains, Becoming an Unwed Mother, →ISBN, page 26
    • She's your make, not mine. […] It isn't anything short of difficult to entertain someone else's pregnant fiancee.1962, Ralph Moreno, A Man's Estate, page 12
  2. (UK, dialectal) Mate; a spouse or companion; a match.
    • Th'Elfe therewith astownd,
      Vpstarted lightly from his looser make,
      And his vnready weapons gan in hand to take.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
    • Where their maids and their makes
      At dancing and wakes,
      Had their napkins and posies
      And the wipers for their noses1624, Ben Jonson, The Masque of Owls at Kenilworth

Noun (3)

make (plural makes)

  1. (Ireland, Northern England, Scotland, archaic) A halfpenny.
    • the last we shall have, I take it; for a make to a million, but we trine to the nubbing cheat to-morrow.1826, Sir Walter Scott, Woodstock; Or, the Cavalier
    • Only as he climbed the steps did he mind that he hadn't even a meck upon him, and turned to jump off as the tram with a showd swung grinding down to the Harbour […]1934, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Grey Granite, Polygon 2006 (A Scots Quair), page 606

Noun (4)

make (plural makes)

  1. (East-Anglia, Essex, obsolete) An agricultural tool resembling a scythe, used to cut (harvest) certain plants such as peas, reeds, or tares.
    • Harvest.—When left for seed, they are cut and wadded as pease, with a make.
      Produce.—From three to six sacks an acre.1797, Arthur Young, General View of the Agriculture of the County of Suffolk: Drawn Up for the Consideration of the Board of Agriculture and Internal Improvement, page 73
    • Harvest. Taken up by a pease-make, and left in small heaps, and turned as often as the weather may make it necessary.1811, William Gooch, General view of the agriculture of the county of Cambridge; drawn up for the consideration of the Board of Agriculture and Internal Improvement, page 142, section VI "Pease"

make meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

make in Hindi

to create
रचना racnā, सृजना sŕjnā, रचना करना racnā karnā, सृजन करना sŕjan karnā
to construct
बनाना banānā
to cause to be
कारण kāraṇ
to force to do
विवश करना vivaś karnā

make in Tamil

to construct
பண்ணு paṇṇu, செய் cey
to produce
பண்ணு paṇṇu, செய் cey

make in Marathi

to make or give to drink, suckle, to feed a liquid
पाजणे pājṇe
to make, construct
बनवणे banavṇe

make in Urdu

to construct
بنانا banānā
More languagesFewer languages
make in Bengali
ডৌল ḍōul, ডইল্যা ḍôilla, গড়া goṛa
make in Telugu
కల్పించు kalpiñcu, మేపించు mēpiñcu, సంతరించు santariñcu
make in Malayalam
ഉണ്ടാക്കുക uṇṭākkuka, പണ്ണുക paṇṇuka, പടയ്ക്കുക paṭaykkuka, ആവിഷ്കരിക്കുക āviṣkarikkuka
make in Kannada
ಪಂಣು paṇṇu, ಮಾಡು māḍu
make in Punjabi
ਬਣਾਉਣਾ baṇāuṇā, ਤੋਰਨਾ tornā
make in Gujarati
બનાવવું banāvvũ, કરવું karvũ
make in Sanskrit
आरभ्ति ārabhti
make in Sinhala
සදනවා sadanawā
make in Assamese
বনোৱা bonüa, সজা xoza, সৃষ্টি কৰা xristi kora, প্ৰস্তুত কৰা prostut kora
make in Nepali
रच्नु racnu, बनाउनु banāunu
make in Pashto
جوړول, ګرځول gərźawə́l
make in Arabic
صَنَعَ ṣanaʕa, جَعَلَ jaʕala, فَعَلَ faʕala
make in Persian
ساختن, تشکیل دادن, تولید کردن, ایجاد کردن
make in Vietnamese
làm

Examples of make in a sentence

  • He makes deodorants.
  • One swallow does not a summer make.
  • What time do you make it?
  • This might make you a bit woozy.
  • Did I make myself heard?
  • Scotch will make you a man.

All 40 example sentences with make

Synonyms of make

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of make

Forms of make

third-person singular presentmakes
present participlemaking
past participlemade
pastmade
alternative pronunciation-spellingmakee
past participle (obsolete, dialectal)maked
past (obsolete, dialectal)maked
first-person singular past (dialectal)maked
second-person singular present (archaic)makest
second-person singular past (dialectal)maked
second-person singular past (archaic)madest
third-person singular present (archaic)maketh
third-person singular past (dialectal)maked
plural past (dialectal)maked
past subjunctive (dialectal)maked
present participle (archaic)makeing
past participle (dialectal)maked

Past tense of make: made

Plural of make: makes

Origin of make

From Middle English macen, machiæ, macian, macke, mak, make, maken, makiȝe, from Old English macian (“to build, make, work”), from Proto-West Germanic *makōn (“to build, make, work”), from *mak (“agreeable, comfortable, fit, suitable”), from Proto-Germanic *makaz (“agreeable, comfortable, fit, suitable”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂ǵ-, *meh₂ḱ- (“to knead”) or *meg- (“to be comfortable, pleasant”). Related to match. Cognates Cognate with Scots mak (“to make”), Yola maak, maake (“to make”), North Frisian maage, maaki, mååge (“to make”), Saterland Frisian moakje (“to make; to repair; to prepare; to preach; to earn”), West Frisian meitsje (“to make”), Alemannic German mache (“to make; to do”), Bavarian måcha, måchn (“to make; to do; to go; to cause; to play; to matter; to look”), Cimbrian machan (“to make”), Dutch and Low German maken (“to make”), German machen (“to make; to do; to go; to cause; to play; to fare; to look”), Luxembourgish maachen, man (“to make; to do; to take; to equal; to put”), Mòcheno mòchen (“to make”), Vilamovian mahha (“to make; to do”), Yiddish מאַכן (makhn, “to create, make; to do; to say”); also probably Irish mám (“yoke; duty, obligation; function...

From Middle English make, imake, ȝemace, from Old English ġemaca (“a mate, an equal, companion, peer”), from Proto-West Germanic *gamakō, from Proto-Germanic *gamakô (“companion, comrade”), from Proto-Indo-European *maǵ- (“to knead, oil”). Reinforced by Old Norse maki (“an equal”). Cognate with Icelandic maki (“spouse”), Swedish make (“spouse, husband”), Danish mage (“companion, fellow, mate”). Doublet of match.

Uncertain.

Words formed from make

Phrases with make

178 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with make

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about make

What does make mean?
Make means to build, construct, produce, or originate.
What is make in Hindi?
Make in Hindi is रचना (racnā), सृजना (sŕjnā), रचना करना (racnā karnā). See Make meaning in Hindi.
How do you use make in a sentence?
He makes deodorants.
What part of speech is make?
Make can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce make?
Make is pronounced /meɪk/.
What is the past tense of make?
The past tense of make is made.

Words near make in the dictionary

  1. Makaton
  2. Makawao
  3. Makayla
  4. Makdashau
  5. makdous
  6. make
  7. make a better door than a window
  8. make a big thing out of
  9. make a bolt for it
  10. make a book
  11. make a break for it

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: make (page history and authors); पाजणे (Marathi) (page history and authors); গড়া (Bengali) (page history and authors); కల్పించు (Telugu) (page history and authors); ആവിഷ്കരിക്കുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಪಂಣು (Kannada) (page history and authors); ਤੋਰਨਾ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); કરવું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); සදනවා (Sinhala) (page history and authors); बनाउनु (Nepali) (page history and authors); جوړول (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-to make.ogg, en-us-make.ogg.

Cite this entry: “make.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/make. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.