Word.ws English Dictionary

makes an example of

makes an example of is the third-person singular simple present indicative of make an example of.

Meaning of make an example of

Verb

make an example of (third-person singular simple present makes an example of, present participle making an example of, simple past and past participle made an example of)

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To punish someone so as to give a warning to others; sometimes, to overpunish them for added deterrence.
    • He made an example of the drunken sailor with twenty lashes, to show that he must have a sober crew.

Questions about makes an example of

What is makes an example of the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Makes an example of is the third-person singular simple present indicative of make an example of.

Words near makes an example of in the dictionary

  1. makes an appearance
  2. makes an ass of
  3. makes an effort
  4. makes an entrance
  5. makes an errand
  6. makes an example of
  7. makes an exception
  8. makes an exhibition of oneself
  9. makes an honest woman
  10. makes an impression
  11. makes an offer

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: makes an example of (page history and authors); make an example of (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.

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Cite this entry: “makes an example of.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/makes_an_example_of. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.