▪ I. make, n.1 Obs. exc. dial.
(meɪk)
Forms: α. 1 ᵹemaca, 2 ȝemace, 3 imake. β. 2– make; also 4–9 north. mak, (5 mac, 6 mack, maike), 6–9 Sc. maik.
[OE. ᵹemaca wk. masc. corresponds to OS. gimaco, fellow, equal, OHG. gimahho ‘socius’ (fem. gimahha wife):—OTeut. type *gamakon-, subst. form of *gamako- adj. (OE. ᵹemæc equal, well-matched, OHG. gimah fit, matched, convenient, MHG. gemach appertaining, belonging, like, mod.G. gemach easy, comfortable, MDu. gemac appertaining, also agreeable, quiet, calm), f. *ga- y- prefix (expressing the notions of conjunction and mutual relation) + *mako-, app. primarily meaning ‘fit, suitable’, whence *makôjo- make v. The simple stem occurs (though perh. through loss of the prefix) in ON. mak-r (only in compar. and superl.) fitting, easy, comfortable, make wk. masc., mate, match, equal (Sw. make, Da. mage consort, like), mod.Du. mak tame, docile, gentle. The root has not been traced outside Teut.
As the prefix y- of ns. was universally lost in early ME., the mod. form is the normal representative of OE. ᵹemaca. The currency of the word may, however, esp. in northern dialects, be due to adoption of ON. make. Cf. the cognate match n.]
1. An (or one's) equal, peer, match; (one's) like. In ME. freq. in phr. but (any) make.
| α c 1000 ælfric Gram. ix. (Z.) 43 Hic et hæc et hoc par, ᵹemaca. a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 77 (Cott. Vitell. MS.) In worle nes nere non Þine imake of no wimmon. |
| β a 1300 Cursor M. 19656 O preching had he [sc. Saul of Tarsus] na mak. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xviii. (Egipciane) 543 For I wes gyrne but ony mak Þat sawlis put to lestand vrak. c 1460 Towneley Myst. ii. 442 Yit knew I neuer thi make. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) II. 235 Lo yonder same is he Whiche without make thynketh hym wyse to be. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 45 Elgin, quhair is sa noble and notable a kirke in beutie and decore that with vs it hes na make. c 1620 Mure Sonn. i, Admir'd, but maik, euin in a thowsand thingis. 1717 Ramsay Elegy on Lucky Wood ix, She has na left her mak behind her. 1724 ― Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 28 Your Tocher it sall be good There's nane sall hae it's maik. 1893 Northumbld. Gloss., Make, an equal, one that is matched or mated with another. |
† b. the make: the like. Sc. Obs.
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 436 Traist weill..sen God can do the maik Onto ȝour self. 1539 Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 160 Gif euer scho dois the maik in tyme cumyng. 1560 Rolland Crt. Venus ii. 896 In mappamond the maik is not perchance. |
2. An image. rare.
| α c 1205 Lay. 18206 Þe king lette wurchen tweien imaken [c 1275 ymages], tweien gulden draken. |
| β 1890 J. Service Thir Notandums xiv. 101 They made wee maiks oot o' clay..of them that had thortered them. |
3. A mate, companion. (occas. applied to the opponent with whom a fighter is matched.)
| α a 1175 Cott. Hom. 221 Uton wircan him ȝemace him to fultume and to froure. |
| β a 1225 Ancr. R. 114 Ne beo þu nout Gius fere ne Gius make uorte birlen him so. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1698 And if so be the chieftayn be take On outher syde or elles sleen his make. a 1400–50 Alexander 5430 A turne þai turnay to-gedire, Ilkane mellis with his make & so þare many dies. 1598 Florio, Sótio, a companion, a fellow, a make. 1721 Ramsay Answ. Burchet 18 When honour'd Burchet and his maikes are pleas'd..With my corn-pipe. 1886 Cheshire Gloss., Make, a mate or companion. |
4. Of animals, esp. birds: A mate (male or female).
| α c 1000 ælfric Gen. vi. 19 And of eallum nytenum ealles flæsces tweᵹen ᵹemacan þu lætst in to þam arce. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 225 Ic ᵹegaderi..of fugel cynne simle ȝemacan þat hi eft to fostre bien. |
| β c 1200 Ormin 1276 Fra þatt hire make iss dæd Ne kepeþþ ȝho [þe turrtle] nan oþerr. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 45 That was in the Monthe of Maii, Whan every brid hath chose his make. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 153 Nyghtynggales al nyght syngen and wake, For long absence..of his make. 1542–5 Brinklow Lament. (1874) 117 The vypar..destroyeth her make or male in the concepcyon. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 97 The Wolfe chooseth him for hir make that hath or doth endure most travayll for hir sake. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Muge, The female Mullet will rather be caught by fishermen then abandon her Make. |
5. Of human beings: A mate, consort; a husband or wife, lover or mistress.
| a 1240 Lofsong in Cott. Hom. 209 Iesu..of þe eadie meiden iboren Maria þet is meiden and bute make moder. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1159 Oþer þat wif leost hire make. a 1300 Cursor M. 4668 Þe king him did a wijf to tak, Hight assener, a doghti mak. c 1374 Chaucer Compl. Mars 154 God yif every wyghte joy of his make! c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2086 Wolde he be my worldly make & wedde me to wyue. c 1460 Towneley Myst. i. 187 A rib I from the take, therof shall be maide thi make. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia i. (1590) 4 b, Like a widdow hauing lost her make. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. ii. 30 And each not farre behinde him had his make, To weete, two ladies of most goodly hew. 1626 B. Jonson Masque of Owls, Where their Maides, and their Makes, At dancings, and Wakes, Had their Napkins and poses. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. i. ii, Whensoe'er they [sc. men] slight their maiks at hame. 1890 Glouc. Gloss., Make, mate, companion, lover. 1893 Northumbld. Gloss., Maik, make,..a companion, consort, mate. |
▪ II. make, n.2
(meɪk)
Also (Sc. and north.) 4–9 mak, 6 mayck, 7–9 mack, 9 maik.
[f. make v.1]
† 1. Doing, action; esp. (Sc.) manner, style (of action, behaviour, speech). Obs.
| a 1300–1400 Cursor M. 18788 (Gött.) His kin ne will he noght forsake, Bot it be thoru vr auen make [Cott. sake]. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints iii. (Andreas) 790 Quhen scho saw þe haly man one þat mak de. c 1470 Henry Wallace x. 554 To rewll the ost on a gud mak. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xiii. 1 Ane morlandis man of vplandis mak. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 614 Commanding him opone the samin mak [etc.]. |
2. The manner in which a thing is made. a. Of a product of art or manufacture: Style of construction, kind of composition. spec. with implied reference to the manufacturer or source of manufacture; = brand n. 6.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints ix. (Bertholomeus) 224 Bundyne with chenȝeis of fule mak. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 204 He let tuo cofres make Of o semblance and of o make. a 1400–50 Alexander 3218 [He] was on þe make of þat mote noȝt mervalled a litill. a 1500 H. Medwall Nature 1065 (Brandl) A doublet of the new make. 1699 L. Wafer Voy. (1729) 306 The other houses and churches are pretty handsome after the Spanish make. 1710 Hearne Collect. 7 May (O. H. S.) II. 387 The make of the Letters..appear not..ancient. 1760 Brown Compl. Farmer ii. 8 This depends much upon the make of the plough. 1833 H. Martineau Brooke Farm viii. 104 The caps and bonnets were of quite a new make. 1854 W. Collins Hide & Seek III. 186 After suggesting that the candle might have gone out through some defect in the make of it. 1868 Joynson Metals 32 A great variety of what are technically called ‘makes’ of iron are produced in a wide range of degrees of hardness. 1889 Anthony's Photogr. Bull. II. 80 Use a slow make of bromide paper. 1909 Webster, Make,..often referring to quality or origin of a manufactured article; as, whose make is it? 1937 Discovery Feb. 61/2, I tested the records on four different makes of gramophone. 1937 J. Betjeman Continual Dew 5 Talk of sports and makes of cars In various bogus Tudor bars. 1975 ‘D. Craig’ Dead Liberty xix. 108 It would be better not to park the same..vehicle in that street again... He wished now he had not mentioned the make. |
b. Of a natural object: Form or composition, structure, constitution. Often of the body: ‘Build’.
| 14.. How Good Wife taught Dau. 126 in Barbour's Bruce, etc. (1870) 529 Flawm nocht na fluriss that vill fade, To mend the mak that god has made. a 1600 Montgomerie Misc. Poems li. 37 Gif she had bene into the dayis auld, Quhen Jupiter the schap of bull did tak..Sum greater mayck, I wait, he had gart mak, Hir to haue stollin be his slichtis quent. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. Disc. (1848) 64 The Leaves..of a Tree,..are of a more solid Texture..than the Blossoms, which seem to be of a slighter make. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 537 Their Faces are of a flat oval Figure, of the Negro make. 1719 Freethinker No. 148 ¶2 A Greek virgin, of exquisite Make and Feature. 1742 Young Nt. Th. ix. 868–9 Nature..gave A Make to Man directive of his Thought; A Make set upright. 1751 D. Jeffries Treat. Diamonds (ed. 2) 23 A right knowledge of the true make of Diamonds. 1792 Burns Lady Mary Ann iv, Young Charlie Cochran was the sprout of an aik, Bonie, and bloomin' and straught was its make. 1812 Byron Juan v. xi, He had an English look; that is, was square In make, of a complexion white and ruddy. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) III. 32 The apparently isolated molecules found in the make of the polype and various worms. 1832 H. Martineau Life in Wilds iv. 46 Look at his delicate hands and slight make. 1886 Ruskin Præterita I. 291 The Jura rock, balanced in the make of it between chalk and marble. 1894 Mrs. H. Ward Marcella II. 301 A huge man, with the make and muscles of a prize-fighter. |
c. Of immaterial things: Form, fashion; hence, sort, character, nature (passing into 4).
| 1660 Cowley Ode Restoration xiv, All the Weapons malice e'r could try, Of all the sev'ral makes of wicked Policy. 1673 Lady's Call. i. iv. §9 Mutual visits..should flow from a real kindness, but if those now in use be sifted, how few will be found of that make? 1679 J. Goodman Penit. Pard. i. i. (1713) 15 The make and fabrick of a Parable. 1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. vii. 397 A corresponding change, in the very form and make of our literature. 1890 Harper's Mag. Mar. 524/2, I did not know just the make and manner of his trouble. |
† d. all of a make, of one make: of the same character throughout. Obs.
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 72 There being nothing in the Tube to hinder, Why should not the man fall further, the air of the Well being all of a make? 1682 Grew Exp. Luctation Introd., The Experiments may seem too numerous to be of one make. 1684 N. S. Crit. Enq. Edit. Bible xxvii. 241 St. Jerom's Translation..is not all of a make, but hath some little mixture of the Ancient or Italian. |
3. Mental or moral constitution, disposition, or character.
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. To Rdr., Deeming there were more in the World of my make. 1676 G. Towerson Decalogue 89 A gesture..us'd even by good men towards those of the same make with themselves. 1713 Steele Guard. No. 13 ¶4 Mr. William, the next brother, is not of this smooth make. 1748 Richardson Clarissa IV. 153, I, who, as to my will, and impatience, and so forth, am of the true lady-make! 1765 Ld. Holland Let. 19 July in Jesse G. Selwyn (1843) I. 387 You are not of a make to be a confidant there. 1806–7 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) i. x, You are happily of a hardy and contentious make. 1877 Ruskin Fors Clav. vii. 106 Giotto was, in the make of him, and contents, a very much stronger..man than Titian. |
4. Kind, sort, species. dial.
| 1740 J. Collier (Tim Bobbin) View Lanc. Dial. Wks. (1862) 62 I'r freetn't aw macks o weys. 1785 Span. Rivals 8 Why, mun, he's of all macks of sorts. 1788 W. Marshall Yorksh. II. 341 Gloss., Mack, sort, species; as, what mack of corn, or stock? 1829 Brockett N. C. Gloss. (ed. 2), Macks, sorts, fashions—makes. ‘A little o' a' macks’. |
5. a. The action or process of making or manufacture. Now rare exc. techn.
| 1743 J. Morris Serm. ii. 38 He created the vast universe, that he might impart such degrees of happiness and perfection to the several orders of beings, as are suitable to the end of their make. 1805 W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. III. 47 It appears that the make of linen began in Spain. 1805 ― in Monthly Mag. XX. 147 One of your correspondents inquired concerning the make of marbled soap. 1879 Browning Ned Bratts 132 He taught himself the make Of laces, tagged and tough. 1890 Jacobi Printing xxxi. 250 Papers..torn or broken in the ‘make’— as the manufacture is technically termed. |
b. Qualified by an adj. or possessive denoting the source of manufacture or the manufacturer, often with mixture of sense 2 a implying the style or quality associated with such an origin.
| 1873 Athenæum 19 Apr. 508/3 A cast-iron chain of the old Sussex make. 1884 Times (weekly ed.) 29 Feb. 5/7 A pocket..of American make. Mod. Are these shoes your own make? |
6. Amount manufactured; quantity produced.
| 1865 Pall Mall G. 27 June 5 The make of puddled iron has been materially reduced at many of the works. 1884 W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron viii. 174 The economy in fuel and increased make per furnace, effected by the introduction of the hot blast. 1886 Times 20 Aug. 11/2 The make of pig iron in the United Kingdom over the first six months of the year shows a decrease of 270,321 tons. |
7. slang. ‘A successful theft or swindle’ (Slang Dict. 1860). Cf. make v.1 29 b.
8. on the make: intent on profit or advancement; also, intent on winning someone's affections; seeking sexual pleasure; improving, advancing, getting better. slang (orig. U. S.).
| 1869 J. R. Browne Adventures Apache Country 507 ‘Oh, you're on the make, are you?’.. ‘Why, yes, to be candid, I'd like to make fifty thousand or so.’ 1874 Hotten Slang Dict. 221 Any one is said to be ‘on the make’ who asks too high a price for his goods, or endeavours in any way to overreach. 1890 Pall Mall G. 6 Sept. 2/1 Suppose..that I am a man, as our American cousins say, ‘on the make’—suppose that I have parliamentary ambitions. 1893 Nation (N. Y.) 9 Mar. 172/2 The men who wanted offices rather than the triumph of great principles, those who were ‘on the make’ in politics. 1898 Henley Lond. Types, Bus-driver, Being stony broke, Lives lustily; is ever on the make. 1918 Barrie What Every Woman Knows ii. 55 There are few more impressive sights in the world than a Scotsman on the make. 1929 J. P. McEvoy Hollywood Girl (1930) 41 Jimmy..said Buelow was on the make for me or he wouldn't have wasted that much time on me. 1934 J. O'Hara Appointment in Samarra (1935) vii. 212 It's the first time I ever knew of you going on the make for some dame. 1955 Times 12 May 7/3, I think we are on the make and that, on balance, the tide is running in our favour. 1967 N. Freeling Strike Out 77 He struck me always as a sly nasty fellow, a bootlicker, always on the make. 1973 ‘A. Blaisdell’ Crime by Chance vii. 126 You mean he was still on the make? At his age? 1973 W. M. Duncan Big Timer xxii. 150 Riordan was on the make. He'd found out something he could use. 1974 R. Adams Shardik li. 426 Insinuating, dandified, with the manners, at once familiar and obsequious, of a presuming servant on the make. |
9. Electr. The action of making contact in an electric circuit; the position in which contact is made (in phr. at make).
| 1875, etc. [see make-and-break]. 1892 Gloss. Electrical Terms in Lightning 7 Jan. (Suppl.), Make and Break... The words are sometimes used as substantives denoting the action of making or breaking contact thus ‘at make’, ‘at break’. |
10. = declaration 8 b (see also quot. 1964).
| 1902 J. B. Elwell Bridge 13 In considering a heart make, the dealer should be influenced by the general strength of his hand and by the number of honours he holds in the trump suit. 1905 R. F. Foster Compl. Bridge 316 The declaration is often called the make. 1964 Official Encycl. Bridge 343/1 Make... As a noun, it means a successful contract, but usually a hypothetical one in the post-mortem: ‘Five diamonds would have been a make.’ 1974 Country Life 17 Jan. 98/3 Four Spades is a make, but Five Clubs is the safer sacrifice. |
11. A (sexual) conquest; spec. a woman of easy virtue. Cf. make v.1 65. slang (orig. U.S.).
| 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §439/1 Woman of easy morals..make. 1951 Landfall V. 98 ‘A widow's an easy make,’ He said, ‘you pedal and let her steer.’ |
12. An identification of, or information about, a person or thing from police records, finger-prints, etc. slang (orig. U.S.).
| 1950 in Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang (1960) 332/1 We got a make on his prints. 1959 ‘E. McBain’ Pusher vii. 62 Couldn't get a make on those fingerprints. 1965 ‘L. Egan’ Detective's Due (1966) vii. 71, I think this is too good to be true, but we'll get a make on it just for fun. Ibid. 80 The D.M.V. just came through with a make on that plate number... It belongs to a fifty-five two⁓door Ford. 1967 W. Pine Protectors ix. 82 We've got a make on Beth Paget. She's on our files. 1972 R. K. Smith Ransom iv. 175 We got a make on the Chevvy... Stolen last week. 1973 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 6 Sept. 4/5 For years authorities have been trying to get a better ‘make’ on motorists who sidestep the law by picking up a licence in a nearby state after theirs has been revoked. |
13. make and mend: the action of making and repairing clothes; spec. Naut., a period set apart for seamen to repair their clothes; hence, a period of leisure; a half-holiday; also attrib. and as vb.
| 1884 W. D. Howells Rise S. Lapham (1885) i. 5 She cooked, swept, washed, ironed, made and mended from daylight till dark. 1899 Navy & Army Illustr. 14 Oct. 107 (caption) Thursday has been in the Navy, ever since King William IV..first instituted the practice, regularly observed as ‘make and mend’ day. 1903 Kipling Traffics & Discov. (1904) 154 I'm going to ask this young gentleman to breakfast, and then we'll make and mend clothes till the umpires have decided. 1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin xv. 273 Th' navy's 'avin' its make an' mend, an' carn't be disturbed. 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 150 A make and mend, a naval holiday. In old days..usually on a Thursday. Now-a-days..the weekly half holiday (often transferred to a Saturday) continues to be known as a ‘Make and Mend’. 1935 New Survey London Life IX. iv. xiii. 423 On Tuesday afternoon I go to the make-and-mend class. 1942 G. Hackforth-Jones One-One-One xxi. 193 Saturday too, when all on board H.M.S. Empire were supposed to be enjoying a well-earned ‘make and mend’. 1943 Our Towns (Women's Group on Public Welfare) ii. 60 Any ‘Make and Mend’ organisation evolved during the war should form the basis of a permanent service. 1955 Times 12 July 9/6 They..move out to their ‘sun-porch’, usually a clearing in the forest where they spend their time in ‘make-and-mend’. |
Add: [8.] b. to put the make on, to make sexual advances to (a person); to pursue sexually. U.S. slang.
| 1967 Trans-Action Apr. 6/1 One needs to throw a lively rap when he is ‘putting the make on a broad’. 1974 K. Millett Flying ii. 202 The incorrigible satyr tried to put the make on her. 1986 V. Seth Golden Gate xi. 251 Tonight Bjorn tries to put the make on A dainty little..lass. She..fends off his pass. 1993 A. R. Siddons Hill Towns (1994) vii. 145 Put the make on you, did she, Joe? I should have warned you. Past a certain blood alcohol level Yolie gets snuggly. |
▪ III. make, n.3 slang and dial.
Also 6 meke, 9 Sc. maik, maick.
[Cf. mag n.3]
A halfpenny.
| a 1547 Hye Way to Spyttel-ho. in Hazlitt E.P.P. IV. 69 Docked the dell for a coper meke. 1567 Harman Caveat G iij, A make, a halfepenny. 1618 B. Holyday Technogamia ii. vi, Good Sir, if you be a Gentry coue, vouchsafe some small Win or but a Make, for wee haue neither Lowre, nor Libbeg, nor Libkin. 1826 Scott Woodst. xxxvi, I take it; for a make to a million. 1852 in Beveridge Poets Clackmannan. (1885) 66 That was ca'd threepence, twa maiks frae a groat. 1880 Jamieson, Maik,..still a cant term in the West of S., especially among boys when bargain-making. |
▪ IV. make, v.1
(meɪk)
Pa. tense and pa. pple. made (meɪd). Forms: inf. α. 1 macian, (1 macan, 2 macen, macie), 2–3 makian, -ie(n, 3–4 maky(ȝ)e, -iȝe, maki, (imp. mac), 3–5 maken (Ormin makenn), 4–6 (9 dial.) mak, (5 makyn, also 9 dial. maak), 5–6 mack, (6 Sc. maik(e, mek), 3– make. β. 4–6 ma, (4 man), 9 dial. maa, may. pres. ind. 2nd and 3rd sing.; and pl. (contracted northern forms) 4–5 mas(s, mays(s, maiss, 4–6 mais, (5 mase, mace, maise). pa. ind. α. 1–2 macode, 2–3 makede, (2 mac(h)ede, 3 makode), 2–5 maket, 3–5 (7) maked, (4 makked). β. 3– made; also 3 maude, 4–5 mad, maad(e, 4–6 Sc. maid, (3 mede, 4 madde, 6 mayd). pa. pple. α. 1 ᵹemacod, 2–3 imaked(e, (2 ȝemaked, imacad, 3 imaket), 3–5 ymaked, (4 -yd, imake); 2 makiet, 3 Ormin makedd, 3–5 maked, (4 maket, strong makyn), 4–5 makid. β. 3–4 imad, ymad, 4–5 ymaad, 4–5 (7) ymade; 3–5 mad, 4–5 maad, 4–6 Sc. maid, (5 madde, 6 Sc. maed, maide), 4– made.
[Com. WGer.: OE. macian = OFris. makia, OS. macon (LG., Du. maken), OHG. mahhôn (MHG., mod.G. machen), app. f. *mako- fit, suitable (see make n.1). On this view the primary sense would be ‘to fit, arrange’; but in the earliest known stages of the WGer. tongues the verb corresponded generally to the L. facere in such of its senses as were not expressed by do. The MSw. maka to make, construct (mod.Sw. make to move), Da. mage to manage, arrange, appear to have been adopted from LG.
Many senses which later Eng. shares with continental Teut. are not recorded in OE., or not until near the end of that period; possibly the vb. originally had some of these meanings, but was displaced in the literary dialect by synonyms. Materials are wanting for a genealogical arrangement of the senses; the order of the main branches in the following scheme has been adopted on grounds of convenience. The word is not very frequent in OE.; the most prominent uses are in causative and factitive applications (see 48, 49, 52) and in the phrase hit macian ‘to make it’ = to act, behave (see 68).]
I. Senses in which the object of the verb is a product or result.
* To bring into existence by construction or elaboration. (Not common until late in OE.; the L. facere is usually rendered by ᵹewyrcan.)
1. trans. a. To produce (a material thing) by combination of parts, or by giving a certain form to a portion of matter; to construct, frame, fashion.
Formerly common in various applications in which vbs. of more specific meaning are now almost universally employed; used, e.g. for to build or erect a house, town, column, ship, to paint a picture, to carve or sculpture a statue.
| 1056–66 Inscr. Kirkdale Ch., Yks., He hit let macan newan from grvnde. a 1100 Gerefa in Anglia (1886) IX. 261 Fiscwer and mylne macian. c 1154 O.E. Chron. an. 1137 In mani of þe castles wæron lof & grin..þat was sua maced [etc.]. c 1205 Lay. 1937 Heo makeden tunes. Ibid. 27876 He..lette makien beren riche and swiðe maren. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3541 Mac vs godes foren us to gon. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 2765 Þis forest wil y felle And castel wil y ma. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 336 He mad a coruen kyng. 1375 Barbour Bruce xi. 368 Ane vax-cayme that beis mais. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. vi. 191 An heep of heremites..ketten here copes and courtpies hem made. 1382 Wyclif Ps. ciii. [civ.] 17 There sparewis shul make nestis. a 1400–50 Alexander 2587 He..mas a brig ouire þe bourne of Barges with cheynes. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 163 Men off Phenicia..made [L. condiderunt] the cites of Sidon and of Tyrus. 1470–85 Malory Arthur Table (ii. vii.), Kyng Marke..maad a tombe ouer them. 1530 Palsgr. 617/1, I make hym a gowne, a house, a cappe, or suche lyke. Ibid. 621/2, I make cockes of haye. 1571 Satir. Poems Reform. xxviii. 99 To Magnifie my name I maid ane Stepill. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 208 The Franciscan Friars had made some Rooms there for the convenience of Pilgrims. 1686 W. Aglionby Painting Illustr. Explan. Terms s. v. Antique, All the Works of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture that have been made in the Time of the Antient Greeks. 1751 R. Paltock P. Wilkins xlv. (1883) 132/2 One of the colambs being making a house to reside in. a 1774 Goldsm. Hist. Greece I. 172 They caused a statue of Jupiter to be made at the general expence. 1774 ― Nat. Hist. (1776) VIII. 41 As birds sometimes are seen to make their nests. 1849 Chambers's Inform. II. 719/2 The machine being..composed of the parts in ordinary use, only made circular. 1852 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. xii. 147 The beaver makes its hole, the bee makes its cell. 1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. vi. 195 That dress, made full, as you've got it, suits you. |
¶ An apparent sense ‘to represent by graphic or plastic art’ occasionally arises from the practice of applying the name of the thing portrayed to its representation.
| a 1300–1400 Cursor M. 23216 (Gött.) Na mar..Þan painted fire..Þat on wagh wit man war mad right [Cott. Þat apon awagh war wroght]. 1850 Dickens Dav. Copp. xx, It was a startling likeness... The painter hadn't made the scar, but I made it. 1859 Tennyson Vivien 329, I took his brush and blotted out the bird, And made a Gardener putting in a graff. |
b. Const. of, out of, with (the material or component parts). See also 4.
| 13.. Coer de L. 2648 Torches maad with wex ful cleer. 1382 Wyclif Exod. xxxii. 4 He..made of hem a ȝotun calf. 1633 P. Fletcher Poet. Misc. 62 My little pipe of seven reeds ymade. a 1774 Goldsm. Surv. Exp. Philos. (1776) II. 239 Burning instruments..are usually made with glass. a 1774 ― tr. Scarron's Com. Romance (1775) I. 31 A..pair of breeches..which he had given to this botcher, to make out of them a more fashionable suit. 1791 J. Townsend Journ. Spain (1792) III. 118 Buskins..which are made with the esparto rush. 1859 H. T. Ellis Hong Kong to Manilla 148 An Indian can make almost anything out of bamboo. |
c. absol. in phr. make or mend. Also, of a craftsman: To make the article which he produces for specified persons.
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour (1864) II. 34/1 Those who make or mend, and who must make or mend so cheaply that the veriest vagrant may be their customer [etc.]. 1856 Househ. Words XIV. 420/2, I do not make, or mend, or mar. 1862 Temple Bar VI. 482 He makes for Count This and Prince That, and they never want their coats altered. |
d. colloq. as good (or clever, etc.) as they make them: as good (etc.) as possible.
| 187. Broadside Ball. title (Farmer), As good as they make 'em. 1889 G. Allen Tents of Shem iii. I. 51, I like them—thorough ladies,..and as clever as they make them. 1934 T. S. Eliot Rock i. 13, 'e was a fine fellow on one side and as bad as they make 'em on the other. |
e. In various trades, applied spec. to some one of the operations constituting the process of manufacture.
| 1888 Arts & Crafts Catal. 82 The volume passes into the hands of the ‘forwarder’, who ‘makes’ the back. 1900 Eng. Dial. Dict., Make, to put the soles on boots or shoes. |
2. a. With a substance as object: To produce by the combination of ingredients, by extraction from a source, or by the modification of some other substance by mechanical or chemical processes. Const. from, out of (the source or original substance), of, † with (the ingredients).
| c 1200 Ormin 1480 Ȝiff þatt tu willt makenn laf, þu þresshesst tine shæfess. c 1230 Hali Meid. 33 Hit greueð þe se swiðe þat tu wilt..makien puisun. c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 259 Cley maad with hors and mannes heer, and oille Of Tartre. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 14 A medicyn maad in oon maner þat worchiþ dyuers effectis. 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. Adm. viii. in Ashm. (1652) 191 Many Amalgame dyd I make. 1552 Huloet, Make mortar, concinnare lutum. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. xiv. 15 A small round fruite..Of which the Inhabitants..make oyle. 1611 Bible Ecclus. xlix. 1 The perfume y{supt} is made by the arte of the Apothecarie. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xii. 67 To make Red Powder. 1698 Phil. Trans. XX. 291 The way of making Pitch, Tarr, Rosin and Turpentine. 1710 Hearne Collect. (O. H. S.) III. 30 Mr. William Stallenge..was the first Author of making silk in England. 1853 Ure Dict. Arts, etc. II. 728 The patent plan of Mr. William Onions of making cast steel seems worthy of adoption. |
b. spec. To produce (an article of food or drink) by culinary or other operations. to make meat (obs. exc. dial.): to prepare food.
Some of the examples placed here might appear to belong to branch II; but originally meat was taken to mean the food as prepared. (Similarly in to make tea or make coffee.)
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. xxvii. 9 Bring me twa þa betstan tyccenu, þæt ic maciᵹe mete þinum fæder þær of [Vulg. ut faciam ex eis escas patri tuo]. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8339 Wo þat miȝte..seþe & Make potage. a 1300 Cursor M. 3497 Þe hus to kepe and ma þe mett. 13.. E. E. Allit. P. B. 625 Þre mettez of mele menge & ma kakez. c 1440 in Househ. Ord. (1790) 461 As men maken ruschewes. 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 32 In leeffull tyme to make her mete in the chymeny. a 1589 R. Tomson in Hakluyt's Voy. 581 The bread they make there, is certaine cakes made of rootes. 1603 Dekker & Chettle Grissil iv. ii. (Shaks. Soc.) 59 Grissil shall go make pap, and I'll lick the skillet. 1747 H. Glasse Cookery (1767) 215 To make a boiled loaf. 1846 Dickens Cricket on Hearth i. 15 Only let me make the tea first, John. 1850 ― Dav. Copp. xxiii, I then made her..a glass of hot white wine and water, and a slice of toast cut into long thin strips. 1886 Besant Children Gibeon ii. xix, The cloth was spread, and she was making the tea. |
3. a. Said of God as Creator; with reference both to material and to spiritual objects. Also occas. of Nature, and in pass. with the agent unspecified.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 139 Sunnendai weren engles makede of godes muðe. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 222 He makeð þe fisses in þe sa þe fueles on þe lofte. c 1230 Hali Meid. 45 Ich chulle halde me hal þurh þe grace of godd, as cunde me makede. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 478 Þre þousend & four score & þre ȝer Fram þat þe world was verst imad. a 1300 Cursor M. 345 He þat mad [c 1375 Fairf. maket] al thing o noght. 1382 Wyclif Gen. i. 16 And God made two greet liȝt ȝyuerys. c 1449 Pecock Repr. ii. 146 God that made the world and alle thingis that ben in it. 1609 Bible (Douay) II. Index, Light, an accident made the first day. 1660 tr. Amyraldus' Treat. conc. Relig. ii. vi. 241 Nature ha's not made us of Iron. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 137. 1742 Young Nt. Th. iv. 828 Truth, eldest Daughter of the Deity; Truth, of his Council, when he made the Worlds. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xx. 205 ‘Do you know who made you?’ ‘Nobody, as I knows on,’ said the child... ‘I spect I grow'd. Don't think nobody never made me.’ |
b. With compl. or advb. phrase denoting the form or condition of the creature, or the purpose or object of creation. Hence in pass., to be naturally fitted or destined (const. for, to with inf.). to be made for each other (or one another): to be such as to harmonize perfectly or form an ideal combination; to be ideally suited: usu. of a specified man and woman.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 79 Þo þet weren imakede engles in houene, and fellen ut for hore wrechede. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 122 Of euerilc ouȝt, of euerilc sed, Was erðe mad moder of sped. a 1300–1400 Cursor M. 12370 (Gött.) Ȝe þat he has made to men,..And þat eftir his aunen ymage. 1382 Wyclif Mark ii. 27 The Sabote is maad for man, and nat a man for the Sabote. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 121 Highe and lowe were made of oo nature. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lix. 206 We be all made to dye. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. i. 7 This hand was made to handle nought but Gold. 1607 ― Cor. i. i. 211 They said..that dogges must eate, That meate was made for mouths. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 259 The Calf, by Nature..made To turn the Glebe. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 515 ¶6 Indeed, Gatty, we [sc. women] are made for Man. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. i. (1841) I. 13 Did God make me to serve him? 1732 Pope Ess. Man i. 39 Ask..why oaks are made Taller or stronger than the weeds they shade. 1751 Richardson Clarissa (ed. 3) III. 328 Her features are all harmony, and made for one another. 1784 Burns (title) Man was made to mourn. 1822 Cobbett Weekly Reg. 30 Mar. 778 It is true enough, that God made all the women; but he did not make them all players. 1854 Brewster More Worlds xiii. 202 Man was not made for the planet—but the planet was made for man. 1857 Dickens Let. Sept. (1938) II. 887 Poor Catherine and I are not made for each other, and there is no help for it. 1870 Dickens E. Drood ii, She..said that she had become your pupil, and that you were made for your vocation. 1927 J. N. McIlwraith Kinsmen at War xvii. 172 She and Stephen were made for one another. 1971 D. Clark Sick to Death iv. 82 When two people—what's the popular phrase?—are made for each other, these things happen. |
c. pass. to be (well, etc.) made: said of the bodily frame.
| a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. 36 Heo hath..Body ant brest wel mad al. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 385 Bot off lymmys he wes weill maid. a 1400–50 Alexander 3921 Then come a beste..Mad & merkid as a Meere. c 1402 Lydg. Compl. Bl. Knt. 163 Of brede and lengthe So wel y-mad by good proporcioun. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour (1868) 168 To seme to the folkes syght better maad and fayrer of body. 1886 A. Sergeant No Saint I. i. i. 3 His frame was broad and strongly made. |
4. a. to be made of: to have been fashioned (whether by art or nature) out of (certain materials); to have as its material, constituents, or component parts; to consist or be composed of.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 145 Ane box ȝemaked of marbel⁓stone. c 1290 St. Michael 666 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 318 Of þis foure elemenz ech quic þing I-make is. 1307 Elegy Edw. I, viii, The holy crois ymad of tre. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. i. pr. i. 2 (Camb. MS.) Hyr clothes weren maked of riht delye thredes. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) ii. 6 Þe table..was made of olyue. 1449 Pecock Repr. i. 8 An argument if he be ful and foormal, which is clepid a sillogisme, is mad of twey proposiciouns. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxi. 46 Toungis now are maid of quhyte quhaill bone, And hairtis ar maid of hard flynt stone. 1530 Palsgr. 318/1 Made of cristall, cristalin. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 255 b, I found Rome made but of bricke, and I will leaue it of marble. 1633 Massinger Guardian i. i, I am made of other clay. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xii. 66 Cords made of Hemp. 1827 Mirror II. 164/1 Books aren't made of Stilton cheese. 1892 Argosy Oct. 312 The drums were made of metal. |
† b. To be ‘compact’ of (certain qualities). Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. pr. iv. 27 (Camb. MS.) A man maked alle of sapyence and vertu. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iii. v. 33 She looke[s] vs like A thing more made of malice, then of duty. |
5. a. To compose, write as the author (a book, poem, or other literary work, † a letter). Formerly often (now only as a rare archaism) with the title of a work as obj.; in mod. use chiefly in the phrase to make verses (make poetry, etc.). Also said with reference to musical composition.
The mod. usage is difficult to reduce to rule. It is common to speak of ‘making’ a sonnet or an epigram; but it would sound odd to speak of ‘making’ a tragedy or a novel, except with some added phrase, as in ‘Some one has made a tragedy on this subject’.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 125 Ða songes..boð makede of þere heouenliche blisse þe us wes iopenad on þisse timan. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 71 On þe godspelle þe sein lucas makede. c 1205 Lay. 32 He nom þa Englisca boc þa makede seint Beda. a 1300 Cursor M. 87 Of hir to mak bath rim and sang. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 33 Off thaim I thynk this buk to ma. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 415 I haue leuere here an harlotrie..Þan al þat euere Marke made, Mathew, John, & lucas. 1485 Caxton in Malory's Arthur Pref. 2 Alle suche bookes as been maad of hym ben fayned and fables. 1508 Dunbar Poems iv. 66 Clerk of Tranent..That maid the anteris of Gawane. 1530 Palsgr. 617/2, I make a booke, as a clerke dothe... Is your boke made yet? Ibid. 625/1, I wyll go make a letter. Ibid. 630/2, I make the dytie of a songe. 1612 Bacon Ess., Beauty (Arb.) 210 As a Musitian that maketh an excellent aire in Musick. 1612 Brinsley Lud. Lit. xiv. (1627) 190 How to make Verses with delight and certainety. 1650 Howell Giraffi's Rev. Naples i. 127 Cavalier Cosmo Fonseca..who us'd to make epitaphs. 1699 Bentley Phal. 211 Philoctetes, which was not made till sixscore years after Phalaris's death. 1787 J. Ramsay in Burns' Wks. II. 117 He has made words to one or two of them [sc. tunes]. 1803 tr. P. Le Brun's Mons. Botte I. 6 Would you..have me marry a woman that makes verses? 1819 Crabbe T. of Hall x, I penn'd some notes, and might a book have made, But I had no connection with the trade. 1889 D. Hannay Capt. Marryat 100 Travellers who came to spy out the land, and make a book about it. 1894 W. Morris Wood beyond World colophon, Here ends the tale of the Wood beyond the World made by William Morris. |
† b. absol. or intr. To compose verses; to write poetry; to rime. (Cf. maker 5.) Obs.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 22 To solacen hym sum tyme as I do whan I make. c 1385 Chaucer L. G. W. Prol. 69 Ye lovers that can make of sentement. c 1392 ― Compl. Venus 82 Graunson, flour of hem that make in Fraunce. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxviii. 2 My heid did ȝak ȝester⁓nicht, This day to mak that I na micht. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Apr. 19 And hath he skill to make so excellent? 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. iv. 59 Those who scarce have seene a booke Most skilfully will make. 1622 Wither Mistr. Philar. Postscr. N 8, I make to please my selfe, and not for them. 1864 G. W. Dasent Jest & Earnest (1873) II. 303 Thou art a good skald..if thou canst ‘make’ no worse than Glum. |
† c. to make Latin or make Latins: to write Latin composition. Obs.
| c 1500, a 1568, 1607 [see Latin n. 4]. 1612 Brinsley Pos. Parts (1669) 130 Directions to make Latine. 1675 E. Coles (title) Nolens volens, or you shall make Latin whether you will or no. |
d. To draw up (a legal document).
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 58 Now Simonye and Siuyle stondeþ forþ boþe, Vn-Foldyng þe Feffement þat Falsnes made. 1476 Surtees Misc. (1890) 35 Made in the yere of our Lorde millesimo cccclxxvj. 1484 Caxton Fables of Poge vi, Whanne he was..at the poynt of dethe he wold make his testament. 15.. Doun by ane Rever as I red 71 in Dunbar's Poems 307 Quhill Deid he hint him be the back,..And lute him nocht his testment mack. 1519 Rec. Allhallows' Barking in Rimbault Hist. Organ 56 This endenture made the yere of our lorde god m{supl}v{supc} xix. 1658–9 Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 45 Put the case, that none but servants be at making their master's will. 1697 G. Dallas Syst. Stiles 1 The foresaid Clause made anent payment of Annual rents. Ibid. 7 [A] Writ made by way of Contract. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVIII. 395/1 If he recovers, he may alter his dispositions, and have time to make a written will. 1823 Greville Mem. (1875) I. 64 In 1810 the King made another will, but..he always put off signing it. 1903 Spectator 31 Oct. 704/2 Daulac..and his companions made their wills, confessed, and received the sacrament. |
6. To put together materials for (a fire) and set them alight.
| c 1205 Lay. 1186 He makede bi þon weofede a swiðe wunsum fur. 1375 Barbour Bruce iv. 561 Luk on na viss the fyre he ma. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Facere, Bustum, to make a funeral fyer. ? c 1558 [see fire n. 3]. 1603 Dekker & Chettle Grissil i. i. (Shaks. Soc.) 15 Master, I have made a good fire. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 225 They made great Fires all along the Coast. 1844 E. Warburton Cresc. & Cross II. 101, I..ordered the other [Arab] to make a fire instantly. |
7. To set apart and prepare the site for (a garden, park, road, etc.).
| 1382 Wyclif Amos ix. 14 Thei shuln make gardyns. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Road, Artificial Road is that made by labour of the hand, either of earth or masonry. 1804 C. Smith Conversations, etc. I. 93 We had made gardens of our own. 1818 Order in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 573 The making a walk from the New Bridge along the new Plantation. 1866 M. Arnold Thyrsis i, How changed is here each spot man makes or fills! |
** In wider sense: To cause to exist, to produce.
8. a. To cause the existence of (a material thing or a physical phenomenon) by some action; to inflict (a wound); to produce (a hole, a mark, a sound, etc.). So to make melody, make minstrelsy; to make a note, etc.: see the ns.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 33 Þe wundes þat hie on him makeden. a 1300 Cursor M. 17288 + 101 Þe erthe quoke & made sown. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. 125 (Douce MS.) Þe grisly goost made a gryme bere. 1530 Palsgr. 617/2 The droppes of water with ofte fallynge make the hole in a marbyll stone. Ibid., What a cherme these byrdes make. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. x[i]. (Arb.) 103 Make me..so many strokes or lines with your pen as ye would haue your song containe verses. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. i. i. 49 Haue you not made an Vniuersall shout? 1680 Cotton Compl. Gamester x. (ed. 2) 85 Although the best of other eyes shall not discern where any mark was made. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 111 Great claps of Thunder, which..made with the beating of the waves, a fearful noise. 1820 J. Gifford Compl. Eng. Lawyer ii. xiii. 219 If any person shall make a hole in such ship. 1842 Tennyson Morte d'Arthur 137 The great brand Made lightnings in the splendour of the moon. 1886 Pall Mall G. 15 July 6/1 To make his cross upon the ballot paper. |
† b. impers. with reference to weather. [Cf. F. il fait chaud, il fait obscur.] Obs. rare.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 11658 Gret hete in wildernes it made. 1654 Whitelocke Swed. Ambassy (1772) I. 165 Yett made it darke before they were from table. |
9. a. To produce by action, bring about (a condition of things, a state of feeling).
For to make ado, † a coil, (a) commotion, fun, a fuss, game, an impression, † a matter, a pother, a row, a sensation, sport, a stir: see the ns.
| c 1122 O.E. Chron. an. 1052 (MS. E.) Hi macodon mæst þet unseht betweonan Godwine eorle & þam cynge. 1352 Minot Poems viii. 34 Þe Franche men..mase grete dray when þai er dight. c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 210 It is rather lyk An apparence y-maad by som Magyk. c 1400 Destr. Troy 4213 Lamydon..was fader to the freike that offens mas. c 1449 Pecock Repr. Prol. 3 Tho blamers..han therbi maad ful miche indignacioun. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 172 Mak na mair stryfe. 1530 Palsgr. 619/1, I make a revell, I make a do. 1573 Baret Alv. M 48 To make strife and debate, concire vel concitare lites. 1611 Cotgr., Faire le Diable de vauvert,..to make a hurlyburly. 1650 Baxter Saints' R. iv. (1651) 36 The sufferings which we do make our selves, have usually issues answerable to their causes. 1813 Byron Br. Abydos ii. xx, He makes a solitude, and calls it—peace! 1897 A. D. Innes Macaulay's Ess. Clive (Pitt Press) 128 Buying up all the rice—in the trade-jargon of to-day ‘making a corner’. |
† b. Const. dat. of the person or with to, unto: To cause (something) to happen to or fall to the lot of (a person); to cause (a person) to experience (something); to bring into a person's possession or power. Obs.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 755 (Gr.) Eac is hearm gode modsorᵹ ᵹemacod. c 1000 ælfric Judg. xvi. 25 Þa bædon hiᵹ sume þæt Samson moste him macian sum gamen. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 3939 Ȝyf þou make one so hard stresse Þat hys godnesse wexe þe lesse. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. 31 Al wrong y wrohte for a wyf, that made us wo in world ful wyde. c 1375, c 1386 [see game n. 1]. a 1400 Cursor M. 28630 (Cott. Galba) Two maners of mending makes men mede. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour F vij, This quene.. made unto the peple grete dyuersytees. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 34 He..Then..from his arme did reach Those keyes, and made himselfe free enterance. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. iii. ii, Euen the med'cinall vse shall make you a faction, And party in the realme. 1629 R. Hill Pathw. Piety I. 184 If we have made them any offence. 1690 Locke Govt. ii. v. §39 Labour could make Men distinct titles to several parcels of it [sc. the World]. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. ii. iii, The last wind made Glaud a roofless barn. |
c. to make peace, † make grith, † make sib: (a) to bring about a condition of peace; (b) to conclude a treaty of peace.
| c 1122 O.E. Chron. an. 1086 (MS. E.) Betwyx oðrum þingum nis na to forgytane þæt gode frið þe he macode on þisan lande. c 1154 Ibid. an. 1140 ¶11 He dide god iustise & makede pais. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 243 Wið wam we ne muȝe grið ne sibbe macie. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. 100 Jesu Crist, thou be mi bote, so boun icham to make my pees. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 12 To make pes betwen the kynges After the lawe of charite. c 1410 Hoccleve Mother of God 78 By thee, lady, y-makid is the pees Betwixt Angels and men. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. iii. 9 So happy peace they made and faire accord. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xl. 253 The Supreme Power of making War and Peace, was in the Priest. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 224 He now made his peace, and went as far in servility as he had ever done in faction. 1863 H. Cox Instit. iii. ii. 596 The sole prerogative of the Crown of making peace and war. |
d. to make place, make room, make way: see the ns.
¶ e. In the 14–15th c. the passive often renders L. fieri ‘to begin to exist’, ‘to take place’, or (after Hellenistic Gr. γίγνεσθαι) ‘to be’. Cf. 48 f, 49 e.
| 1382 Wyclif Luke iii. 3 The word of the Lord is maad on John. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) v. 40 That gret Babyloyne, where the Dyversite of Langages was first made. |
10. a. To give rise to; to have as a result or consequence; to be the cause of. Very common in proverbs. Also in phrases to make a difference, † make a wonder. to make work: to occasion the necessity for work to be done; to give trouble.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 103 Auaricia..heo macað reaflac..and lesunge. c 1230 Hali Meid. 17 Eise makeð þeof. 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 330 God may rycht weill our werdis dele; For multitud maiss na victory. 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1539) 54 The meate that shall make syckenesse, muste nat a lyttell excede the exquisite measure. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s. v. Facere, Vse maketh a custome. 1573 Baret Alv. M 49 Old age maketh wrinckles. 1597 Bacon Coulers Good & Evill (Arb.) 154 The second blow makes the fray, The second word makes the bargaine. 1630 B. Jonson New Inn i. (init.) A heavy purse makes a light heart. 1655 Wood Life 12 Oct. (O.H.S.) I. 199 It made a great wonder, that a maid should be in love with such a person as he. 1662 Gerbier Principles 14 Too many Staires and back-Doores makes Thieves and Whores. 1668 R. Steele Husbandman's Calling vi. (1672) 176 Except infants that make work, he will have all the rest do some work or other. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 39 One Fool makes many. 1759 Brown Compl. Farmer 91 Dry weather makes plenty of honey. 1791 Gentl. Mag. 22/2 It makes very little difference, with which of the acids the ether is composed. 1834 Brit. Husb. I. 56 (U.K.S.) A very common opinion among farmers, that ‘high rents make good farmers’. |
† b. With it as obj.: To be the cause of the fact stated or supposed. Obs.
| c 1375 Cursor M. 18788 (Fairf.) His kin ne wille he noȝt forsake bot if þai hit ham-seluen make [Cott. bot it be thoru þair aun sake]. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. x. 55 In Monnes Brayn..he [sc. Inwit] is Bremest, But ȝif blod hit make. 1377 Ibid. B. v. 420, I nam nouȝte shryuen some tyme but if sekenesse it make. 1393 Ibid. C. xi. 157 Man is..semblable in soule to god bote yf synne hit make. Ibid. xxi. 326. |
11. Gram. Of a word: To ‘form’ (a certain case, tense, etc.) in a specified manner; to change into (a specified form) when inflected. [After L. facere.]
| c 1000 ælfric Gram. viii. (Z.) 21 Seo forme declinatio..macað hire genitivvm on ae. 1886 T. Le M. Douse Introd. Gothic 167 Wahsja..makes in the present 2 p[erson] s[ingular] wahseis. |
12. a. To establish (a rule, ordinance); to enact (a law); to impose (a rate); † to found, institute (a religious order, etc.).
| c 1124 O.E. Chron., an. 963 (Laud MS.) He macode þær twa abbotrice, an of muneca oðer of nunna. a 1225 Ancr. R. 6 Þeos riwle is imaked nout of monnes fundleas, auh is of godes hestes. c 1300 Havelok 31 Gode lawes He dede maken, an ful wel holden. a 1300 Cursor M 11189 Ouer al þe werld he mad statut. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 2 Here ordris maad of synful men. 1423 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 257/2 To graunte, ordeyne, and mak by estatut. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 275 [They] made a lawe that [etc.]. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 517 Certeine ordinaunces, made by the Maior and Aldermen of London. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. ii. 142 In all tyrannical governments..the right of both making and enforcing the laws, is vested in one and the same man. 1845 Stephen Comm. Laws Eng. II. 356 Poor rates made in respect of the premises. 1875 Stubbs Const. Hist. (1896) II. xvii. 614 The theory that the laws were made or enacted by the king with the consent of the lords and at the petition of the commons. 1898 Encycl. Laws Eng. VIII. 70 A receiving order is ‘made’ on the day it is pronounced, not when it is drawn up. |
† b. To arrange, fix the time and place for (a match); to institute (games). Obs.
| a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. ii. (Arb.) 125 The games running, wrestling, and shoting, that Achilles maketh in Homer, with the selfe same games that æneas maketh in Virgil. 1676 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 32 They have made four matches to be run at Newmarket. 1703 Lond. Gaz. No. 3905/4 There is a Cock-Match made between the Counties of Surrey and Sussex. 1752 Ainsworth Lat. Eng. Dict. s.v., To make a match for fighting, Certamen instituere. |
13. Uses arising from ellipsis of obj. in the factitive senses (branch III). a. To create by election, appointment, or ordination; to appoint (an officer), ordain (a priest, etc.).
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 58 Voure kinges hii made þo in þis kinedom. 1340 Ayenb. 42 Dingnetes þet me makeþ be chyezinge. c 1400 Rule St. Benet 145 The Method of makeing a Nunn. a 1400–50 Alexander 3441 Þe prouynce piȝt is in pes & princes ere maked. 1422 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 176 Such officers, and all othre, be maad by advys. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xiv. 46 Sa mony jugeis and lordis now maid of lait. 1552 Bk. Com. Prayer Ordination, The fourme and maner of makynge and consecratynge, Bishoppes, Priestes, and Deacons. 1585 Act 27 Eliz. c. 2 §1 Priestes, which have bene..made..beyonde the Seas, by or according to the Order..of the Romishe Church. 1641 Baker Chron. (1660) 148 He [Rich. II] then made nine Knights, and created four Earls. 1762 Goldsm. Cit. W. lxxiv, When the Tartars make a Lama, their first care is to place him in a dark corner of the temple. 1810 Wellington Let. to Lt. Col. Torrens in Gurw. Desp. (1838) VI. 326, I..have not the power of making even a Corporal. |
b. Naut. To promote in rank: occas. into a particular ship.
| 1795 Nelson 26 Dec. in Nicolas Disp. (1845) II. 123 My late First-Lieutenant is now a Captain, made by the Admiralty, for the services of the Agamemnon. 1798 Jane Austen Lett. (1884) I. 190 Frank is made. He was yesterday raised to the rank of Commander. a 1817 ― Persuasion I. 256 When he came home from the Cape,—just made into the Grappler. 1833 Marryat P. Simple xxxviii, I had now served my time as midshipman,..and I thought that I had a better chance of being made in England than abroad. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Made, a professional term for having obtained a commission, or being promoted. |
c. gen. To cause a person or persons to become (what is specified by the object).
to make friends is first recorded in idiomatic phrases (see friend n. 6 b) in which the (presumably) original force of the verb is obscured.
| 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. iii. i. §9 If they be no Christians, how make they Christians [by baptism]? 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV i. i. 214 Get Posts, and Letters, and make Friends with speed. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. iii. ii, There you haue made a friend. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 47 ¶7 For these Ten Years successively he has not made less than an Hundred April Fools. 1720 Ozell Vertot's Rom. Rep. I. vi. 343 [He] made a great Number of Prisoners. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 97 He..tried..to make as few enemies as possible. 1859–60 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) III. ii. ii. 237 He was..a man to make both friends and enemies. |
† d. To translate, ‘render’. Obs. (Cf. make English, 48.)
| 1529 More Dyalogue iii. Wks. 233/2 The clergie hath not forboden the byble to bee made and readde in englishe. 1612 Brinsley Pos. Parts (1669) 130 This word of, coming after a verb, is made by a Preposition. |
e. To fix (a price). Now only Comm.
| 1567 Gude & Godlie Ball., ‘The Wind blawis cauld’, The theif Judas did greit trespas, That Christ for siluer sauld: Bot Preistis will tak, and his price mak, For les be mony fauld. 1752 Ainsworth Eng.-Lat. Dict. s.v., To make a price, Pretium alicui rei facere vel indicere. 1895 A. J. Wilson Gloss. Terms Stock Exch., To make a Price. A dealer is said to ‘make a price’ when he states the price at which he is prepared to buy and the one at which he is ready to sell a particular security. |
14. To prepare or provide (a meal, feast) for guests; to give (a dinner, etc.). Obs. exc. arch.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxii. 2 Heofona rice ys ᵹelic ᵹewurden þam cyninge þe macude hys suna gyfata [qui fecit nuptias filio suo]. c 1205 Lay. 14425 Þe king makede ueorme, swiðe store [c 1275 feste]. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 416 In his two feestis þat he maked by myracle, he fed þo puple. 1382 ― Luke xiv. 12 Whanne thou makist a mete, ether souper. a 1400–50 Alexander 831 Þou mas þe slike a mangery & macchis changis. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour G viij b, She made grete dyners to the poure peple. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 21 So he made them a banket and thei departed. 1682, 1814 [see feast n. 3]. 1762 Goldsm. Nash Wks. (Globe) 525/1 People of fashion make public breakfasts at the assembly-houses, to which they invite their acquaintances. 1867 M. Arnold Obermann once more, He made a feast, drank fierce and fast, And crown'd his hair with flowers. |
15. To form by collection of individuals. † a. To get together (a party, a force); to muster or raise (troops). Also to make a head: see head n.1 57 b. Obs.
| 13.. Coer de L. 1251 The kyng comaundyd..At London to make a parlement. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 111 At Oxenforde he made a parlement. a 1400–50 Alexander 2210 Alexander..all a-boute þe cite, Makis foure thousand with flanes & bowis. c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1055 He seyde pleynly he Vertu wold forsake, And in Vyce hys quarell all hys power make. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xxi. xxii. 839 Wherfore Syr Mordred made a parlemente and called the lordes togyder. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xxviii. 42 These lordes be thei that may make moost men of warre in short space of any that I know. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iv. iv. 449 The greatest strength and power that he can make. 1607 ― Cor. v. i. 37. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 266 The Sweitzers can make six score thousand foote for the defence of their owne Country. 1647 Sir C. Cotterell tr. Davila's Hist. Fr. I. 50 The Duke of Guise sent forth Jaques d'Aubon..and James Savoy..with all the horse they could make. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 407 Lord Danby saw his error, of neglecting the leading men, and reckoning upon a majority, such as could be made. |
b. In parliamentary phrase, to make a House: to ensure the presence of the number (now 40) of members required for a regularly constituted sitting of the House (of Commons). Also said of the members. Similarly, to make a quorum.
| 1648 Dr. Denton 7 Dec. in F. P. Verney Mem. Verney Family (1892–9) II. 395 Most of the secured members lay in Hell last night, and are now gone to the generall. There is scarce enough left free to make a house. 1775 [see house n.1 4 d]. 1830 Examiner 409/2 Twice this week have Ministers failed to make a House of Commons. 1864 Spectator 7 May 529 A Bill which..will before long interest every taxpayer, was interrupted by mere official carelessness as to ‘making a House’. 1884 Manch. Exam. 15 May 5/4 A House was made to-day promptly at a quarter-past 12 o'clock. |
c. Sporting. to make a bag: to kill a number of game on a shooting expedition. to make the bag: said of the sportsman who contributes most to the total of game killed.
| 1863, 1867 [see bag n. 9]. 1889 Cornhill Mag. XIII. 209 Sir Allan is making the bag. That is the third time he has wiped Sir Joseph's eye. |
d. Betting. to make a book: to arrange a series of bets referring to one and the same race or ‘event’, with odds calculated with a view to a probable gain on the whole transaction.
| 1828 Hood Miss Kilmansegg, Honeymoon, Of making a book how he made a stir. 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports ii. i. xiii. §137 It does not always happen that the person laying the odds makes a book. 1892 Cassell's Sat. Jrnl. 28 May 859/1 There certainly is a way of ‘making a book’ by which the layer of odds must win. |
† 16. a. To bring forth (fruit, blossom); to have as a product. Obs.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 9 The treis begouth to ma Burgeonys and brycht blwmys alsua. 1382 Wyclif Matt. vii. 17 So euery good tree makith good fruytis. c 1380 ― Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 166. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 4. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. xxxii. 296 In new Spaine, there are some vignes which beare grapes, and yet make no wine. |
b. to make water, † make urine [= F. faire de l'eau]: to urinate. (See the ns.)
† 17. Of a mother: To give birth to (young). Of a father: To beget. Obs. [So F. faire.]
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. x. 164 Þe cursede blod þat Caym haþ I-maket. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour G viij b, This good lady Rachel as she had made a child she forthwith..gaf thankyngis of it to god. 1484 ― Fables of æsop ii. iv, A sowe whiche wepte..for the grete payne that she felte by cause she wold make her young pygges. c 1500 Melusine 102 She made a fayre child that was her second sonne. |
18. a. Used with const. of or out of (by extension of the notion in sense 1 b), to designate the action of causing what is denoted by the regimen of the prep. to become what is denoted by the object of the verb.
So in many phrases, as to make a business, practice, trade of; to make an example, make a fool of; to make an ass, make a beast, make an exhibition of oneself: for illustration see the ns.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 103 Þa..scinne..þet is ihaten fornicatio..maceð of cristes leoman heoranna leoman. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 137 Of here wombe hie makieð here godd. c 1205 Lay. 13674 Heo..wulleð..makien king of ane Peohte. a 1300 Cursor M. 13419 Vr drightin..made þam of þair water win. Ibid. 18790 Þat we vr fa mak of vr freind. c 1330 Assump. Virg. 671 Ihesu crist.. Of a wilde hounde haþ made a lomb. 1530 Tindale Pract. Prel. C iij, And thus of one empyre was made twayne. 1563 Foxe A. & M. 1711/1 There was no more behinde, to make a very Iphigenia of her, but her offeryng vp vpon the aultar of the scaffolde. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 101, 169. 1611 Cotgr., Faire estat de..to vse, or make a practise of. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 255 The mind..Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n. 1686 A. Horneck Crucif. Jesus xiv. 331 Such a person must not make a trade of repenting and sinning. 1707 Curios. in Husb. & Gard. Pref. 5 The Heathens, who made Gods of the very Onions that grew in their Gardens. 1759 Sterne Tr. Shandy II. ii, I beg only you will make no strangers of yourselves. 1859 Tennyson Lancelot & Elaine 912 Such service have ye done me, that I make My will of yours. 1889 J. K. Jerome Three Men in Boat 206 Montmorency made an awful ass of himself. 1892 Mrs. H. Ward David Grieve ii. vii, He was making a friend of her. 1894 E. Lawless Maelcho I. ii. 32 He was not going to make a show of himself. |
b. in indirect passive.
| 1715 [see fool n.1 3]. 1742 Richardson Pamela III. 92 I will attend you,..altho' I doubt I am to be made a Shew of. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xxxi, She was now made an honest woman of. 1803 Pic Nic No. 4 (1806) I. 140 They must be made an example of. |
c. With idiomatic of it.
| 1660 N. Ingelo Bentiv. & Ur. i. (1682) 55 They were going to make a Day of it in Sports and Musick upon the Water. 1752 Ainsworth Eng.-Lat. Dict. s.v., You have made a good day's work of it. 1789 C. Smith Ethelinde (1814) III. 162 A bad history, a bad history, I am afraid, that young man has made of it. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas iv. vi. ¶8 He is going to make a night of it. Ibid. x. x. ¶12, I made but one nap of it all night. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. v, I always supposed that Mrs. Lupin and you would make a match of it. 1855 Costello Stor. Screen 90, made a clean breast of it to Desirée. 1856 G. J. Whyte-Melville Kate Cov. vi, I..had a great mind to make a bolt of it and run up-stairs. |
d. to make (much, little, something, nothing, etc.) of: to derive (much or little) advantage from; to turn to (much or little) account.
to make the best, make the most of: see best n., most n.
| 1643 Trapp Comm. Gen. xxxii. 12 A flye can make little of a flower; but a bee will not off, till he hath the sweet thyme out of it. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 229 They Boarded her again the third time, but could make nothing on't. 1707 Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 202, I set about the work..resolv'd to..be certain whether I could make anything of it or not. 1732 Ld. Tyrawly in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 381 Unless you have two Moletta-men..you won't be able to make anything at all of her [sc. a boat], with any hands you'll get. 1870 Rogers Hist. Gleanings Ser. ii. 246 Calumny made something of his relations with William Tooke. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 59 They hold the place which once the chieftain held, And what have they made of it? |
e. to make a hash, mess, muddle of: to fail grossly in, bungle (a business). See the ns.
f. to make..of: to do..with. Sc. [Cf. F. ‘qu'avez-vous fait de..’.]
| 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inher. lxxiii, It was inconceivable, too, what he made of himself all day. |
*** To frame in thought or representation.
19. To form within the mind; to give conceptual existence to. a. To entertain (doubt, scruple, question, etc.) in the mind; to formulate mentally; to form (a judgement).
to make conscience: see conscience ii. to make a difference: see difference n. 5.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 249 Than mayss clerkis questioun,..That [etc.]. a 1425 Cursor M. 23846 (Trin.) From hit may we no way scape for no wile þat we con make. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Facere, Controuersiam, to propose as doubtfull: to make doubt of. 1583–1875 [see question n. 5]. 1586–1875 [see doubt n.1 4 a]. 1661 Boyle Style of Script. (1675) 228 The more scruple I would make to rob them. 1709 Berkeley Th. Vision §3 The estimate we make of the distance of objects. 1721 Perry Daggenh. Breach 4 Persons, who may be able to make a Judgment of the Truth of what I relate. 1844 Fraser's Mag. XXX. 98/1, I make no doubt every one..has practised similar stratagems. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 229 The judgement of him [Chaucer] which we make from his works. 1885–94 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche May xiii, She made no wonder how the wonder was. |
b. to make (great, etc.) account, † count, † esteem, † estimation, † reckoning, † regard, † store of: to have a high opinion of, set store by. (Chiefly obs. or arch.)
| 1393, etc. [see account n. 12]. 1484, etc. [see count n.1 5]. 1539 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 244 His Maieste wold neither make store of them ne bestowe a two penys for their conveyance hither. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 95, I would haue you make ful reckoning of al my counsel. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. cxix. ii, Such regard of thee I make, For feare of thee my flesh doth quake. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xv. §2, I make no more estimation of repeating a number of names or words upon once hearing..than [etc.]. 1652 J. Wright tr. Camus' Nat. Paradox xi. 308 The same cause made Amiclea disdain the esteem which Liante made of her. 1654–66 Earl of Orrery Parthen. (1676) 508 You will demonstrate how little esteem you make of a Wife. 1877 Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 402 What fools we were to make such count of momentary, transient pleasures! 1884 Mrs. Oliphant Sir Tom II. vii. 114 A poor girl..unnoticed, made no more account of than the chair upon which she sat. |
c. To recognize in classification (a certain number of kinds, species, etc.).
| 1562 Winȝet Cert. Tractates Wks. 1888 I. 12 The wickit dum pastour, of the quhilk we mak thre kyndis. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 90 It aboundeth with sea birds, whereof the Venetian writers make two hundred kinds. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. i. ii. (1676) 26/2 Our School-men..make nine kinds of bad Spirits. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. 37 Anaxagoras..made Bony and Fleshy Atoms,..which he supposed to exist..alwaies immutably the same. |
d. legal. To formulate, set out (a case, title).
| 1883 Cotton in Law Rep., 9 Prob. Div. 25 It would be better..for the party alleging undue influence to..shew with reasonable particularity the nature of the case he intends to make. 1891 Law Rep., Weekly Notes 77/2 The new trustees were therefore validly appointed, and could make a good title. |
20. Used with const. of (cf. 18, of which this may be viewed as a figurative application): To regard (what is denoted by the regimen of the prep.) as being (what the object of the verb denotes); to arrive at (a particular amount or quantity) as the result of calculation or estimation; to assign (a meaning) to a statement, expression, representation, etc., or (a cause, motive, or reason) for actions or phenomena. Often with interrog. or indef. pronoun as obj.
For to make head or tail (also top or tail) of, to make sense of, see the ns.
| 1531 Tindale Exp. 1 John v. (1538) 59 b, Yf thou burnest bloude and fat together to please God, what other thynge doest thou make of God, than one that had lust to smell to burnt flotesse? 1565 Randolph in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. II. 203 Suspicious men, or suche as are geven of all thyngs to mayke the worst. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. 316, I wote not wel what to make of this: the text I suspect be faultie. a 1654 Selden Table-t. (Arb.) 20 When it comes among the Common People, Lord, what Gear do they make of it! 1776 C. Lee in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) I. 157, I know not what to make of this apathy on so important a subject. 1833 D. Macmillan in Life ii. (1882) 16 He has gone to Edinburgh now. I don't know what to make of him. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. xxiv, What do you make of four times five? 1887 L. Carroll Game of Logic i. §i. 10 What would you make of such a Proposition as ‘The Cake you have given me is nice’? Is it Particular or Universal? |
21. a. to make (much, little, nothing, etc.) of: to have a (high, low, etc.) opinion of; to value at a (high, low, etc.) rate; to treat with (much, no, etc.) consideration. to make much of: often, to treat with marked courtesy and show of affection; also in indirect passive. to make nothing of (doing something): to find no difficulty in or feel no scruples at (cf. 51 c).
to make light of, † to make slight of: see light a.1 13 d (b), slight.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 23860 Quen noght es mad of crists word. c 1305 St. Dunstan 46 in E.E.P. (1862) 35 A gret ordeynour he was And makede moche of gode reule. 1470–85 Malory Arthur ix. xviii. 365 The more she made of hym, the more was his payne. c 1500 Melusine 302 Whan geffray with the grete toth herd that the geaunt made so lytel of hym. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV 220 She had nothyng more to be beloved, nothyng more derer, nor nothynge to be made more of. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 333. 1612 Shelton Don Quix. iv. i. (1620) 282, I was one of the most made of and cherished daughters that euer father brought vp. 1622 Bacon Hen. VII (ed. Lumby) 40 He was very honourably entertained, and extremely much made on by the Pope. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 57 ¶3 She talks of Hounds and Horses, and makes nothing of leaping over a Six-bar Gate. 1823 Byron Juan x. lvi, Whate'er the cause, the church made little of it. 1838 Lytton Alice ii. ii, No queen could be more made of. 1888 W. J. Knox-Little Child of Stafferton i. 12 The child was petted and made much of. |
b. intr. to make of: † (a) To esteem (well or ill); to treat as if... Obs. (b) To value highly; to treat with great consideration; = to make much of; also in indirect passive. Obs. exc. dial.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xvi. 592 The king aucht weill to ma Of ȝow. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xiii. 69 Thouȝ the oold lawe was good to the kepers therof, ȝit was not so good as thei maden therof. a 1529 Skelton Magnyf. 174, I am Lyberte, made of in euery nacion. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) KK j b, And that that some setteth littell by, other make of. a 1546 Bale Latter Exam. A. Askew (1547) 22 b, It was an abhomynable shame vnto hym to make no better of the eternall worde of God, than of his slenderlye conceyued fantasye. 1601 Dent Pathw. Heaven 77 An..Hawke, which a man holdeth upon his fist, stroketh her, maketh of her. 1607 Shakes. Cor. iv. v. 203. 1631 Celestina (1894) 142 You make of me, as if I had been borne but yesterday. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. i. ii, Their greatest wish, Is to be made of, and obtain a kiss. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia s.v., To make on, to caress, to distinguish by particular attention. 1828 Mrs. Carlyle 20 Aug. in New Lett. (1903) I. 29 Everyone here is trying to make my stay agreeable to me! Indeed, I have not been so made of since very long ago. |
22. Naut. To descry or discern as from the top of a mast or tower; to come in sight of; = make out (91 l). † to make (an object) for: to discern it to be (something). † Also to make..to be.
| c 1565 Sparke in Hakluyt's Voy. (1589) 536 Wee had sight of an Island, which we made to be Iamaica. c 1600 Norden Spec. Brit., Cornw. (1728) 96 A place whence they discouer ships at sea which they call makinge a sayle. 1628 Digby Voy. Medit. (1868) 4 Which afterwardes wee made to be a small Frenchman. Ibid. 33, I descryed a sayle which I made for a sattie. 1666 Pepys Diary 3 June, At his coming into port, he could make another ship of the King's coming in. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. To Rdr., The Lizard being..the first Land made at their return home. Ibid. iv. i. 139 [He] at last made the Coasts of Brasilia. 1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4422/7 It was thought proper that this Ship should go down to make them perfectly. 1712 W. Rogers Voy. (1718) 292, I order'd the pinnace to be mann'd and arm'd, and sent her away to make what she was. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 7 We..made the Coast of Galway, in Ireland, the 10th. 1760 C. Johnston Chrysal (1822) II. 250 The man at the masthead had made the land. 1833 Marryat P. Simple li, We made Barbadoes without any further adventure, and were about ten miles off the bay. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxxii. 124 If we could make land, we should know where we were. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 171 Poor Grant made the light, sometime after nightfall. |
**** Said of constituent parts or material.
23. To amount to. Also, of the latest item in an enumeration, to bring up the sum to (a certain amount).
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 96 (Corpus MS.) Þreo halpenes makeð a peni. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶288 The proverbe seith: that manye smale maken a greet. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xx. 90 Of whilke mynutes LX. makez a degre. 1545 Rates of Custome Ho. d iij b, One Flemisshe elle makithe iii. quarters of a yarde englisshe. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. x[i.] (Arb.) 99 These ten litle meeters make but one Exameter at length. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. ii. 6 This Bottle makes an Angell. 1601 ? Marston Pasquil & Kath. i. 66 Many a small make a great. 1672 Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal iii. i. (Arb.) 69 Nine Taylors make but one man. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 35 All which did not make thirty thousand men. 1825 New Monthly Mag. XIV. 330 How many birds would this make in the course of the day? 1875 J. Southward Dict. Typogr. s.v., In casting-off copy or matter it is said that it ‘makes’ so much—a galley, a stickful, &c.—that is occupies so much space. 1892 Sat. Rev. 12 Nov. 562/1 Twice one makes two. 1897 Fl. Marryat Blood Vampire iv, 'E's a regular business man and knows 'ow many beans make five! |
24. Of an adjunct or feature: To be sufficient to constitute; to be the essential criterion of. In proverbial or quasi-proverbial uses, mainly in negative contexts.
| 1340 Ayenb. 165 Þe cloþinge ne makeþ naȝt þane monek, ne þe armes þane knyȝt. c 1430 Freemasonry 726 Gode maners maken a man. 1546 Heywood Prov. (1867) 57 One swalowe maketh not sommer. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Moine, The Cowle makes not the Monke. 1649 Lovelace Poems (1864) 119 Stone walls doe not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage. 1734 Pope Ess. Man iv. 203 Worth makes the man, and want of it, the fellow. 1859 Tennyson Guinevere 479 And courtliness, and the desire of fame, And love of truth, and all that makes a man. 1861 Temple Bar III. 256 A long beard does not make a philosopher. 1893 National Observer 7 Oct. 531/2 One actress does not make a play. |
25. a. To amount to, count as, avail, signify (much, little, nothing, etc.) in relation to the question under consideration. (Cf. 74.) Const. for, to. Now rare. to make no matter (somewhat arch.): to make no difference, not to matter. † what maketh matter but that..? = ‘What hinders that..?’
| 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S. T. S.) 283 And suppos sum ignoraunt men wald say gold is metall and na coloure, that makis nocht. 1478 W. Paston in P. Lett. III. 237, I beseche yow to sende me a hose clothe,..how corse so ever it be it makyth no matyr. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 383 Quhat makis that to the? 1549 Latimer Serm. Ploughers (Arb.) 18 In deede it toucheth not monkerie, nor maketh any thyng at all for any such matter. 1563 J. Man Musculus' Commonpl. 284 What maketh matter but that the Jewe, which is so often washed in the lawe, might be washed agayne if he come to Christ? 1574 Whitgift Def. Answ. ii. 106 Those things which..make something to exhort vnto a better life. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. vi. 126, I thinke the policy of that purpose, made more in the Marriage, than the loue of the parties. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. ¶3 The course which he intended made much for the glory of God. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows iii. §9. 202 Circumstances make much to the goodnesse or badnesse of an action. 1697 C. Leslie Snake in Grass (ed. 2) 299 That he was a Loose Man, &c. which makes nothing to the business. 1728 Ramsay Last Sp. Miser xxix, Away his wretched spirit flew, It maksnae where. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ. (1778) II. 70 (Passport) By what magic he could [etc.] makes nothing in this account. 1768 Ross Helenore (1789) 85 Maksna, quo she, gin I my hazard tak. 1808–80 Jamieson s.v. Mak, It makes na, it does not signify, it is of no consequence; sometimes as one word, maksna. 1862 Trench Mirac. xxxiii. 456 It makes something for the current opinion that..Nathanael..is Bartholomew.. thus to find him named..in the midst of some of the very chiefest Apostles. |
† b. Of arguments or evidence: To avail (much, little, etc.) for, against (an opinion or a disputant).
| 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 333 These..sentences..make nothing for him, but much against him. a 1649 Charles I. Wks. 177, I believe this argument makes little for you. 1660 tr. Amyraldus' Treat. Religions iii. ii. 331 That makes nothing against us. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. i. iii. §3 Wks. 1727 I. 13 But this makes nothing for Innate Characters on the Mind. |
26. To count as, have the position of, ‘form’, be (a part or unit in an aggregate, a particular member in an ordinal series). to make one (of): often, to take part in a combined action, be present at a meeting, etc.; also, to assimilate oneself to the company one joins.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xi. 340 He said, the rerward he vald ma. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §120 Whan these three be mette, if ye hadde a potycarye to make the fourthe [etc.]. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 86 He would..not refuse to make one at a mannes table. 1634 Ford P. Warbeck ii. iii, There have been Irish hubbubs, when I have made one too. 1658 Jer. Taylor Let. in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 5 Her duty to you..does apparently make a very great part of her religion to God. 1711 Budgell Spect. No. 77 ¶5, I always make one of the Company I am in. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. xxxiv. 485 It is marked out into three triangles, the postnasus making a fourth. 1850 Dickens Dav. Copp. xx, It would be worth a journey..to see that sort of people together, and to make one of 'em. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xii. 179 To make one of the illustrious gathering. 1892 Cornh. Mag. Dec. 566, I was number thirteen, and you came in and made the fourteenth. |
27. a. To be the material or components of; to be made or converted into; to serve for.
| 1620–55 I. Jones Stone-Heng (1725) 45 The Stones making the Portico within. 1661 Boyle Style of Script. (1675) 53 Where there's nothing but choice flowers,..they will make a good posie. 1699 T. Brown in R. L'Estrange Erasm. Colloq. 20 She was fit to have made a Spouse for Jupiter himself. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 114 Pieces that are intended to make the Frames for small Pictures. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 414 ¶4 Fields of Corn make a pleasant Prospect. 1724 Swift Stella's Birthday, Merry folks, who want by chance A pair to make a country dance. 1768 Goldsm. Good-n. Man i. (end), I am told he makes a very handsome corpse and becomes his coffin prodigiously. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VIII. 485/2 Such as are kept to make red herrings are washed in great vats in fresh water. 1838 Lytton Leila iii. iii, One of the vaults which made the mighty cemetery of the Monarchs of Granada. 1887 A. Birrell Obiter Dicta Ser. ii. 70 Poor authors..with their pockets full of the bad eggs that should have made their breakfasts. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 94 He's steady enough to make a wheeler in a coach. 1890 Standard 5 Nov. 5/1 [He] had much to say that will make unpleasant reading for the Liberal wirepullers. |
b. To admit of being made into.
| c 1420 Palladius on Husb. iv. 457 The gourde is good this citur nygh to sowe, Whos vynes brent maath askes for hem sete. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 152 Neither is their..a beast that makes more dishes. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. iii. vi. 69 Doost thou think to liue till his olde doublet will make thee a new trusse? 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. iii. 18 An old Cloake makes a new Ierkin. 1605 1st Pt. Jeronimo iii. i. 43 My hose will scarse make thee a standing coller. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. v. 87 A pint of salt of tartar, exposed unto a moist aire,..will make far more liquor..then the former measure will contain. 1787 Beckford Lett. fr. Italy (1805) I. 365 They [frogs] make a good soup, and not a bad fricassée. |
28. Of persons: To become by development or training. Also, with obj. a n. qualified by good, bad, or other adj. of praise or the contrary: To perform (well, ill, etc.) the part or function of.
| 1572 Middelmore in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. III. 8, I think he [the Duke of Anjou] will make as rare a prince as any is in Christendome. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI iv. vii. 44 Doubtlesse he would haue made a noble Knight. 1677 Miege Eng.-Fr. Dict. s.v., These men might make good Soldiers if they were well disciplined. 1726–7 Pope Th. var. Subj. in Swift's Wks. (1751) V. 262 For a King to make an amiable character, he needs only to be a man of common honesty, well advised. 1736 Berkeley Disc. to Magistr. Wks. III. 412 The young rake makes an old infidel. 1828 Examiner 244/1 Mr. Kean, jun. will never make so great an actor as his father. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 89 The shepherd knowing the flock makes their best drover. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 25 As the times then went, Mr. Earl made a very fair pastor. 1885 J. Payn Luck of Darrells I. viii. 125 She will make him a good wife. |
***** To gain, acquire.
29. a. To gain, acquire, or earn (money, reputation, etc.) by labour, business, or the like. Const. of, out of. Phr. † to make (one's) advantage (see advantage n. 5 b), increment of; to make a (or one's) fortune (see fortune n. 6); to make capital out of (see capital n. 3 d); to make a living (see living vbl. n. 3); to make a name (for oneself). See name n.
| c 1315 Shoreham iii. 294 In londe suche his many a þef Þat y-now hym makeþ. 1382 Wyclif Jer. xxxii. 20 Thou madist to thee a name. 1472 Paston Lett. III. 71, I truste be Ester to make of money..at the leest l. marke. 1546 O. Johnson in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. II. 175 Besides the monney that I shal make of the said wares. 1583 T. Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. ii. 64 [They] furnished him with all the money they were able to make. 1588 Parke tr Mendoza's Hist. China 45 Then may the husband afterwardes sell his wife for a slave, and make money of her for the dowrie he gaue her. 1604 Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 361. 1632 Lithgow Trav. i. 64 This little Ile maketh yearely..onely of Currants 160000 Chickins [= sequins]. 1632 Sherwood, To make money of, vendre. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) Advt., Making a Profit at the Expence of other Men. 1821 Byron Juan iii. lxxxv, His muse made increment of anything, From the high lyric down to the low rational. 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 28 More than he could probably hope to make by any transaction in the Alley. 1840 Macaulay Ess., Clive (1887) 555 A great quantity of wealth is made by English functionaries in India;..and what is made is slowly, hardly, and honestly earned. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain xiii. (Pelh. Libr.) 97 [They] had buried..a great booty which they had made in Portugal. 1863 Edin. Rev. CXVII. 417 The men complain that without it [sc. blasting] they cannot ‘make wages’. 1887 Ruskin Præterita II. 332 [He] would often, for the mere pleasure of playing a trick, lose a customer without making a penny by him. 1889 T. Gift Not for the Night-time 83, I..made a name as a successful artist. 1895 Bookman Oct. 16/2, I know several gentlemen in Paris..who make a very good living by hawking these nightingales round the cafés. |
b. slang and dial. To steal. Also, in milder sense, to ‘acquire’, manage to get. (See also quots. 1926, 1953.)
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Made, Stolen. I Made this Knife at a beat, I stole it cleaverly. 1740 Dyche & Pardon Dict., Make..also to steal or convey privately away. 1865 Daily Tel. 27 Oct. 5/1 ‘The same day’, he continued, ‘we only made [i.e. stole] a leg of pork from 12, Harrow-road’ [etc.]. 1866 Mansfield Sch. Life (1870) 46 In the matter of certain articles..supplied by the College [Winchester], we used to put a liberal interpretation on the eighth commandment..and it was considered fair ‘to make’ (i.e. take) them if you could. 1881 Leicestersh. Gloss. 1914 D. O. Barnett Lett. (1915) 13 The company made a dog the other day, but it was claimed almost at once, so we haven't got a mascot. 1926 J. Black You can't Win i. 5, I was an expert house burglar..carefully choosing only the best homes... I ‘made’ them in the small hours of the night. Ibid. vi. 74 Better wait till night if you want to make a train. 1928 Kipling Limits & Renewals (1932) 53 I've made a temp'ry collar and lead off Probert. 1946 G. Millar Horned Pigeon ii. 16 Skinner and I were both good at what the Army calls ‘making things’, which is what the civilian would call ‘finding’ or even ‘stealing’ things. Ibid., Potatoes and onions I had ‘made’ from the food-dumps round Alexandria. 1953 W. Burroughs Junkie (1972) iii. 34 Taking junk hidden by another junkie is known as ‘making him for his stash’. Ibid. 158 Making Cars... Breaking into parked cars and stealing the contents. |
c. To fetch (a certain price).
| 1868 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. Ser. ii. IV. ii. 289 One [bullock]..made 60l. in a Woburn auction. 1896 Athenæum No. 3569. 382/1 Matthew's Bible, 1537, made 11l. 15s. |
30. a. Cards. To win or ‘take’ (a trick); to play to advantage (a certain card). Also intr. of a card: to take a trick.
| 1608 L. Machin Dumb Knight iv. H 4 You are a double game, and I am no lesse, theres an hundred, & all cards made but one knaue. 1742 Hoyle Whist 39 In the third round you make your Queen. Ibid. 50 You probably make two Tricks in it by this Method of Play. 1876 ‘Capt. Crawley’ Card Players' Man. 61 If your partner hold the ace and another, you have a good chance of making the entire suit. 1878 H. H. Gibbs Ombre 24 He will endeavour to make one trick only. 1879 Cavendish Card Ess., etc. 160 His partner..has his last trump drawn, and the ace and king of diamonds make. Ibid. 197 The fourth hand made the king. |
b. Various uses in games: To secure (a certain score); to score (a point in the game); to perform (a particular stroke) successfully.
| 1680 Cotton Compl. Gamester (ed. 2) 78 You may make Pairs, Sequences, Flush, Fifteens, Pair-Royals, [etc.] Ibid. 89 If one and thirty be not made, then he that play'd last and is nearest one and thirty without making out, must set up one. 1825 Hone Every-day Bk. I. 868 Give him a foot of wall, and he was sure to make the ball. 1849 Chambers's Inform. People II. 652/1 The game is determined by the number of runs made in two innings by each player. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown ii. viii, Johnson's batting [is] worthy of the occasion. He makes here a two, and there a one, managing to keep the ball to himself. 1873 Bennett & ‘Cavendish’ Billiards 339 To make the hazard, play at the shoulder of the pocket. 1874 J. D. Heath Croquet Player 53 It being much easier to roll up to and make the peg, than to get into position for a hoop, from a long distance. 1890 Field 31 May 784/3 He made ten fours, six threes, and two twos. |
31. To gain, ‘put on’ (weight). Also of a tree, to produce a growth of (timber). to make water (Naut.): to take in water by a leak: see water n.
| 1832 Withers in Planting (L. U. K.) vii. 78 note, The manured tree made..one foot one-third of timber in each year. 1846 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VII. ii. 393 Two of them made twenty stones each in sixteen weeks. |
II. To subject to operation; to elaborate; to put in order.
† 32. To handle, manage, use (OE. only); to treat, deal with in a particular way. Obs.
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. iv. 21 Iubal, þe wæs fæder..þæra þe organan macodun [Vulg. canentium cithara et organo]. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 121 Þet folc þe hine þus makede knewede to-foren him on bismer. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2515 Hise liche was spice-like maked, And longe egipte-like waked. |
† 33. To bring to a specified condition, reduce to. Phr. to make to death; to make away (see 84 a–c), make out of the way, make hence = make away with. Obs.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 85 Hwense we habbeð imaked þene licome to þer saule bihoue. c 1220 Bestiary 154 Redi..to deren er to ded maken. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 13 Whan thei to thilke astat ben made. a 1400–50 Alexander 2741 Þare mas þou þe to malicole. 1530 Palsgr. 631/1, I make to the bowe, as we make a yonge persone to our mynde. 1535 Coverdale 2 Chron. xxxiv. 4 Molten ymages brake he in peces and made them to dust. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. vii. (1895) 230 If they should hastiely put them to death, and make them out of the waye. 1603 B. Jonson Sejanus ii. ii, It is as daungerous to make them hence, If nothing but their birth be their offence. 1605 ― Volpone iv. v, Haue they made you to this! 1692 R. L'Estrange Josephus, Antiq. xii. xv. (1733) 325 [He] told him that..that Man must be made out of the way. |
34. † a. refl. To set oneself, get ready (to do something); to prepare for. Obs. (Chiefly Sc.)
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 103 Vche mon in his maner made him to done. 1375 Barbour Bruce xii. 252 Thai..Mais thame to ficht. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 188 And to the bed with that he yede..And made him there forto seche. c 1470 Henry Wallace vii. 846 The Irland folk than maid thaim for the flycht. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems liii. 46 To the danceing soun he him maid. 1535 Coverdale Ps. cxix. [cxx.] 7, I laboured for peace, but when I spake therof, they made them to battayl. ― Ezek. xx. 8 Then I made me to poure my indignacion ouer them. a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 175 Whill the portar maid him for defence, his head was brokin. 1630 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 64 Christ is putting on His clothes and making Him, like an illhandled stranger, to go to other lands. |
b. intr. To attempt or ‘offer’ (to do something).
| 1880 Antrim & Down Gloss. s.v., He made to strike me. 1889 Universal Rev. Oct. 256 The beauty of this blossom drew the man's soul, and he made to pluck it. 1900 S. Phillips Paolo & Franc. ii. ii. (Stage dir.), He makes to follow, then stops. 1902 Daily Chron. 25 Aug. 9/3 He got very excited, and made to catch hold of her dress. |
35. With ellipsis of verb of motion: To prepare to go; to proceed in a certain direction. † a. refl.
| 1535 Coverdale 1 Sam. xvii. 41 The Philistyne wente forth, and made him to Dauid. ― Nahum ii. 3 His charettes are as fyre, when he maketh him forwarde. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vi. 261 At the breach of day, we sixe made vs for the mountaine. |
b. intr. for refl., with adv. or advb. phr. (Often, to make towards —.) See also make away, make forth, etc.
| 1488 [see make over, 92 e]. 1542 [see make upon, 81]. 1558 [see make out, 91 m]. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. xii. 174 Mak of the towne. 1573 Ibid. xlii. 16 Thir twa vnto Sanctandrois maid. 1586–93 Marlowe Dido i. ii, There is a place, Hesperia..Thither made we. 1588 Housh. Philos. in Kyd's Wks. (1901) 242 But making neerer to his Father, he whispred to him [etc.]. 1611 Bible Acts xxvii. 40 They..made toward shore. 1639 Fuller Holy War ii. xxviii. (1647) 80 Hence Conrade made forward to Iconium. 1645 R. Baillie Lett. & Jrnls. (Bannatyne Club) II. 305 Our army..is in good case. They are now making over the Severne. 1694 Lond. Gaz. No. 2961/1 The Weymouth..left the rest of the homeward bound..Fleet..off the Lizard, making up the Channel. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) II. 93 Let us make home the best we can. 1790 Beatson Nav. & Milit. Mem. II. 194 Notwithstanding that the ship of the line and the frigate..were now within a league of him, and making to his assistance. 1812 Capt. Hillyar in Examiner (1813) 18 Jan. 43/2 Twelve..were thrown over⁓board when making from us. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge lix, He..made straight towards a distant light. 1878 W. Black Green Past. xliv. 356 We see an immense flock of geese making up the stream. 1883 Stevenson Treas. Isl. iii. xiv. 112, I made steadily but slowly towards them. |
36. To prepare (a bed) for sleeping in.
[Cf. G. ein bett machen, F. faire un lit. In this use the vb. had originally the sense of branch I, as the n. meant not a permanent article of furniture, but a prepared place for repose, which does not exist until ‘made’.]
| c 1290 S. Brendan 128 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 223 Beddes þer were al ȝare ymaked er here soper were ido. c 1300 Havelok 658 Hwan he hauede eten, and was fed, Grim dede maken a ful fayr bed. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 205, I bad men shulde my couche make. c 1440 York Myst. xlviii. 298 Ȝe brought me of þe beste, And made my bedde full esyly. 1530 Palsgr. 617/2 Make your bedde a dayes or you go out of your chamber. 1750 J. Ray Rebell. (1758) 145 After I was gone..the Chambermaid went to make my Bed. 1784 A. Adams Lett. (1848) 157 Not one of us could make her own bed, put on or take off her shoes, or even lift a finger. 1889 Mrs. E. Kennard Landing a Prize III. iv. 78 She knows how to make a bed..and cook a dinner. |
37. To shut, close, bar (a door). Now arch. and dial.
| c 1290 Beket 2062 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 165 Some wolden makien þe doren þo heo þat folk i-seiȝe. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iii. i. 93 Why at this time the doors are made against you. 1600 ― A.Y.L. iv. i. 162 Make the doores vpon a womans wit, and it will out at the casement. 1613 Chapman Rev. Bussy D'Ambois Plays 1873 II. 175 All dores are sure made. 1641 Hinde J. Bruen lxiii. 210 Leaving neither Cooke nor Butler behinde him, nor any of his servants, but two or three to make the doores, and tend the house. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus xxxii. 5 See no jealousy make the gate against me. |
38. In the phrase to make hay, primarily used in sense 2, but also applied spec. to that part of the operation which consists in turning over and exposing to the sun the grass after it is mown. (See hay n.1 3 for the phrase and its uses.) Hence by extension, to subject (certain kinds of crops) to this treatment. Also intr. for pass.
| 1523 Fitzherbert Husb. §25 Good teddynge is the chiefe poynte to make good hey. 1546, 1673, 1703 [see hay n.1 3]. 1707–12 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 35 They seldom have Weather good enough to make the last Crop well. 1778 W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric. 26 July 1775 Perhaps, hay makes faster in heaps..than is generally imagined. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia s.v. Make, s., We..talk of ‘making the crop of peas’. Indeed, every crop, howsoever severed from the soil, and left upon it to dry, is said to be made when it is in a fit state to be carried. 1847 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VIII. ii. 300 If it is not made too much, it will be pretty good hay. 1862 Ibid. XXIII. 63 The swampy meadows are chiefly ‘made’ in that month. 1865 Ibid. Ser. ii. I. ii. 248 The straw must be carefully ‘made’. 1892 Field 19 Mar. 424/2 The man who expects one variety of..corn, to ‘make’—i.e., to get fit for stacking exactly as another would, will be rewarded by a ‘rick afire’. |
39. To prepare (fish) for the market, by curing or packing. (See also Dict. Canadianisms.)
| 1555 Sc. Acts Mary (1814) II. 498/1 The haill burrowis of the west cuntrie..hes..resortit to the fisching of Loch Fyne..for making of hering..certaine cuntrie men..hes rasit ane greit custume of euerie last of maid hering that ar tane in the said Loch. 1690 Child Disc. Trade (1694) 3 The fish which our English make in Newfoundland..often prove false and deceitfully made; and our pilchards from the West-Country false packed. 1809 [see making vbl. n.1 2]. 1856 J. Reynolds Peter Gott 43 Since the last war with England, the fishermen from the States have not been allowed to make their fish upon the shores of the British Provinces. 1909 E. C. Robinson In Unknown Land 30 A fisherman comes here to ‘make’ fish, not to catch them. 1923 Canad. Fisherman 243/1 It is a new departure for Newfoundland green fish to be taken to Europe to be ‘made’. 1971 S. E. Morison European Discovery Amer.: Northern Voy. xiv. 491 In our times ‘making fish’, as the Maine people call curing cod, haddock, and pollock in the sun, is simple enough... You simply soak the gutted, split, and washed fish in brine for two or three days, slack⁓salt them, and spread them on home-made flakes to be cured in the sun. 1974 Nat. Geographic Jan. 122/1 Many south coast men [in Newfoundland] have to ‘make’ fish—that is, preserve their own. |
† 40. to make a man's beard: see beard n. 1 e.
41. dial. To hew or shape (timber); to cut up (wood) into faggots or for firewood.
| 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 582/6 Faculo, to make faget. 1466 Yatton Church-w. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.) 104 For makyng tymbyr, and makyng of steches. 1607 T. Cocks Diary (1901) 2/1 Payde to Wm. Tybbold..for felling and making my wood, xvs. 1886 in Elworthy W. Som. Word-bk. 1891 Hartland Gloss., Make wood, to make wood into faggots. |
42. Eccl. To ‘mix’ (the chalice) at the offertory in the Eucharist.
| ? 1540 Bk. Ceremonies (MS. Cott. Cleop. E. 5. lf. 280) Offertory..at which tyme the Mynyster..maketh the chalice, myxyng the water with the wyne. 1892 J. W. Legg in Trans. St. Paul's Ecclesiol. Soc. III. 78 The liturgical moment of the making of the chalice in certain western rites. |
43. Cards. To shuffle. [Cf. F. faire.]
| 1876 A. Campbell-Walker Correct Card (1880) Gloss. p. xii, To make the cards means to shuffle. 1902 Ld. Aldenham Game of Ombre 85 The Baron makes the cards, and hands them to Belinda. |
44. Naut. to make sail: (a) to spread a sail or sails; hence, to start on a voyage; to set sail, to sail; (b) to spread additional sails in order to increase the ship's speed. (See also sail n.) Also † to make the tackling.
| c 1450 Pilgrims' Sea-Voy. in Rel. Ant. I. 2 The mastyr commaundeth..To hys shypmen..To dresse hem sone about the mast, Theyr takelyng to make. 1517 R. Torkington Pilgr. (1884) 15 We mad sayle with scace Wynde. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 182 Both rowing and making large saile. 1890 Clark Russell Ocean Trag. I. iii. 50 The men..were making sail upon the yacht nimbly. |
45. a. To train (a hawk, dog, horse). Also with defining phr., as make for the river, make to the hood. † Also (in Turbervile) to make (a hawk) flying (cf. the factitive sense 48).
| c 1400 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xiii, Forto entre and make houndes. c 1450 Bk. Hawkyng in Rel. Ant. I. 297 Then is your hawke made as towchyng to perteriches. 1530 Palsgr. 645/1, I have nosylled my yonge dogge to daye at a beare, he his made for ever. 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 121 If you would make your hawke to the Crane, take a Nyasse Falcon gentle... And when you would make hir fleeing, lette hir flee from the fiste, and succour hir quickely. For you muste haue dogges made for the purpose, whiche may helpe and succoure hir sooner than a man can doe. Ibid. 122 If you woulde make your hawke fleing to the Partridge, or Feasant, when she is reclaimed and made, then [etc.]. 1590 Cokaine Treat. Hunting B j b, Stopping all the holes, saving two or three, which must be set with Foxe pursenets, to take a yong Cubbe, to make your Terriars withall. 1673 Boyle Ess. Effluviums iii. iv. 29 A studious person that was Keeper of a Red-dear-park and vers'd in making Blood-hounds. 1696 Sir W. Hope tr. Solleysell's Compl. Horsem. title-p., The best method of Breeding and Backing of Colts, Making their Mouths [etc.]. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 108 ¶3 A Setting-dog that he has made himself. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VIII. 345 If she [a hawk] be made for the river. 1879 Jefferies Wild Life in S.C. vii. 136 Some of the lesser men who ‘make’ hunters, and ride not only for pleasure but possible profit from the sale. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 373 (Falconry) Make to the Hood, to accustom a hawk to the hood. |
| transf. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 1592 Wolde money, trowest thou, make suche one to the call? c 1600 Bacon Disc. Helps Intell. Powers Wks. (Spedding) VII. 100 It was many degrees too hot for any man, not made to it, to breathe or take in. |
† b. To prepare (a person) for a business; to make acquainted, initiate, ‘prime’. Obs. rare.
| 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. iv. ix, Come, let's before, and make the Iustice, Captaine. 1603 ― Sejanus ii. i, But let Drusus drug Be first prepar'd. Evd. Were Lygdus made, that's done. 1624 Nero ii. in Bullen O. Pl. I. 41 Rufus, the Captaine of the Guard, 's with us, And divers other oth' Prætorian band Already made. |
46. a. To effect or secure the success or advancement of; to ‘be the making of’; chiefly, to endow (a person) with fortune or prosperity; to render independent, set up (esp. in pass.; cf. made ppl. a. 7). Phr. to make one's day: to render a day delightful or redeem it from routine, dullness, or banality. Similarly, to make one's evening, etc.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 510 And rycht mayss oft the feble wycht. 1460 Paston Lett. I. 535 That yf the Lords..now discessid myte haf standyn in governans, that Fortesku..and he, schuld be made for evir. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 104 It is the eye of the master that fatteth the horse, and the loue of the woeman, that maketh the man. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. ii. ii, Veni, vidi, vici, I may say with Captayne Caesar, I am made for euer, ifaith. 1604 Shakes. Oth. v. i. 127. a 1614 D. Dyke Myst. Self-deceiving (ed. 8) 51 If riches bee that that makes men happy (according to the foolish phrase men vse when such things befall one, O he is made!). 1675 Brooks Gold. Key Wks. 1867 V. 182 If you embrace him, you are made for ever; but if you reject him, you perish for ever. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. ii. §2 [That] what one man loses another gets, and that, consequently, as many are made as ruined. 1854 J. S. C. Abbott Napoleon (1888) II. xxi. 396 Victory made Napoleon, Victory unmade him. 1888 B. W. Richardson Son of a Star II. ii. 6 Let him take up a person, and that person is made. 1890 Sat. Rev. 8 Feb. 161/2 Bismarck has made Germany. 1903 A. Bennett Leonora vi. 168 The conductor..told her..that she had simply made the show. 1909 F. L. Barclay Rosary xxiv. 252, I knew her presence made my day and her absence meant chill night. 1935 Wodehouse Luck of Bodkins i. 15 That..will be great. That will just make my day. 1942 M. Dickens One Pair of Feet ix. 194 If she could put you in the wrong in front of Sister, her day was made. 1942 T. Rattigan Flare Path 1. 113 We've got some nice cheerful news for you boys. It's going to make your evening. 1953 X. Fielding Stronghold 220 For Ioanna, the evening had been made. 1958 Listener 16 Oct. 623/2 What made the programme was the alternation of argument with recorded extracts from the conference itself. 1959 Ibid. 6 Aug. 223/3 It [sc. a play] didn't make my day. 1970 H. McLeave Question of Negligence (1973) xviii. 141 Get him to..show us his scar... Go on, dare him. It'll make the evening. |
b. Proverbial phrase. to make or mar (occas. make or break): to cause either the complete success or the ruin of (a person or thing). Also absol.
| c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 556 Neptunus, that dothe bothe make & marre. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 267 b, Declaring that he was vtterly mynded to put al in hasards to make or marre, & to bee manne or mous. 1591 Harrington Orl. Fur. v. xix. 33 In vaine I seeke my dukes oue to expound, The more I seeke to make the more I mard. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. i. 29 That one did make the other mard againe. 1613 Day Festivals vii. (1615) 206 That Part of a Woman which either makes all, or marres all, I meane her Tongue. 1650 Trapp Comm. Lev. xvi. 33 It beeing the manner that either make's, or mar's an action. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge iii, I always tell my girl to make sure beforehand that she has a good man and true, and the chance will neither make her nor break her. 1885 Mrs. C. Praed Affinities II. xii. 5 As for Lady Romer's scheme, it is not my business to make or mar it. 1889 Stevenson Master of B. x. 267 Not that you should make and mar behind my back. 1892 Chamb. Jrnl. 2 Apr. 216/1 A man is made or marred by his wife. |
c. dial. To bring up, provide for children.
| 1725 Ramsay Gent. Sheph. i. ii, To mak' them brats then ye maun toil and spin. 1893 Eng. Dial. Dict., Make 23, to foster (Warwicksh.). |
47. to make one's soul (Anglo-Irish): to devote one's efforts to the saving of one's soul; to repent and be converted.
| 1836 in C. Forster Life Bp. Jebb ii. (ed. 2) 112 ‘Make your soul; there is no time to lose; you will die next November.’ 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour (1864) II. 51 ‘What's all you can get here compared to making your sowl?’ |
III. To cause to be or become (something specified).
48. a. With adj. as compl.: To cause to be, render.
to make English: to translate into English. For to make even, fast, good, ready, sure, unready, void, waste; to make it hot, warm, make things lively: see the adjs.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 88 Hi..heora lufiᵹendne ᵹemaciaþ weliᵹne ecelice. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 101 Þe oferlifa on hete and on wete macað þene mon unhalne. c 1200 Ormin 995 Smeredd wel wiþþ elesæw & makedd fatt & nesshe. c 1205 Lay. 10591 Al þat lond heo makeden west. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 412 Þo hii adde al bar imad þe contrei al aboute. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 11567 Idelnesse makeþ man ful slow. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶75 Thrugh synne ther he was free now is he maked bonde. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour F vij b, At theyr requeste god maad her hole ageyne. 1530 Palsgr. 617/2 He made me more a frayde than I was these twelve monethes. 1549 Latimer Serm. Ploughers (Arb.) 20 Making them supple herted. 1620 T. Granger Div. Logike A iv b, Each Reader may this Garden make his owne. 1664 Evelyn (title) Parallel of the Antient Architecture with the Modern, written by Roland Freart, made English for the benefit of builders by J. Evelyn. 1693 Dryden Juvenal (1697) Ded. 54 In making these two Authors English. 1709 Berkeley Th. Vision §119 Any theories of vision hitherto made public. 1768 Goldsm. Good-n. Man iii, What makes the bread rising?.. What makes the mutton fivepence a pound? 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xviii. (1869) I. 496 The elephants, made furious by their wounds, encreased the disorder. 1829 Scott Jrnl. 8 June, God make me thankful for so cheering a prospect! 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest xvii, On that score you may make your mind easy. 1883 Century Mag. XXVI. 239/1 You'll only make bad worse. |
b. with pa. pple. as compl. Now chiefly with make known, make acquainted, make felt, make heard, make understood; a pa. pple. which implies the performance of an action is now rarely used without a preceding to be.
| a 1300 E. E. Psalter cii[i]. 7 Kouthe made he to Moises his waies wele. a 1300 Cursor M. 26666 Propre þat es þat þou ma knaun nan oþer plightes bot þin aun. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame i. 155 The greke Synon With his fals forswerynge..Made the hors broght in-to troye. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 391 He made alle þe hedes and lymes of mawmettes i-kut of. c 1500 Melusine (1895) 153 Thus makyng his wounde opend. 1647 W. Browne Polexander ii. iv. ¶¶¶ 2 b, Polexander.. going away, as if afraid, strove to make it believed he had had no advantage ore Almanzor. a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 263 She..secretly made Cleopatra acquainted with it. 1759 Johnson Rasselas xvi, His generosity made him courted by many dependents. 1812 Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 24 Glauber at Amsterdam about 1640 made known several neutral salts. 1818 Hobhouse Italy (1859) II. App. B. 319 The opposition of a whole life against the nobles made him regarded by all the lower classes, as the great partizan of the democracy. 1827 Southey Hist. Penins. War II. 208 The neighbourhood of Ferrol has made it [Vigo] neglected as a naval station. 1836 J. H. Newman Lett. (1891) II. 202 Their coming from you will make them [sc. sermons] read. 1891 Leeds Merc. 27 Apr. 4/4 If the miners made their power felt. |
† c. with predicative phr. as compl. to make (a place) in one's way: to direct one's journey so as to pass by or through it. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 2605 Agar was made wit child in hi. Ibid. 9744 For sothfastnes algat sal i At an a-cord mak wit merci. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xviii. xx. 761 Now hath dethe made vs two at debate for your loue. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cl. 73 b, I thynke he neuer made the frenche kyng of knowledge therof. 1530 Palsgr. 627/1 It were a good dede by policye to make them of affynite. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 428 He was not as yet made at one with him. 1601 Lyly Loues Metam. v. iv. 12 (Bond) You might haue made me a [= of] counsell of your loues. 1611 Bible Rom. iv. 14 Faith is made voide, and the promise made of none effect. 1673 Newton in Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men (1841) II. 361 Mr. Gregory is at London, and intends to make Cambridge in his way into Scotland. 1676 Hale Contempl. i. 186 This makes him at a point with these sollicitations, peremptory to conclude [etc.]. 1767 S. Paterson Another Trav. I. 51, I made every bookseller's shop in my way. 1800 Lamb Let. to Manning 16 Oct. (Ainger 1888) I. 144, I wish you had made London in your way. |
d. absol. or with obj. omitted. (For idiomatic phrases with adjs., as make ready, † short, sure, see these words.)
| c 1330 Spec. Gy de Warewyke 835 Anoþer manere wasshing Makeþ clene of alle þing. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P. R. xix. lxiii. (1495) 899 The substaunce of wheye is watry and makyth thynne. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 6 Of resolueres & manere of vndoynge & makynge nessche. 1535 Coverdale Prov. x. 4 An ydle hande maketh poore, but a quycke laboringe hande maketh riche. 1754 Richardson Grandison IV. iv. 29 Make happy; and be happy. |
e. with refl. pron. as obj. to make oneself scarce: see scarce a.
| a 1175 Cott. Hom. 233 Se hlaford..dranc and macede hine wel bliðe mid his. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1591 For-ði he maked him stið & strong. c 1320 Sir Trist. 144 Þai busked and maked hem boun. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1885 He mace hym as mery among þe fre ladyes,..As neuer he did bot þat daye. 1496 Dives & Paup. vii. iv. (W. de W.) 280/1 Make the plesaunt in speche to the congregacyon of poore folke. 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard Ep. Ded. A iij, That I may not make my selfe otherwise knowne vnto your worship, then by [etc.]. 1632 Lithgow Trav. iii. 199 I'me there arriud, and eftsoones made me bound For the Venetian Consul. 1647 W. Browne Polexander i. ii. 54 Concealing his..Countrey, [he] made himselfe taken for a kinsman of the last Cacique. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. iv, With cunning and malice enough to make himself merry with all our embarrassments. 1779 Sheridan Critic i. ii, Here are two very civil gentlemen trying to make themselves understood. 1846 Dickens Cricket on Hearth i. 15 Take the precious darling, Tilly, while I make myself of some use. a 1859 De Quincey Posth. Wks. (1891) I. 108 This Parker had a ‘knack’ at making himself odious. 1876 A. S. Palmer Leaves fr. Wordhunter's Notebk. xi. 266 Many diseases first make themselves felt in the ‘dead of night’. 1888 B. W. Richardson Son of a Star II. v. 72 They make themselves quite at home. |
¶ f. In pass. as a literalism for L. fieri = to become. (Cf. 9 e, 49 e.)
| a 1300 E. E. Psalter ci. 7 Like am I made to pellicane of annesse. 13.. Prose Psalter lii. 4 Hij ben made inprofitable. |
49. With n. as complement. a. To cause (a person or thing) to be or become (what is denoted by the complement).
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 82 Þone ðe he ær ehtende martyr ᵹemacode. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 61 Þo þe was turnd fro him and makede him fleme þere he hadde er louerd iben. a 1225 Ancr. R. 54 Heo leas hire meidenhod, & was imaked hore. c 1305 St. Andrew 5 in E.E.P. (1862) 98 Come, he seide, after me and ic wole ȝou make Manfischers. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. Prol. 36 Bote Iapers and Iangelers Iudas Children, Founden hem Fantasyes and fooles hem maaden. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xxi. 13 Forsothe ȝe han made it a denne of thefes. c 1430 Lydg. Chichev. & Byc. vii, These husbandes, whiche theyr wyfes Maken maystresses of theyr lives. 1571 Reg. Gild Co. Chr. York (1872) 230 note, That he may bringe him upp, and maike him a man. 1583 T. Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. iv. 6 The true enheritors..are disturbed, made no bodies, or vtterly dishenerited of their due succession. 1603 Dekker & Chettle Grissil v. ii. (Shaks. Soc.) 81 It's pity that fellow was not made a soldier. a 1708 Beveridge Thes. Theol. (1711) III. 298 To make onesself a slave for he knows not whom. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 171 The defeat which made him again a wanderer. 1890 T. F. Tout Hist. Eng. fr. 1689, 26 This sentence made the noisy doctor a popular hero. |
b. spec. To appoint to the office of; to raise to the dignity of; to create (a person) a noble, etc.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 59 He hadde maked adam louerd ouer þis middelherd. c 1290 Beket 241 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 113 He makede him chaunceler. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. pr. iii. 25 (Camb. MS.) The remenbraunce of thilke day þat thow saye thi two sones makyd conseileres. 1470–85 Malory Arthur Table (ix. ix), How..Syr Launcelot..was made knyght of the rounde table. 1564 Child Marr. 132 He askid hym..whom he wold make his executour. a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. ii. (Arb.) 136 Therefore did som..cause hedge priestes fette oute of the contrie, to be made fellowes in the vniuersitie. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 147 One Sir George Mackenzie, since made Lord Tarbot and Earl of Cromarty. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iv. I. 447 He was made Chamberlain to the Queen. 1890 T. F. Tout Hist. Eng. fr. 1689, 18 She made Marlborough a duke. |
c. To determine (a thing, occas. a person) to be (what is expressed by the compl.); to establish or set down as (a law, penalty, etc.). Often with the compl. qualified by a possessive: To take as (one's business, boast, prey, abode, object, etc.).
Sometimes with it as formal obj., explained by a following inf. or clause.
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xi. 46 Thy Ransonner, with woundis fyve, Mak thy plycht anker. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. xi. §2 Unless the last good of all..be also infinite, we do evil in making it our end. 1611 Bible Gen. xlvii. 26 And Ioseph made it a law..that Pharaoh should haue the fift part. 1630 Ussher Lett. (1686) 434 If he fail, I must make you my last refuge. 1659 Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 442 No reasoning by scripture will convince them; for they make that but a nose of wax. 1663 Flagellum or O. Cromwell (ed. 2) 10 He made it no Punctilio to invite his Roysters to a Barrel of Drink, and give it them at the charge of his Host. 1683 Apol. Prot. France Pref. 1 They..make it the utmost penalty..so much as to attempt a departure. 1738 Gray Imit. Propertius ii. i. 14 That the soft Subject of my Song I make. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 177 Make my cot thy home. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain xii. (Pelh. Libr.) 88, I am not one of those who..make it a constant practice to disparage the higher orders. 1882 Stevenson New Arab. Nts. (1884) 179, I made it my pride to keep aloof. 1885 Edgar Old Ch. Life Scotl. 273 The malediction of a parent was made a capital offence. 1893 Liddon, etc. Life Pusey I. xv. 342 To make the reality and value of sacramental grace a main interest of his life. |
d. To transform, transmute, or fashion into something else. Chiefly in pass., after L. fieri. Obs. or arch.: the notion is usually expressed by to make..into (see 50), or, with reversed construction, to make..of (see 18).
| c 1200 Ormin 19201 Godess Word iss makedd flæsh. 1382 Wyclif Matt. iv. 3 Ȝif thou be Goddis sone, say that these stoons be made looues. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1207 There saugh I Attheon an hert ymaked. 1611 Bible Isa. xlii. 15, I will make the riuers Ilands. a 1708 Beveridge Thes. Theol. (1710) II. 222 The Word..how made flesh? |
¶ e. In pass. as a literalism for L. fieri = to become. (Cf. 9 e, 48 f.)
| 1382 Wyclif 1 Cor. xiii. 11 Whanne I was maad man. |
† f. In early use, a dative preceded by to (in OE. rarely a simple dative) occurs in place of the complementary accusative. Obs.
| c 1000 ælfric De Vet. Test. (Gr.) 2 [Lucifer] wolde..þurh modiᵹnesse hine macian to gode. ― Gen. xii. 2 Ic maciᵹe þe mycelre mæᵹðe [Vulg. faciam te in gentem magnam]. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 103 Heo [sc. pride] macode englas to ateliche deoflan. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 193 Talewise men..maken wrong to rihte and riht to wronge. c 1205 Lay. 29985 Heo makeden to kinge Cadwan þene kene. 13.. K. Horn 522 (Ritson) Horn..made hem alle to knyhte. |
50. a. Const. into. To convert by process of manufacture or otherwise into something else; to work upon (materials) so as to produce (something).
| 1583 Leg. Bp. St. Androis 568 He causit an talyeour turne it [a cloak] and mak it Into wich maill [= ‘into the said portmanteau’]. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 115 Fresh curds newly pressed, and made into little cheeses. 1710 Prideaux Orig. Tithes ii. 76 The Grapes made into Wine, the Olives into Oyl. 1791 in R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. (1805) I. 486 Mowing the first crop 0 2 6. Making it into hay 0 2 6. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. (1849) 286 note, Sometimes it [the peacock] was made into a pie. 1895 19th Cent. Aug. 329 You think that The Wages of Sin might be made into a play. 1900 Jenks Hist. Politics vii. (ed. 2) 60 The wife and daughters of the shepherd..make the milk of the herds into butter and cheese. |
| intr. for passive. 1893 Illustr. Sport. & Dram. News 8 Apr. 165/2 A little corner flap-table which makes into a good-sized square when the flap is up. |
b. To arrange, divide, or combine so as to form.
| 1849 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. X. i. 134 The wheaten straw is carefully made into bundles. 1879 C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iv. xvi. 169 Worcester was suppressed and made into an archdeaconry. 1888 G. Gissing Life's Morning III. xix. 110 The shopman put them aside, to be made into a parcel. |
51. To regard as, consider or compute to be; to describe or represent as (so-and-so); to cause to appear as. (Cf. 56.) a. with n. as compl.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 224 Seinte Powel cleopeð hine ‘angelum lucis’ þet is, engel of liht vor swuch he makeð him ofte. a 1400 Sir Perc. 1086 What knyghte es that,..That thou mase of thy menynge? 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxii. 36 Thocht I in court be maid refuss. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 3 In graunting of the same [he] maketh the byshop of Rome a great Prince. 1649 Milton Eikon. v. Wks. (1847) 289/1 Was this becoming such a saint as they would make him? 1699 T. Baker Refl. Learning xiii. 161 He is not that Goose and Ass that Valla would make him. a 1700 Dryden Ovid's Met. xv. Argt. Fables (1700) 503 Ovid..makes Numa the Schollar of Pythagoras. 1707 Curios. in Husb. & Gard. Pref. 5 The Peripateticks..made Nature a Goddess. 1849 Tait's Mag. XVI. 279/2 Some argue that they are Picts, and some make them Northmen. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. xiii, What time may you make it, Mr. Twemlow? 1892 Field 27 Feb. 302/1 The distance travelled I make by the map five miles. |
b. with adj., † pa. pple., or † phrase as compl.
| 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 17 b, To saie, y{supt} euerie man should haue an eie onelie to his owne affaires, is nothing else but to make man like to beasts. 1599 Thynne Animadv. (1875) 32 Not withstandinge that Hollybande, in his frenche-Englishe dictionarye, make yt of the valewe of a duckett. 1676 Hobbes Iliad Pref. (1686) 4 Homer begins not his Iliad with the injury done by Paris but makes it related by Menelaus. a 1687 Petty Pol. Arith. x. (1690) 117 The King's Subjects are not in so bad a condition as discontented Men would make them. 1736 T. Lediard Life Marlborough II. 201 The Enemy's Army is not so numerous as they make it. 1868 Lockyer Guillemin's Heavens (ed. 3) 493 This climate..is not so bad..as some Anglophobes would make it. 1879 M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. xiv. 128 Macbeth is not half so bad as the play makes him. |
c. to make nothing (to do something): to look upon it as no great thing, not to stick at it. (Cf. 21.)
| 1675 H. More in R. Ward Life (1710) 245 If a Man make nothing to halt and faulter in the first..Sin. a 1716 South Serm. (1843) II. vii. 105 One of the greatest..courage, who makes nothing to look death and danger in the face. 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton v. (1840) 89 Ten men..took up one of the canoes, and made nothing to carry it. |
† d. refl. with n. or adj. as compl.: To maintain or pretend that one is (so-and-so). Obs. (Cf. make out, 91 j.)
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 128 Ant te valse ancre..makieð ham [sic] oðre þen ha beoð. a 1300 Cursor M. 14684 Þou mas þe godd, and þou art man. 1382 Wyclif John viii. 53 Whom makist thou thi silf? c 1440 Floris & Bl. 76 (Trentham MS.) Y rede eke Þat þe maydens moder make hur seek. 1533 in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) I. i. xxi. 152 The same Act may be..set up on every church door..to the intent that no parson..nor any other of the king's subjects, shall make themselves ignorant thereof. 1535 Coverdale 2 Sam. xiii. 6 So Ammon layed him downe, and made him sicke. 1648 W. Jenkyn Blind Guide i. 13 He makes himself a ballad-maker. |
e. make it so (Naut. phr.): see quot. 1867. Also to make noon, etc.
| 1835 Marryat Olla Podr. xiv, The master reported that the heavens intimated that it was twelve o'clock; and..I ordered him to ‘make it so’. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Make it so, the order of a commander to confirm the time, sunrise, noon, or sunset, reported to him by the officer of the watch. 1892 Stevenson & Osbourne Wrecker xii. 203 Noon was made; the captain dined. |
f. U.S. Underworld slang. To recognize or identify (a person, etc.). Cf. make n.2 12.
| 1906 A. H. Lewis Confessions of Detective 222 You wouldn't have come within a block of him. In the language of the guild, Sorg, he would have ‘made you’ and got away. 1908 J. M. Sullivan Criminal Slang 16 Make one, identify a person. 1914 Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 57 You had better ring up (disguise) so he won't make you. 1955 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 81 The victim then can possibly identify, or make, the tool if he is arrested. 1971 ‘O. Bleeck’ Thief who painted Sunlight (1972) xiv. 127 I'm a pretty good tail. You didn't make me. 1973 ‘D. Shannon’ Spring of Violence (1974) vi. 107 ‘Have you made the gun?’ ‘Right off. It's a Hi-Standard revolver.’ |
IV. Causative uses.
52. With dependent clause: To cause (something to happen); to bring it about (that something happens). Obs. exc. arch.
| c 1000 ælfric Exod. v. 21 Ᵹe habbað..ᵹemacod þæt hiᵹ wyllað us mid hyra swurdum ofslean. c 1122 O.E. Chron. an. 1075 Þæt landfolc him toᵹeanes comen & ᵹemacodon þæt he naht ne dyde. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 31 Ðus deuel eggeð ælch man on his herte, and macað þat he wule do þat he him to teihte. c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. 176 The clennesse and the fastynge of vs freres Maketh þat crist accepteth oure preyeres. c 1470 Henry Wallace x. 141 This makis it, thow art cled with our men. c 1485 Digby Myst. v. 581 That mase, that all vnkunnynge I disdeyne. 1526 Tindale John xi. 37 Coulde not he which openned the eyes of the blynde have made also that this man shulde not haue deyed? 1632 Lithgow Trav. ix. 381 This..maketh that the Hennes with them are so innumerable. 1674 Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 418 Sir Jeremy being out of town..makes that I can not returne any proper or perfect answer. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 197 The Convocation being no more necessary to the Crown, this made that there was less regard had to them afterwards. 1885 Mrs. E. Lynn Linton Chr. Kirkland III. viii. 271 That well-known law, so disastrous to stock-raisers, which makes that, when the breed has been brought to the highest possible point of perfection, it stops. |
53. With obj. and inf.: To cause a person or thing to do something; to have something done to a person or thing. a. const. inf. without to: now normally used only when both make and the dependent verb are in the active voice; otherwise arch.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 159 Swa makeð þe halie gast þe Mon bi-halden up to houene. a 1225 Juliana 38 Ich makede þen wittie ysaye beon isahet þurh ant þurh to deaðe. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7669 King willam adauntede þat folc of walis & made hom bere him truage. a 1300 Cursor M. 8175 Als a fische þou made me fere. 1340 Ayenb. 47 Hy..diȝteþ ham þe more quaynteliche..uor to maki musi þe foles to ham. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 202 At Knaresburgh be nyhtes tuo The kinges Moder made him duelle. c 1450 Merlin 29 The kynge made hem alle be Shett in a stronge house. 14.. in Hist. Coll. Citizen Lond. (Camden) 194 The carre was made stonde stylle. 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) i. iii. 21 Our lorde y{supt}..this present worlde shall make brenne by fyre. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 64 Trew Faith, Lord, mak vs fang. 1600 W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 343 Pius Quintus..was made beleeue that the Duke of Norfolke was a Catholike. 1650 Baxter Saints' R. iv. (1651) 36 What made Peter deny his Lord? 1680 Burnet Rochester 142 He had made it be read so often to him that he had got it by heart. 1736 Butler Anal. i. v. ¶8 Their character is formed and made appear. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 29, I wonder what makes these Bells ring. 1814 Mrs. J. West Alicia de Lacy IV. 275 He made quail the courage of the heroic prince. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest iii, Now I'll cut up the onions, for they will make your eyes water. 1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad iii, You will..make the foes of England Be sorry you were born. |
b. const. inf. with to, † for to: now normally used only when make is in the passive voice; otherwise somewhat arch.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 11 Þe deuel..makeð þe unbilefulle man to leuen swilche wiȝeles. a 1225 Ancr. R. 224 Of þen oðer holie monne þet he makede uorte ileuen þet he was engel. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. Prol. 113 Miȝt of þe comunes made hym [a king] to regne. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶540 Flaterye..maketh a man to enhauncen his herte. c 1449 Pecock Repr. Prol. 2 [They] han therbi maad ful miche indignacioun..forto rise and be contynued in manie persoones. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn xlviii. 185 He shal to morowe make hym to be hanged. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lviii. 196 He made to be cryed through the cyte, that euery man sholde make him redy. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xxxv. 72 He therefore which made vs to liue hath also taught vs to pray. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iii. ii. 254, I am made to vnderstand, that you haue lent him visitation. 1616 S. Ward Coal from Altar (1627) 62 Violent affections haue made the dumbe to finde a tongue. 1746 W. Lewis Chem. 31 note, Many such phænomena may be easily made to appear..by exposing solutions of..metals [etc.]. 1859 F. E. Paget Curate of Cumberworth 153 Making the dust to fly in all directions. 1889 Froude Two Chiefs Dunboy ix. 110 A bath..made the lame to walk and the blind to see. 1893 Graphic 29 Apr. 458/1 A Budget which maketh the Opposition to jeer. 1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad xxxiii, I think the love I bear you Should make you not to die. Mod. The two statements can hardly be made to agree. |
c. In proverbial phrases: to make both ends meet (end n. 24), make one's hair stand on end, etc.
| 1534 More Comf. agst. Trib. ii. v. (1847) 100 He made my own hair stand up upon my head. 1623 Heminge & Condell 1st Folio Shaks. To Rdr., Censure will not driue a Trade, or make the Iacke go. 1748 Richardson Clarissa IV. 92 And thus went he on for twelve years, and tho' he had a good estate, hardly making both ends meet. Ibid. 187 Money makes the mare to go. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas vi. ii. ¶1 With such a sum..it might be said, without boasting, that we knew how to make both ends meet. 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 94 He'd make the feathers fly..I believe. |
† d. with ellipsis of an indef. obj. (e.g. one). (Cf. do v. B. 23, gar v. 2 d.) Obs.
| c 1302 Pol. Songs (Camden) 191 We shule flo the Conyng, ant make roste is loyne. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2166 (Ariadne) He made his ship a londe for to sette. a 1425 Cursor M. 6615 (Trin.) Þis golden calf he made [other texts did, gart] to brest to peces. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 6 Whanne her fader wost she was with childe, he made cast her in to the riuer. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxiv. 14 This gentill herte..Quhois petewous deithe dois to my hart sic pane That I wald mak to plant his rute agane. 1560 Whitehorne Arte Warre (1573) 71 Many times the saying backe, backe, hath made to ruinate an armie. |
e. to make believe: † (a) [after F. faire croire] to cause people to believe (chiefly with clause) (obs.); (b) in mod. use, to pretend to do something; to simulate a belief that; now often (said, e.g., of children in play), to subject oneself voluntarily to the illusion that. (Now often hyphened.)
| 1390 Gower Conf. I. 231 And thus Fa crere makth believe So that fulofte he hath deceived. 1643 Trapp Comm. Gen. xix. 2 If Solomon sinned not in making beleeve he would do that which was unlawful to be done. 1716 C'tess Cowper Diary (1864) 64 Some Passages were wrote on purpose to make believe it was Sir R. Steele. 1738 tr. Guazzo's Art Conversation 31 Solitude..makes believe Things that have no Existence but in the Brain. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) III. 250 A false letter..macking believe as how her she-cuzzen..was coming to see her. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. iv, You were so nice and so busy with your Shake⁓bags and Goose-greens, that I thought you could never be making believe. 1806 T. S. Surr Winter in Lond. I. 141 He makes believe to work a little now and then, when he's well enough. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge xvii, When I shut my eyes and make-believe to slumber. 1862 Kingsley Water-Bab. ii, We will make believe that there are fairies in the world. 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Modern Par. Churches 99 Do not make-believe with a shabby-genteel substitute. 1890 Spectator 15 Mar., To make believe that the country is excited about a discussion which [etc.]. 1902 G. B. Shaw Mrs. Warren's Profession Pref. p. xxiii, At such plays we do not believe: we make-believe. 1904 Kipling Traffics & Discov. 334, I did all that..just to make believe. 1925 S. Lewis Martin Arrowsmith xxxii. 386, I make believe read my French books. 1951 G. Greene End of Affair 1. vi. 37 As long as I could make⁓believe that love lasted, I was happy. 1974 J. Wainwright Hard Hit 38, I make-believe I am giving it careful thought. |
f. to make do: to manage with (what is available, esp. an inferior substitute). Also absol., esp. in phr. to make do and mend: to repair for continued use (cf. make n.2 13); also as n. phr. See also make-do.
| [1899 E. Wharton Greater Inclination 87 She had..accepted it [sc. marriage] as a provisional compensation,—she had made it ‘do’.] 1927 Observer 28 Aug. 16/4 The listener who was content to receive only the programmes from his local station..could make do with a very simple and inefficient form of direct-coupled tuning arrangement. 1934 J. Marston Andromeda xii. 156 She had already had experience..in ‘making do’ on a small income. She ‘made do’ now, with a skill which impressed.. Letty. 1941 New Statesman 26 Apr. 431/1 It should be no great hardship for the community to make do with the same housing accommodation that it enjoyed in 1938. 1947 I. Brown Say Word 105 This age of bits and pieces, queues, rationing, and make-do-and-mend. 1958 Technology Jan. 375/4 We may put all our energy into making real the ideal technical schools of 1944, or we may make do and mend by integrating technical studies in..grammar..schools. 1961 New Eng. Bible Luke iii. 14 No bullying; no blackmail; make do with your pay! 1967 A. Wilson No Laughing Matter iv. 414 You are lucky. Having a family to make do and mend for. 1968 M. Woodhouse Rock Baby vi. 51 Rasmussen had to make do with four eggs and only half a dozen rounds of toast because I was there. |
54. a. To constrain (a person) to do something, by an exercise of influence, authority, or actual or threatened violence; to compel, force. (To is now always omitted before the inf. when make is active; in 16–17th c. this rule was not always followed.)
| c 1592 Marlowe Jew of Malta iv. iv, I'le make him send me half he has, & glad he scapes so too. 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier Wks. (Grosart) XI. 227, I will make thee do me homage. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. i. 142 He rose against him, being his Soueraigne, And made him to resigne his Crowne perforce. 1646 Fuller Wounded Consc. (1841) 311 Man can neither make him to whom he speaks, to hear what he says, or believe what he hears. 1662 Strype in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 179 He made me stay and sup with him. 1721–2 Wodrow Suffer. Ch. Scot. (1837) II. ii. xiii. §5. 456/2 Sir, we will cause a sharper thing make you confess. 1852 Thackeray Esmond i. v, Harry..made her bring a light and wake my lady. 1879 M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. x. 89 The Church made him do penance for it. |
b. with ellipsis of the inf. Common colloq.
| 1888 Times 11 Aug. 9/5 The enemy will not play the game according to the rules, and there are none to make him. |
† 55. With ellipsis of the vb. of motion: To send or cause to go in a specified direction. Obs. rare. Cf. make forth 87 b, make out 91 a (c).
| 13.. Evang. Nicod. 86 in Herrig Archiv LIII. 393 Tyll Alexander..In message was I made. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 195 Anniball..made [L. misit] after him certaine light horsemen to ouertake him. |
56. a. To consider, represent, or allege to be or do something. (Cf. 51.)
| 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. viii. §5 This did the very heathens themselves obscurely insinuate, by making Themis..to be the daughter of heaven and earth. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. i. i. §20 Parius..makes his coming to Greece to be in the time of Hellen. 1687 Burnet Repl. Varillas 144 Varillas must be Sublime in every thing, so he makes him to have lived till he was 99. 1724 Ramsay Some Contents of ‘Evergreen’ i, Balantyne..Makis Vertew triumph. 1825 New Monthly Mag. XIV. 543 Your sight is better than mine, what do you make that bird to be? 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. App. 631 Most of the Chronicles make Richard die in 1026. 1875 Sayce in Encycl. Brit. III. 182/2 Even the estimate of Ctesias, however, would make Babylon cover a space of about 100 square miles. |
† b. To show or allege that something is the case.
| 1555 W. Watreman Fardle of Facions i. v. 50 All whiche their doynges, dooe manifestly make, that thei came of the Aethiopes. 1586–7 Queen Elizabeth Let. to Jas. VI (Camden Soc.) 44 Yet the[y] wyl make that her [Mary's] life may be saved and myne safe, wiche wold God wer true. |
V. To do, perform, accomplish.
57. From the 12th c. make (corresponding to L. facere, F. faire) has been extensively used with a noun of action as object, where the older language would have used the verb ᵹewyrcan (work) or dón (do). † a. In various obsolete uses: To work (a miracle); to commit (a sin, crime, fault), ‘tell’ (a lie); to do (justice, mercy); to give (alms). Obs.
| c 1000 ælfric Jos. ii. 12 Sweriað me..þæt ᵹe don eft wið me swilce mildheortnisse, swa ic macode wið eow [L. quomodo ego misericordiam feci vobiscum]. c 1154 O. E. Chron. an. 1137 ¶7 He maket þur ure Drihtin wunderlice & manifældlice miracles. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 29 Þenne þu almesse makest. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 163 Telle me ssal herafterward of þes wondres..& hou hii were verst imaked. a 1300 Cursor M. 28120 And titter wald i lesyng make, Þan man my worde vn-treu to take. Ibid. 28777 Vnnait is þat almusthing Þat þou þe mas of reuid thing. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 343 A tresoun þer was made. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 73 On owre lady he cryed, To make mercy for his mis-dedes. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. (E.E.T.S.) 10478 He made Achilles leue his chace, That he no lenger mordur mace. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xxv. 261 That was a gret Myracle, that God made for hem. 1459 Peebles Charters etc. (1872) 133 Thai haf ordanit..for the faut that he made, that he pay to the tolbuth xs. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour F v b, That such justyce should be made of Aman as [etc.]. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xlix. 43 The murtherer ay mvrthour mais. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xxxvii. 116 Huon thus beyng in dyspleasure with hym selfe for the lye that he made. 1621 Bolton Stat. Irel. 16 The Sheriffe of the county shall..make levy of the money aforesaid. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 149 His design being..to..save himself from the malice and lies of others, and not to make lies of any. |
b. To wage (war). So to make † battle, make (a) fight, † make an army (= expedition). Also, † to serve or take part in (a campaign).
| c 1205 Lay. 627 Stal fiht heo makeden. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. vi. (1885) 123 For the brekynge off an armye when any shall be made ayen hym apon þe see. 1530 Palsgr. 620/1 He made batayle agaynst hym tenne yeres. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 262 b, Sylla..who made ciuile battail w{supt} Marius. 1594 Kyd Cornelia iv. i. 131 These Nations did he purposely prouoke, To make an Armie for his after-ayde Against the Romans. 1647 [see campaign n. 3]. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones vii. xi, [He] told the latter many entertaining stories of his campaigns, though in reality he had never made any. 1814 Scott Wav. x, Mr. Bradwardine..made some campaigns in foreign service. 1858 Thackeray Virgin. vii, To make the campaign was the dearest wish of Harry's life. |
c. To perform (a bodily movement or gesture, e.g. one expressive of respect or of contempt).
For to make a(or one's) bow, make courtesy, make a curtsy, make a face (at), make horns at, make a leg, make (an) obeisance, a salaam, see the ns.
| c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxvi. 122 Þai do grete wirschepe also to þe sonne, and mase many knelinges þerto. 1484, etc. [see obeisance 3]. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 117 Quhen I heir nemmyt his name, than mak I nyne crocis. 1570, etc. [see face n. 6 b]. 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. clxii. 1003 They make but a figge at it. 1632 Massinger & Field Fatal Dowry v. ii, The people, apt to mocke calamity,..made no hornes at me. 1719–1805 [see honour n. 5 b]. 1734 tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) I. 66 Jumping, skipping and making variety of strange unnatural motions. 1776 Trial of Nundocomar 70/2, I..made my salam to him. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest xxvii, The King..made a low obeisance to the window where they were standing. |
d. To enter into, conclude (a bargain, contract). So, to make a marriage (now only legal).
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1269 He bad him maken siker pliȝt Of luue and trewðe. a 1300 Cursor M. 10781 Þe spusail þat was mad þar. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 26 To-Morwe worth þe Mariage I-mad. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 56 God gif matrimony were made to mell for ane yeir. 1530 Palsgr. 586/2, I holde it, as we saye whan we make bargen. 1535 Coverdale 1 Kings iii. 1 Salomon made mariage with Pharao the kynge of Egipte, & toke Pharaos doughter. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. iii. 39 Though I make this marriage for my peace. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. Rev. & Concl. 391 A Contract lawfully made, cannot lawfully be broken. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 562 The marriage that was now made with the brother of Denmark. 1722 De Foe Relig. Courtsh. i. i. (1840) 8 Have you been both making your bargains? 1845 Stephen Comm. Laws Eng. (1874) ii. 261 Having thus shown how marriage may be made. |
e. Eccl. in certain phrases, as to make (one's) confession. † to make the sacrament: to celebrate the Eucharist (obs.). to make one's Communion: to communicate. Also, to perform, ‘do’ (penance).
| [c 1320 R. Brunne Medit. 196 He seyd, ‘makeþ þys yn my mende’.] c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 327 Confessioun þat man makiþ of synne is made of man in two maners. Summe is mad oonly to god... And sum confessioun is made to man. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) vii. 80 Thei maken here Sacrement of the Awtier, seyenge, Pater noster, and other Preyeres. c 1511 1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 31/1 They make the sacrament in broune brede. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xix. 133 b, Making their sacrament according to the Roman maner, with a round cake. 1705 Bp. Wilson in Keble Life vii. (1863) 233 To make one Sunday's penance apiece in penitential habit in Kirk Michael Church. 1888 W. J. Knox-Little Child of Stafferton xii. 151 He intended to make his confession that night and to make his Communion in the morning. |
f. With reference to locomotion or travel, in phrases to make an excursion, make an expedition, make a journey, make a pace, make a passage, make a progress, make a step (now rare), make a tour, make a trip, make a voyage, † to make one's course, † to make return (= to come back), to make one's way, to make a circuit: see the ns.
English idiom is app. capricious in excluding many locutions which would seem to be parallel with these; we cannot, e.g. use make with obj. a ride, a walk (cf. G. einen Spaziergang machen).
| c 1290 [see course n. 2]. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6377 Þe son and þe mone þair course mas. a 1548 Hall Chron. Edw. IV 209 And as the kyng with sayle and ower was makynge his course as fast as coulde be possible. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vi. v. 291 If we imagine the Sun to make his Course out of the Eclyptick. 1828 J. H. Moore Pract. Navig. (ed. 20) 102 A ship from the Lizard makes her course S. 39° W. |
g. To deliver orally. Now only to make a speech, make an oration; formerly also † to make (a) sermon. (See the ns.)
† h. to make memory (min, mind, minning): to commemorate, record (see the ns.). Obs.
† i. ? absol. To have effect, operate. Obs.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 557 Beleue wyl make Þere þe wurde no myȝt may take. |
58. a. In questions introduced by an objective what, e.g. what make you here? = What are you doing here? What is your business, right, or purpose? Now arch. (Common in 16–17th c.)
| 13.. Cursor M. 10990 (Cott.) Þe folk...Thoght ferli quat wit þis he madde [Fairf. Wondird what he was a-bowte]. a 1400–50 Alexander 2908 Bedis buske þe to batell quat makis [v. r. mase] þou here? c 1435 Torr. Portugal 2151 What makist thou in this contre? 1535 Coverdale Judg. xviii. 3 Who broughte y⊇ hither? What makest thou here? 1601 Marston Pasquil & Kath. ii. 66 Alas, good aged sir, what make you vp? 1602 Kyd Sp. Trag. iii. xii. (A). 24 Hier. What make you with your torches in the darke? a 1616 Beaum. & Fl. Cust. Country iii. iii, What made you wandring So late i' th' night? 1677 Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 399 The proctor met him and ask'd him what he made out so late. 1693 Dryden Persius v. (1697) 482 Friend, What dost thou make a Shipboard? 1715–20 Pope Iliad xvi. 247 If that dire fury must for ever burn, What make we here? 1823 Scott Quentin D. xxi, What should my daughter make here at such an onslaught? 1842 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. ii. Misadv. Margate, I saw a little vulgar Boy—I said, ‘What make you here?’ |
b. Hence, by inversion of the preceding construction: what makes you here? taken as if = ‘What causes you to be here?’ (Cf. branch IV.)
| 1658 R. Franck North. Mem. (1694) 28 What makes him there? 1676 G. Etherege Man of Mode v. i, Footman. Madam, Mr. Dorimant! Lov. What makes him here? 1688 Shadwell Sqr. Alsatia i, What makes you abroad so early? 1797 Coleridge Christabel i, What makes her in the wood so late A furlong from the castle gate? |
59. With ns. expressing the action of vbs. (whether etymologically cognate or not), make forms innumerable phrases approximately equivalent in sense to those verbs. In some of these phrases the obj.-noun appears always without qualifying word; in others it may be preceded by the indefinite article, or by a possessive adj. relating to the subject of the sentence. When standing alone, the combination of make with its object is equivalent to a verb used intr. or absol.; but in many instances the obj.-noun admits or requires construction with of, and this addition converts the phrase into the equivalent of a transitive verb. In this Dictionary these phrases are usually illustrated (and if necessary explained) under their respective ns.; but a selection of them is given here in order to exhibit the variety of applications. (For the illustration of those phrases which are enumerated without quotations, see the ns.)
Many of the ME. phrases of this type are literal renderings of phrases with L. facere or F. faire, the n. being often adopted from one of those languages. In early use a gerund in -ing was often the obj. of make, but this is now rare.
a. The following are still more or less in use: to make an abatement, (one's) abode, abstraction, an acknowledgement, an acquisition, an address, an advance, (an) affirmation, an allegation, (an) allowance, an animadversion, (an) answer, an appeal, an (also one's) appearance, (an) application, an ascent, an assault, an assay, an assertion, (an) assurance, atonement, an attack, an attempt, (an) avowal, an award, a beginning, a bid, a blunder, (a, one's) boast, a calculation, a call, a challenge, a change, (a) choice, (a) claim, a climb, a comment, a comparison, a complaint, a computation, a cut, a dash, a defence, delay, a demonstration, a discovery, a donation, an endeavour, an entrance, an error, an essay, an excavation, (an) exception, (an) exchange, (an) excuse, an experiment, an explanation, a find, a gift, a grant, haste, an incision, (an) inquiry, inquisition, intercession, a joke, lamentation, a landing, mention, a mistake, a motion, mourning, a move, narration, (an) oath, (an) objection, an observation, an offer, an offering, a (one's) petition, pretence, pretension, (a) proclamation, (a) profession, a proffer, progress, a promise, proof, a proposal, a proposition, a protest, provision, a recovery, a remark, (a) reply, reprisals, (a) request, resistance, restitution, (a) retreat, a sacrifice, a sale, (a) search, (a) shift, a shot, slaughter, a slip, a stand, a start, a stay, a surrender, a transition, a translation, (a) trial, use, one's vaunt, a venture, a vow.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 6 Non ancre bi mine read ne schal makien professiun..bute þreo þinges. c 1320 Sir Beues 215 (MS. A.) A prikede out be-fore is ost, For pride and for make bost. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame ii. 416 For whom was maked moch compleynt. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems ix. 85 To proper curat to mak confessioun trew. 1530 Palsgr. 621/1, I make clayme to a thyng by processe of the lawe. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xxxii. 96 Agaynst that Gyaunt thou canst make no resystence. 1563–4 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 256 In presence of the Queins Majestie..comperit Johne Erle of Athole, and maid this offer underspecifiit. 1616 R. C. Times' Whistle v. 1886 Let's make a challenge. 1640 Habington Edw. IV 3 Hee..lookt about, where he might on the best advantage make experience of his fortune. 1660 N. Ingelo Bentiv. & Ur. ii. (1682) 164 The obedient Theoprepians made appearance at the time appointed. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 25 This Observation was first made by Thales Milesius. 1680 Aubrey in Lett. Eminent Persons (1813) III. 386 'Twas a minute watch, w{supt}{suph} w{supc}{suph} he made his experiments. a 1687 Sir W. Petty in Hale's Acc. New Invent. 132 We shall..make some animadversions upon each of the three great branches of that Expence. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 1 ¶5 There is no Place of general Resort, wherein I do not make my Appearance. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 361 The House of Commons resolved..to make an address to the King. 1796 Nelson 11 Sept. in Nicolas Disp. (1846) VII. p. cxi, To make reprisals for the value of the property. 1836 J. C. Calhoun Sp. 9 Mar., Wks. 1864 II. 483 Whenever the attempt shall be made to abolish slavery. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain xxvii. (Pelh. Libr.) 192 He advised me to..obtain permission to make excavations. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 340 note, I have made allowance for the increase. 1867 Mill Subj. Women (1869) 98 Let us at first make entire abstraction of all psychological considerations tending to show, that [etc.]. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 199 No explanation had been made. 1870 Dickens E. Drood iii, The rest [of the streets] being mostly disappointing yards with..no thoroughfare—exception made of the Cathedral-close. 1879 M. Arnold Mixed Ess. 340 That astonishing recovery which France has made since her defeat. 1883 Century Mag. XXVI. 245/1 [He] made a cut at something in the water. 1887 Rider Haggard Jess xxviii, Still the old man made no comment. |
† b. The following are examples of the obsolete uses: to make abode (but cf. to make one's abode), abstinence, (an) assembly, one's avaunt, avauntment, baptizing, bodeword, a boon (= prayer), cease, delaying, ending, experience, an exposition, one's flitting, a gathering, greeting, hesitation, a hunt, information, an invitation, a kneeling, a meeting, menace, mourning, muster, ockering, an operation, (one's) orison, overdoing, parlage, plaint, prayer, process, procession, ransoming, one's recourse, refuge, residence, revenge, roos, rosing, show, showing, sojourn, spare, speaking, store, supply, supplying, tarrying, watch, witnessing, yelp (ȝelp = boast).
| c 1154 O.E. Chron. an. 1137 ¶2 Þa macod he his gadering æt Oxene ford. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 91 Elhc cristene man makeð þis dai procession fro chirche to chirche. c 1205 Lay. 26451 For æuere heo ȝelp makieð. a 1300 Cursor M. 8126 Þei..made ilkan þair orison. Ibid. 12274 Quen þe angell hir bodeword made. Ibid. 12518 Þai..to bethleem þair flitting made. Ibid. 12776 Þat he now suilk baptiszing mass. Ibid. 13194 For to mak ending o mi tale. Ibid. 14334 Til fader his he made a bon. Ibid. 28817 Þou þat okering mas wit man. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (Rolls) 11669, & of þis þey make auauntement. 1340 Ayenb. 240 Sobrete lokeþ mesure ine mete and ine drinke þet me ne maki overdoinge. 13.. Childh. Jesus 1527 Þat noman ne miȝte make delayingue Of þing þat he wolde don. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxiii. (George) 797 Ambrose to þis mais witnesing. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) v. 44 There he made the Expositioun of Dremes. 1449 Rolls of Parlt. V. 147/2 Of the which offenses, they hadde be..required..to make cesse. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour H iij, They..fasted and made abstynence. 1535 Coverdale Ps. xl. 17 Make no longe tarienge o my God. 1563 Homilies ii. Rogat. Week ii. (1859) 480 The Wise Man..made his recourse to God for it. 1632 Holland Cyrupædia 102 As touching the money in coine..they would then make partage thereof. 1715 Desaguliers Fires Impr. 137 Make several Chymical Operations. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 595 The Pope..made great returns of money into Germany. 1769 Goldsm. Hist. Rome (1786) I. 106 Veturia, the mother of Coriolanus, at first made some hesitation to undertake so pious a work. 1771 ― Hist. Eng. IV. 161 A French officer, who had made some useful informations relative to the affairs of France. 1821 J. Fowler Jrnl. (1898) 69 To morrow the Indeans make a Hunt. |
60. To eat (a meal).
| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 127 On a tyme Diogenes made al his dyner with Oliues onely. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 15 That they make not to great meales, but eate little and often. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 270 Some times our people made but one meal a day. 1742 Young Nt. Th. v. 465 There take large draughts; make her chief banquet there. 1859 Jephson Brittany xix. 311 As I made my delicious and refreshing luncheon of green figs. 1864 Lemon Loved at last I. vi. 145, I never made a better dinner in my life. 1890 Longm. Mag. July 254 He made his simple morning meal. |
61. a. To offer, present, render. † Formerly in many specific applications: to ‘do’ (homage, fealty); to ‘pay’ (some mark of respect); to render (support, aid); to present (a person's ‘compliments’); to propound (a question); to give (an instance, notice, a reason, warning) (obs.). Also in to make amends, † make asseth, make satisfaction: see the ns. Const. to or dat.
The phr. to make love (see love n.1 7 g) may perh. be referred to this sense.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 20620 Al heuen court sal serue þe, To mak þe manred. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 6461 Conan made hym þer fewte. 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 297 And he him-self first homage maid. Ibid. 502 Thai maid him mony tyme varnyng. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvi. (Baptista) 352 He bad þaim..sic demand hym ma [etc.]. c 1400, etc. [see fealty 2]. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 3298 Makynge to hyr thys questyoun. 1450 Rolls of Parlt. V. 212/1 Therof made notice to the seid Evan Aprice. 1473 Sir J. Paston in P. Lett. III. 84, I made yowr answer to the ffrends off Mestresse Jane Godnoston accordyng to yowr instrucions. 1500–20 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 410 Homage to Edward Langschankis maid thy kyn. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxxxviii. 344 They..came..and made homage to kynge Dampeter. 1539 Cromwell 21 Jan. in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 169 To make supporte subvention and confort unto them to resist his malice. 1582 G. Martin Discov. Corrupt. Script. ii. 29 And make vs a good reason why you put the word, traditions, here. 1599 B. Jonson Ev. Man out of his Humour ii. i, Why Ile make you an Instance: your Citie wiues [etc.]. 1654–66 Earl of Orrery Parthen. (1676) 660 He had but one desire more to make me. 1719 James (the Pretender) Let. in Pearson's 76th Catal. (1894) 33 Pray make him my kind compliments. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxvii. 127 He made warning of the danger to his master. 1800 Addison Amer. Law Rep. 286 Brackenridge..made two questions. |
b. to make head [= F. faire tête]: see head n.1
| a 1569 A. Kingsmill Confl. Satan (1578) 8 If thou couldest make head against him. 1577–87, etc. [see head1 n. 57 a]. |
c. Law. Of a court, a judge: To render, give (a decision, judgement).
‘Now unusual in England; still common in America’ (Sir F. Pollock).
| 1804 Ld. Eldon Vesey's Rep. X. 121, I am not aware that such a decision has been made since that case. |
† 62. a. To entertain or manifest (certain emotions). to make gladness, make glee, make joy, make merriment, make mirth: to rejoice, be merry. to make care: to be careful or anxious. to make dole, make sorrow: to mourn. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 1795 Muchel wes þa murðe þe þat folc makode. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7820 He him sulf deol inou & sorwe made al so. a 1300 Cursor M. 11031 (Cott.) Again him [he] mad gladnes an glu. a 1300–1400 Ibid. 17974 (Gött.) Ful mekil ioy þai made i-wis. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. (E.E.T.S.) 9957 Knyȝtes kene that ben of Troye, Now make murthe and mochel Ioye. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon vi. 140 The grete sorowe that the poure Knightes made for theyr brother. 1513 Douglas æneis x. i. 107 As for Ene, forsuyth, I mak na cayr. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. xii. 200 The Feynd mak cair, I say na mair. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 57 Some to make loue, some to make meryment. |
b. to make (a) mock, † make scorn (at, of): see the ns.
63. To put forth (an effort). Also, † to make labour, make pain. † to make force (at, etc.): see force n.1 22 b.
| 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 38 He maid grete payne to ger that langage of Latyne sprede. c 1489, etc. [see effort n. 2]. 1491, etc. [see labour n. 5 b]. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 6 Gif mair labour and industrie war maid. 1597 Beard Theatre God's Judgem. (1612) 297 The dog..instantly made force at him..as a man would doe at his mortall enemie. 1871 Smiles Charac. i. (1876) 11 Every honest effort made in an upward direction. |
64. a. In certain phrases, used for: To incur, suffer (something undesirable). So to make † expense, † make wreck, make shipwreck (arch.), make a loss (? obs. exc. in commercial use: cf. sense 29).
For to make (good or bad) weather (Naut.), see weather.
| 1453 Rolls Parlt. V. 268/1 All theire costes, expenses and lostez, made and suffred by hem in this partie. 1526 Tindale 1 Tim. i. 19 Some..as concernynge fayth have made ship⁓wracke. 1563 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 239 All expensissis maid in..pleying of the said caus. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. (1807–8) II. 218 Everie person making wrecke by sea, and comming alive to land. 1609 G. Benson Serm. 7 May 5 If you..make wrack neyther vpon the Rockes, nor vpon the Sandes, neyther vppon open nor secret sinnes. 1626 C. Potter tr. Sarpi's Hist. Quarrels 99 They could not continue to make such expence, nor to furnish so many persons with Vestiments. 1640 tr. Verdere's Rom. Rom. III. 199 They could not learn any news of the losse they had made. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 251 Both England and Holland had made a great loss both in ships and treasure. |
† b. Hence (chiefly Sc.), to defray, provide for (expenses, costs). Obs.
| c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. v. (1885) 118 Yff a kynge be pore, he shall bi nescessite make his expences..by creaunce and borowynge. 1473 Ld. Treas. Acc. Scot. (1877) I. 46 Gevin to Wil Oliphant..to mak his expensis xx li. 1574 Reg. Privy Council Scot. II. 388 The said Robert oblist him to mak the said Williames reasonable expenssis, and to pay the same to him. |
65. a. To accomplish (a distance) by travelling, etc.
| 1564–5 N. Wotton in Burgon Life Gresham (1839) II. 70, I made a-foote vi myles ere I came to Dunkerke. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 2 It's violence hindred us not from keeping on our course, and making fifteen Leagues that night. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 270 When the Wind blew so hard, that we made nine or ten Miles an hour. 1768 Boyer Eng.-Fr. Dict. s.v., They make sometimes ten fathom at one leap. 1856 Olmsted Slave States 16 The boat makes 55 miles in 3½ hours. 1899 Pall Mall Mag. Mar. 373, I could get no boat farther than Kirkcaldy, so I must make the distance on foot. |
b. orig. Naut. To reach (a place) in travelling, come to, arrive at; slang to catch (a train, etc.). Also fig., to achieve, accomplish, reach. Freq. to make it, to reach a certain place; to succeed in traversing a specified distance; to achieve a desired object; to be successful; spec. to achieve sexual intercourse.
| c 1624 Waller Pr. Charles at Sant' Anders 148 From the stern of some good ship appears A friendly light... New courage..they take, And, climbing o'er the waves, that taper make. 1641 Evelyn Diary 12 Oct., Tho' not far from Dover, we could not make the Peere till 4 in the afternoon. 1697 Dryden æneid i. 227 The weary Trojans ply their shatter'd Oars To nearest Land, and make the Libian Shoars. 1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4481/3 The West-India Fleet and Coasters,..not being able to make Torbay,..were all forced..to the Westward. a 1774 Goldsm. tr. Scarron's Com. Romance (1775) II. 103 We forced open the prison gates, and..made the mountains on the borders of Valentia. 1805 Pike Sources Mississ. (1810) 39, I determined to attempt to make the river, and for that purpose took a due south course. 1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie I. xvii. 245 It will be wise to make a cover, lest the Sons of the Squatter should be out skirting on our trail. 1828 Sporting Mag. XXI. 322 She [a coach]..started at ten, and made the White Horse, Fetter Lane, at four precisely. 1882 Sala Amer. Revis. (1885) 360 We made Chicago at 7.30 on Sunday morning. 1885 Howells Silas Lapham (1891) I. 137 He..jumped on board the steamboat..‘Just made it’, he said. 1885 [see bullocky a. 2]. 1905 R. Beach Pardners (1912) ii. 56 We can't make it over into Mexico without being caught up. 1912 R. A. Wason Friar Tuck xxvi. 187 Badger-face tried to raise himself on his elbow, but he couldn't quite make it. 1916 H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap i. 25, I hurried home to get a bite to eat and dress and make the party. 1925 E. Hemingway In Our Time (1926) ix. 121 It looked like him or the bull and then he finally made it. 1928 [see best adv. 3 b]. 1935 L. A. G. Strong Seven Arms 46 No matter if they can't make it in the day, sleeping out won't hurt them. 1938 G. Greene Brighton Rock i. i. 20 ‘Will you be there?’ ‘No,’ Hale said. ‘I can't make it.’ 1951 N. M. Gunn Well at World's End xviii. 148 He had..found out that we could make Pamplona that day and asked if we were game. 1955 W. Gaddis Recognitions i. vii. 266 But I have to make a train, he said. 1957 J. Kerouac On Road iii. viii. 225 They went to a parking lot in broad daylight..and there, he claims, he made it with her in nothing flat. 1959 N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 217, I knew The Deer Park had damn well better make it or I was close to some serious illness. Ibid. 295 The hipster's belief that when he really makes it, he will be able to turn his hand to anything. 1967 Field & Stream June 96/3, I hope he makes it through the winter. 1968 Observer 28 Jan. 12/3 A flood of letters has convinced us that we are providing a useful service and this view was confirmed a week ago when we ‘made it’ in the House of Commons. 1970 G. Greer Female Eunuch 159 His wife, who had been a trendy catch ten years before, was not making it so well. 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard viii. 202 Billie would eventually get the sheet changed..or Mrs Basil, whoever made the scene first. 1970 Observer 20 Sept. 26/1 Bombers..lurching along the runway like a swarm of crippled insects, until finally they make it into the air. 1973 Weekly News (Glasgow) 11 Aug. 3/1 She's been a member [of the Glasgow Police Judo Club] for the past three years and managed to make the team which gave a display at the last Police Tattoo. 1973 Times 12 Nov. 15/7 Only those undergraduates most likely to make the team are engaged. 1973 Times Lit. Suppl. 16 Nov. 1389/2 He finally makes it with long-desired Rachel. |
c. To be successful in advances to (a member of the opposite sex); to win the affection of; spec. to persuade (a person) to consent to sexual intercourse; to seduce. slang (orig. U.S.).
| 1918 H. C. Witwer in Amer. Mag. June 110/3 Look at that big stiff tryin' to make the dame! 1921 Sat. Even. Post 1 Oct. 17/1 She give up trying to make me and got off at Albany. She was a good looker but I have no time for gals that tries to make strangers on a train. 1926 Anderson & Stallings What Price Glory 1, in Three Amer. Plays (1926) 7 God! I guess even Lippy could make a kid if she slept on the other side of a paper wall. Ibid. 8 This broad I was trying to make insisted on riding on the merry-go-round. 1926 S. Lewis Mantrap xii. 155 The guys..think they can make you P.D.Q. [sc. pretty damn quick], even if they're old and fat. 1930 E. Rice Voy. to Purilia ii. 27 Never before had I seen a face so disfigured by unbridled lust! ‘Looks as if he's trying to make her,’ shouted Johnson. 1952 L. A. G. Strong Darling Tom xiv. 116, I don't say I'd always have been content with thoughts of you, or that, if you'd stayed lost, I mightn't have tried to make you. 1959 P. H. Johnson Humbler Creation xxvi. 187 Young Fraser tried to make her once. 1969 E. Goffman Where Action Is 200 James Bond makes the acquaintance of an unattainable girl and then rapidly makes the girl. |
66. In phrases like to make long hours (i.e to work many hours in the day). Also, to make good time: to accomplish a distance in a short time. to make time (with) (a person): to make advances to (a member of the opposite sex); to court or flirt with; also = sense 65 c above. N. Amer. slang.
| 1887 I. R. Ranche Life Montana 140 We drove to Three Forks..in an hour and twenty minutes. Jem calls it fourteen miles, so I think we made good time. 1890 Standard 17 Mar. 3/1 At present..the colliers..make very short time. a 1904 Mod. I made a very long day last Friday. 1934 G. & S. Lorimer Stag Line iv. 122 ‘You can't make any time with me,’ I said giving him a lazy smile. ‘I belong to another.’ 1953 W. Burroughs Junkie (1972) xiv. 141 At another table two young men were trying to make time with some Mexican girls. 1962 E. Lucia Klondike Kate viii. 171 The ranchers and cowpokes came in for a peek, and to make time if they could. 1962 J. Potts Evil Wish xii. 159 She decided that Joe was lying... Probably making time with some kid half Marcia's age. 1971 E. Bullins in W. King Black Short Story Anthol. (1972) 82 Say, are ya makin' much time with mah little sister? There was a guarded flash in his eyes. 1971 ‘D. Shannon’ Ringer (1972) viii. 140 Frankly, he'd have liked to make time with that girl, but she'd turned up her nose at him. 1973 D. Hughes Along Side Road (1974) ii. 16 Which I'll bet he did if he wanted to make time with her, eh? |
¶ 67. † a. To ‘play’ (the fool) (obs.). b. = do v. 11 j, in to make the agreeable (? obs.). [After F. faire.]
| 1529 Lyndesay Complaynt 236 Sum maid the fule, and sum did flatter. 1841 Lever C. O'Malley vi. 31 Sir George Dashwood was ‘making the agreeable’ to the guests. 1867 H. Kingsley Silcote of S. xviii, The best thing you can do is to..begin to make the agreeable to the eldest Miss Granby. |
VI. To behave, act, or move (in a specified way).
† 68. a. to make it (with adv. or advb. phr. denoting manner): to act, behave. Obs.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. Tit. vii, & sæde him bispell hu he hit macian sceolde ᵹif he heora þeᵹen beon sceolde. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 354 Swa he hit macode on his life. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 27 Þe kyng..made it as þey were nouȝt wrooþ [L. dissimulato odio]. ? a 1500 Peblis to the Play viii, Quhat neidis you to maik it sua? |
† b. With adj. as complement. to make it coy, nice, proud, quaint, stout, strange, tough: to behave in a coy, proud, etc., manner (see the adjs.). to make it goodly: to give oneself airs.
| 1611 Cotgr., Faire la petite bouche, to mince, or simper it; to make it goodly. |
69. Hence intr. (the obj. it being omitted); in OE. with adv.; later with adj., in to make bold, make free, † make glad, make merry, † make nice, † make strange (see the adjs.).
| a 1000 Institutes of Polity xv. in Thorpe Laws II. 322 Riht is þæt mynecena mynsterlice macian. |
70. a. to make as if, make as though (arch. as): to behave as if; hence, to pretend that. Cf. 34 b.
| [1387: see 68.] a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 77 The prince..made as they he hadde take none hede therof. 1530 Palsgr. 655/2, I patter with the lyppes, as one dothe that maketh as though he prayed and dothe nat. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxv. 222 Make as though ye were dyspleasyd with hym. a 1553 Udall Royster D. i. ii. (Arb.) 13, I wyll make as I sawe him not. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 41 Which reproachfull speech the Emperour put up in silence, making as if hee had not heard it. 1611 Bible Josh. viii. 15 And Ioshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled. 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton xvii. (1840) 290 Thou makest as if those poor savage wretches could do mighty things. 1752 Chesterfield Lett. (1792) III. 264, I am very glad (to use a vulgar expression) that you make as if you were not well, though you really are. 1851 Longfellow Gold. Leg. iii, He..beckons, and makes as he would speak. 1889 Dict. Nat. Biog. XVII. 59/2 Edward at first intended, or made as though he intended, to [etc.] 1919 V. Woolf Night & Day iv. 53 Denham..made as if he were tearing up handfuls of grass..from the carpet. 1957 ‘M. Yourcenar’ Coup de Grace 86 With her foolish bundle she looked like a discharged servant-girl; shifting it from one arm to the other she made as if to escape. 1971 Leader (Durban) 7 May 9/2 The girls want to look like boys and the boys make as if they are girls. |
b. to make like: to pretend (to be), to behave like or as if; to imitate. colloq. (orig. U.S.). Cf. sense 73 a.
| a 1881 S. Lanier Poems (1892) 179 Then he..made like he neither had seen nor heerd. 1928 J. Peterkin Scarlet Sister Mary x. 100 Mary made like she was nearly dead. 1939 J. Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath xxiii. 396 This rich fella..makes like he's poor. 1953 P. Frankau Winged Horse iii. i. 177 Couldn't make like nice when the old boy said he knew I'd be..ready for my native land again. 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) iii. 34 The next time around she made like a big shot and started the ball rolling by handing me a big tip. 1968 W. Warwick Surf-riding in N.Z. 20/3 On a large wave it is also possible to spread your arms and legs out and make like a bird in flight. 1968 M. Woodhouse Rock Baby xxiii. 227 Well, you aren't making much noise... For a guy who was making like an avalanche an hour back. |
71. To have to do with (a person or thing); to interfere in (a matter); chiefly in collocation with meddle. dial.
| 1564 Child Marr. (1897) 123, I will neither make nor medle with her. 1661 Pepys Diary 7 Nov., Pegg Kite now hath declared she will have the beggarly rogue the weaver; and so we are resolved neither to meddle nor make with her. 1662 Livingstone in Wodrow Sel. Biog. (1845) I. 208 He thinks he will only preach against Poprie, and not make with other controversies. 1756 W. Toldervy Hist. 2 Orphans I. 146 And so, Sir, pray don't meddle nor make with the maids. 1834 Landor Exam. Shaks. Wks. 1853 II. 298/1 The business is a ticklish one: I like not overmuch to meddle and make therein. 1849 C. Brontë Shirley xxi, Moore may settle his own matters henceforward for me; I'll neither meddle nor make with them further. |
72. a. Naut. Of the flood or ebb tide († in early use pass., or perh. intr. conjugated with be): To begin to flow or ebb respectively; also, to be in progress. Hence of the tide: To flow towards the land; to rise; also, to flow in a specified direction.
| 1651 Chas. II in Hone Every-day Bk. I. 1716 Just as the tide off ebb was made. 1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4422/7 The Tide of Flood being made, and there proving little Wind, we were oblig'd to Anchor. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. xiii, The tide made to the westward. Ibid., The tide beginning to make home again. 1776 C. Carroll Jrnl. (1845) 40 About nine o'clock at night, the tide making, we weighed anchor. 1840 Marryat Poor Jack I, The flood tide made. a 1861 Clough ‘Say not the Struggle’ 11 Far back, through creeks and inlets making, Comes silent, flooding in, the main. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. v. (ed. 2) 169 When the stream makes to the Eastward at Spithead, the water falls at Southampton. 1883 Stevenson Treas. Isl. iv. xvii. (1886) 135 The ebb was now making. 1910 Belloc Verses 3 The tide is making over Arun Bar. 1956 C. Willock Death at Flight viii. 104 We shall build this into a platform..in order to give us a little extra height when the tide makes. |
b. Of ice: to form. N. Amer.
| 1784 N. Webster in E. E. Ford Notes Life N. Webster (1912) I. 88 Cold; ice makes in the river. 1817 Montreal Herald 8 Feb. 2/5 The ice having made in the bay, has added greatly to the gaiety of the place. 1888 J. McDougall George Millward McDougall 114 As soon as the snow falls and ice makes, dogs will become the means of transport for the most part. 1890 N.Y. Tribune 12 Dec. 3/3 Several good guides..will assist him in an attempt to reach Kadiak Island by crossing Alaska Peninsula before the ice makes. 1933 E. Merrick True North 11. 86 A gray day, ice making everywhere. 1971 J. McDougall Parsons on Plains iv. 31 After ice makes, the fish freeze almost as soon as you take them out of the water. |
73. Of land, landscape, etc.: † a. Naut. To have a certain form or appearance; to look like (obs.). b. U.S. and Colonial. To extend in a certain direction. (Cf. 91 n.)
| 1743 Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 151 Two Ledges of Rocks, running two Leagues out from a Point of Land which makes like an old Castle. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. xii. 260 There appears a hummock, which at first makes like an island. 1770 Sir J. Banks Jrnl. 17 May (1896) 270 At sun⁓set the land made in one bank, over which nothing could be seen. 1787 Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 136 Spurs, or ramifications of high mountains, making down from the Alps. 1808 Pike Sources Mississ. ii. (1810) 192 A copse of woods, which made down a considerable distance from the mountains. 1890 Melbourne Argus 16 June 6/1 Wherever slides are abundant, or two make from east and west. |
74. Of arguments, evidence, influences: To be effective, ‘tell’ (on one side or the other). (Cf. 25, 25 b.) Chiefly with for († to, with), against (see 76 a, 78 a, 79 a, 82 a). [Cf. L. facere cum, facere contra.]
| 1892 Sat. Rev. 2 Jan. 1/1 He had the highest opinion of..precedents—when they made in his own favour. 1893 Sketch 1 Feb. 14/1 All these things..make in favour of Mr. Gladstone. |
VII. With prepositions in specialized senses (all intransitive).
75. make after ―. To go in pursuit of, to pursue, follow. arch. (Cf. 35 b.)
| 1590 Greene Orpharion Wks. (Grosart) XII. 54 Acestes..made after the King of Lidia, as fast as his men were able to march. 1600 Abp. Abbot Exp. Jonah 177 When they were so pursued and made after by the chariots and horsemen of the Egyptians. 1688 Bunyan Heav. Footman (1886) 148 There is never a poor soul that is going to heaven, but the devil, the law, sin, death and hell makes after that soul. 1748 Anson's Voy. iii. v. 336 His people made after them, in hopes of finding out their retreat. 1856 Vaughan Mystics (1860) I. vi. viii. 261 As he flounders about, out tumbles the book; he lets go his staff, and makes after it. |
76. make against ―. a. To be unfavourable to; to militate or ‘tell’ against. (Cf. 74.)
| a 1540 Barnes Wks. (1573) 315/1 The texte maketh agaynst the Pope. 1648 Milton Observ. Art. Peace Wks. 1738 I. 355 The third Reason which they use, makes against them. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. xxviii. 65 Ocular Experience makes against this. 1713 Berkeley Hylas & Phil. iii. Wks. 1871 I. 345 That which makes equally against two contradictory opinions can be a proof against neither. 1855 Prescott Philip II, I. ii. iii. 179 He sought out whatever could make against the orthodoxy of the new prelate. 1890 Sat. Rev. 8 Feb. 165/2 Figures, if you carefully select those which make for you, and as carefully ignore those which make against you, can..be made to prove anything. |
† b. To make a hostile movement towards; to go to attack. Obs. (Cf. 35 b.)
| 1628 Hobbes Thucyd. i. (1629) 26 The Corcyræan's vnderstanding that they [the Corinthians] made against them [ὡς ἤσθοντο αὐτοὺς προσπλέοντας]. |
77. make at ―. To approach in order to or as if to attack or seize; to make a hostile movement towards. (Cf. 35 b.) Now somewhat arch.
| 1637 R. Ashley tr. Malvezzi's David Persecuted 247 There hath beene one, that seeing no other remedy, made at the soveraignty it selfe. 1671 Hatton Corr. (Camden) 61 Immediately, the cowe made at him. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 162, I was made at by an unsizable Snake. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 450 ¶1 All men..make at the same common thing, Mony. 1787 Best Angling (ed. 2) 24 When you dip for chub, roach, and dace, move your fly very slow when you see them make at it. 1858 Thoreau Maine W. ii. (1869) 153 A very small black puppy rushed into the room and made at the Governor's feet. 1867 J. B. Rose tr. Virgil's æneid 261 Volscens..with his unsheathed sword Made at Euryalus. 1889 F. A. Kemble Far Away vi. 55 He made at me with an evident intention of striking me. |
78. make for ―. a. To operate in favour of, be favourable to; to tend to the advancement or progress of; to favour, further, aid. (Cf. 74.)
| 1517 R. Torkington Pilgr. (1884) 59 The wynde made well for vs in ower way. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 1 b, Ioynynge also therto the goostly exercyse and experyence of goostly fathers, as I thought them to make moost for my purpose. 1526 Tindale Rom. xiv. 19 Let vs folowe tho thinges which make for peace. 1593 Nashe Foure Lett. Conf. Wks. (Grosart) II. 201 But, say wee should beleeue it, what doth it make for thee? 1612 Bacon Ess., Atheism (Arb.) 332 None denie there is a God, but those for whom it maketh that there were no God. 1639 N. N. tr. Du Bosq's Compl. Woman i. Pref. F iv b, Is there any thing that makes more for him, then that they upbrayd him with? 1684 T. Goddard Plato's Demon 273 How our Author augments, or diminisheth..the truth of things, as they make most convenient for his purpose. 1690 Norris Beatitudes (1694) I. 103 A Doctrin..such as makes neither for the Honour of God, nor for the Safety of Man. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 158 ¶1 Out of a firm Regard for Impartiality I print these Letters, let them make for me or not. 1754 Richardson Grandison (1781) II. xxi. 219 The behaviour makes not for your honour. 1831 T. L. Peacock Crotchet C. vii. 140 Your story makes for my side of the question. 1881 Stevenson Virg. Puerisque 24 Whatever makes for lounging and contentment, makes just so surely for domestic happiness. 1890 [see make against 76 a]. 1894 Times 25 May 9/5 The forces and conditions which make for sea power. |
b. To proceed or direct one's course towards; to go in the direction of; also, to assail, ‘go for’.
Not frequent before the 19th c.
| 1590 Marlowe Edw. II, iv. vi, I see our soules are fleeting hence; Make for a new life, man. 1633 P. Fletcher Elisa i. xli, And glorious Angels on their wings it [sc. a soul] taking,..for heaven making. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. v. 170 One of these [ships]..made directly for us. 1791 E. Inchbald Simple Story IV. xii. 151 Sandford,..without a word in reply, made for the door. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. vi, The wounded eagle is said to make for its own eyrie. 1859 H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn xxii. (1860) 169 Don't..get frightened; make for the shore. 1874 Green Short Hist. iii. §6. 145 They had hardly landed at Dover before they made straight for London. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 55 We made for home together. 1893 Chamb. Jrnl. 15 July 434/1 They will at once ‘make for’ each other's eyes. |
† c. To pretend, assert. (In quots. absol. and in indirect pass.) Obs.
| 1522 More De quat. noviss. Wks. 72/2 This medicyne thoughe thou make a sowre face at it, is not so bytter as thou makeste for. 1529 ― Dyaloge iii. Wks. 222/1 Whyther Luthers matters bee so madde as they bee made for, that shall we see hereafter. |
79. make to ―. † a. To tend or contribute to; to be favourable or conducive to; to go to support. (Cf. 74.) Obs.
| 1528 Gardiner in Pocock Rec. Ref. I. li. 124 Such reasons as seemed to make to the contrary. 1561 J. Daus tr. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573) 97 All thynges that may make to life and saluation. 1585–7 T. Rogers 39 Art. xix. (1625) 92 This maketh to the strengthning of vs against those Popish assertions of Viguerius. 1638 Rawley tr. Bacon's Life & Death (1651) 12 In every corruptible Body, Quantity maketh much to the Conservation of the whole. 1732 Neal Hist. Purit. I. 159 Making more to seemliness..or edification. |
† b. To be pertinent or applicable to. Obs.
| c 1645 Howell Lett. i. i. xxxi, That Hair is but an excrementitious thing, and makes not to this purpose. 1726 Leoni tr. Alberti's Archit. II. 84/2 Those things which are most obvious, and make more immediately to the subject in hand. |
† c. To go in the direction of, proceed towards.
| a 1568 Wyfe of Auchtermuchty 114 Then vp scho gat ane mekle rung, And the gudman maid to the dur. 1600 Disc. Gowrie Consp. in Moyses Mem. (1755) 266 The court making to their horses, as his highnesse selfe was. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. i. i, Maria, Genoas dutchesse, makes to court. 1694 Acc. Sev. Late Voy. ii. (1711) 20 When the Ice comes floating in too hard,..then the Ships make to the Harbours. 1780 Coxe Russ. Disc. 192 He cut his way through the troops..and made to the banks of the Irtish. |
make toward(s ―: see 35 b.
80. make unto ―. = make to, 79 c.
| 1570–6 W. Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 131 Since Dover is not many myles off..let us make unto it. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 5 Sick-thoughted Venus makes amaine vnto him. 1603 Drayton Heroic. Ep. xxi. 31 Unto the Ship she makes, which she discovers. |
† 81. make upon ―. = make at, 77. Obs.
| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 264 b, He made vpon these pirates, whom..he tooke and subdued. 1606 G. W[oodcocke] Hist. Ivstine ii. 8 The king vnderstanding..that they made vpon him in such speedy manner, fledde for feare. 1727 Philip Quarll (1816) 37 Seeing themselves made upon by a pirate. |
82. make with ―. † a. To side with, make common cause with. Of things: To tell in favour of. (Cf. 74.) Obs.
| 1559 Morwyng Evonym. 250 The description following maketh with me [L. mecum ferè facit]. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. vii. §3 Antiquity, custom, and consent..making with that which law doth establish, are themselves most sufficient reasons to uphold the same. 1600 Holland Livy viii. xxxiv. 306 There made with young Fabius, and tooke his part, the majestie and countenance of the Senat [L. stabat cum eo senatus maiestas]. 1608 D. T. Ess. Pol. & Mor. 19 b, It is the nature, and propertie of Passions, euen to make those thinges make with them. a 1617 Bayne Lect. (1634) 273 So farre as outward things make with salvation. |
† b. To grapple with, select as one's adversary.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 21 b, The Lorde Admirall made with the greate ship of Depe, and chased her stil. Ibid. 122 The vj shippes perceiuyng that, left their chace & made with the Barke of Sandwyche. |
† c. (See sense 71.) Obs.
d. [tr. Yiddish mach mit.] To bring into operation; to use, affect; to concern oneself with. slang (orig. U.S.).
| 1940 J. O'Hara Pal Joey 131 The poor man's Bing Crosby is still making with the throat here in Chi. 1943 Amer. Speech XVIII. 46 ‘To make with the mouth’, meaning ‘to give the bird, to give forth a Bronx cheer’. Ibid., Come, Baby, make with your hands. 1959 W. Burroughs Naked Lunch 80 A. J., surrounded and fighting against overwhelming odds, throws back his head and makes with the hog-call. 1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File xviii. 114 Dalby had changed into a red Hawaiian shirt... ‘You're making with the native costume?’ 1964 ‘C. E. Maine’ Never let Up xv. 149 Don't be a Smart Alick. Make with the alcohol. I haven't got all night. 1972 ‘H. Howard’ Nice Day for Funeral xi. 148 Make with the feet into your bathroom. 1972 D. Lees Zodiac 118 When people like Zodiac make with the dreams you have to listen. 1974 ‘A. Gilbert’ Nice Little Killing i. 6 Make with the feet, sugar... You're embarrassing Jim. Time his place closed. |
VIII. With adverbs in specialized senses.
† 83. make again. trans. To make good, repair, restore. Obs.
| c 1433 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 429 That [they]..do make ayein the grete pipe of the said conduyt in wyse as was afore. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (ed. Sommer) 149 The harnoys broken was made agayn and amended. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Reparator, one that repayreth or maketh agayne. |
84. make away. (Now superseded in the transitive senses by make away with.) † a. trans. To put (a person) out of the way, put to death; also, to put an end to (a person's life). (Cf. 33.) Obs.
Common in 16–17th c.
| 1566 Pasquine in Traunce 58 b, Saint Dominick..was treating with them for the burning of Heretiques, or how by some other deuise to make them away. 1590 Marlowe Edw. II, ii. ii, Why then weele haue him priuily made away. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 167 To make away my guiltlesse Life. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. ii. v. i. (1651) 544 Constantine Despota, made away Catharine his wife..for the love of a base Scriveners daughter. a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 415 Wicked harlots who..have made away their stolen birth. 1713 Addison Guard. No. 105 ¶4 What Multitude of Infants have been made away by those who brought them into the World. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) I. 142 They would..make him away by pistol, or poison. |
| refl. 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 4 b, Other sortes..that haue made themselues awaie by the meanes either of water, or fire, or sword. 1654 Gataker Disc. Apol. 58, I was there told by the Physician, that I must whollie forbear Preaching, unless I would wilfullie make away my self. c 1684 Roxb. Ball. (1886) VI. 621 She, for love of the Groom, fell into Despair, and in conclusion made herself away. 1698 Christ Exalted §61. 50 They would make away themselves immediately, if possible. |
† b. To destroy (a thing). Obs.
| 1566 in Peacock Eng. Ch. Furniture (1866) 66 A Mass book w{supt}{suph} all such books of papistrie ar abolished made awaie and defaced. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xi, If all were minded so, the times should cease And threescoore yeare would make the world away. 1650 Trapp Comm. Lev. xiii. 47 Instruments of idolatrie..are to bee destroied, and made awaie. |
† c. To alienate or transfer to another's possession; to dispose of, get rid of. Obs.
| 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Alienation, alienation or making away. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa Introd. 41 Their slaues which they cannot make away for a good round price, they sell vnto the butchers. a 1640 Waller On Friendship betw. Sacharissa & Amoret 16 Debters.., When they never mean to pay,..To some friend make all away. 1741 Richardson Pamela II. 21 Will you, said he, on your Honour, let me see them uncurtail'd, and not offer to make them away? 1855 Milman Lat. Christ. xiv. i. (1864) IX. 15 If usurped, or its usufruct, if not the fee, fraudulently made away, it [Church property] had in many cases widely extended itself by purchase. |
d. intr. To go away suddenly or hastily, run away; = make off, 89 d.
| 1600 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. i. i, Deare sparke of beautie, make not so fast away. 1639 Fuller Holy War v. v. (1640) 237 If there be five to one, it is interpreted wisdome not cowardlinesse, to make away from them. 1787 ‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsemen 42 His horse made away with him whilst Gimcrack was running a match. 1883 Black Yolande II. xii. 217 Then they set out for home; Duncan and the gillies making away for a sort of ford. 1891 Cornh. Mag. Jan. 108 The people..are making away as fast as they can. |
85. make away with. a. To put out of the way; = 84 a. Often euphemistic for: To kill.
| 1502 Townley in Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 164 There was a servant of yours, and a kynsman of myne, was myschevously made away with. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 55 For mony I am persuaded they [physicians] can make away with any whom they haue accesse vnto. 1628 tr. Mathieu's Powerf. Fav. 11 Tiberius had resolued to make away with Germanicus. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) I. 108 His relations pretend that he was made away with by poison. 1862 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XXIII. 242 The owl nightly makes away with more mice than the very best of cats. 1886 Stevenson Dr. Jekyll viii, He was made away with, eight days ago, when we heard him cry out upon the name of God. |
| refl. 1666–7 Pepys Diary 24 Feb., It seems she..hath endeavoured to make away with herself often. 1768 Goldsm. Good-n. Man i, These were the very words of Dick Doleful to me not a week before he made away with himself. 1856 Reade Never too Late xii, He was a lunatic, and would have made away with himself anywhere. |
b. To remove from its rightful place or ownership; to get rid of; to dissipate, squander (= 84 c); to destroy fraudulently.
| 1691 tr. Emilianne's Frauds Rom. Monks (ed. 3) 407 It will not be difficult to conceive, how the Roman Clergy can make away with these vast Revenues they are possessed of. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) I. 142 They would..make away with the effects. 1781 D. Williams tr. Voltaire's Dram. Wks. II. 132, I will make away with my castle and dowry to support the cause. 1843 Carlyle Past & Pr. ii. 1, ‘Thirteen pence sterling’, this was what the Convent got from Lackland, for all the victuals he and his had made away with. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. x. II. 572 He had burned the writs, made away with the seal [etc.]. 1873 Act 36 & 37 Vict. c. 77 §26 If any person designedly makes away with..any thing issued to him as a volunteer. 1883 K. S. Macquoid Her Sailor Love III. vii. iv. 115 It's an ugly thing to make away with a letter. 1892 Temple Bar Nov. 298 Hendrik had made away with his stepbrother's money. |
86. make down. a. Sc. to make down a bed: ‘to fold down the bed-clothes, so as to make it ready for being entered’ (Jam.).
| 1816 Scott Antiq. xxv, We'se mak ye down a bed at the lodge. a 1835 Hogg Tales & Sk. (1837) III. 199 Betty, my dear, make down the bed. |
b. colloq. To refashion so as to fit a smaller wearer.
| 1877 ‘S. Tytler’ Childhood 100 Yrs. Ago i. 19 Old clothes of their seniors carefully kept and ‘made down’ for their descendants. a 1904 Mod. The eldest girl's frocks can be made down for her sisters. |
87. make forth. † a. trans. To complete the preparation or equipment of. Sc.
| 1496 Ld. Treas. Acc. Scot. (1877) I. 261 Item, gevin be the Lard of Balgony to maik furth this coit, iij ellis of vellous. 1497 Ibid. 339 Item, giffin to Thom Barkar and Johne Lam to pas to Home, to mak furth the artailȝery there iiij lib. iiij s. |
† b. To send forth. (Cf. sense 55.) Obs.
| c 1470 Gaw. & Gol. 120, I rede ye mak furth ane man, mekar of mude. |
† c. To issue (a commission, debenture). Obs.
| 1640 tr. Verdere's Rom. Rom. III. 213 This great Monarch..made forth Commissions. 1666 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 6 His Majestie's Auditor-Generall shall make forth debentures for what is due to the petitioner. |
† d. intr. To go forward, advance, set out; (of a boat) to put out. Obs.
| 1594 Kyd Cornelia v. 241 When Wolues..Make forth amongst the flock. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, ii. iv. 5. 1601 ― Jul. C. v. i. 25. a 1610 Healey Cebes (1636) 149 As shippes doe, that having unlaided their fraught make presently forth for a new voiage. 1625 Bacon Ess., Usury (Arb.) 542 To prouide, that while we make forth, to that which is better, we meet not, with that which is worse. a 1626 ― New Atl. (1900) 2 Ther made forth to us a small Boate. |
88. make in. † a. trans. ? To carry in. (Cf. make out, 91 a.) Obs.
| a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 25 Lett it alwey be remembered to make in the Kinges doggettes..as often as it pleseth the King the prince to come or goe. |
b. intr. To go in towards a particular point; to intervene in an action; to join in a fray; † to strike in in a conversation; in Hawking (see quot. 1897).
| 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 161 Unhood your Hawke, to the end that when she espieth the Hearon she may flee hir: and if she do so, make in apace to succour hir. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xv. 492 While these made-in [Gr. ἐεισάσθην], to spoyle his armes. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. viii. 456 Small Marbrooke maketh-in, to her [sc. the Severn's] inticing Deepe. 1622 Beaum. & Fl. Sea Voy. i. i, We have discover'd the land, sir; pray let's make in! 1634 Massinger Very Woman v. iii, Make in, loggerhead; my son fights like a dragon. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. ii. lvii. (1674) 209 To the succor whereof, all the inhabitants along the River side made in. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxx, During this moment of delay, Ramorney whispered to Dwining, ‘Make in, knave, with some objection’. 1865 G. F. Berkeley Life II. 281 It is ever a gallant gentleman who thus makes in. 1891 Longm. Mag. Sept. 500 The larger galleons made in at once for Corunna. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 373 (Falconry) Make in (of the falconer), to go up to a hawk after it has killed. |
89. make off. † a. trans. To dispose of. Obs.
| a 1649 Winthrop New Eng. (1853) II. 15 He could not subsist here, and thereupon made off his estate. |
b. Whaling. (See quot.)
| 1820 Scoresby Arctic Reg. II. 304 The operation of making-off..consists of freeing the fat from all extraneous substances,..then cutting it into small pieces, and putting it in casks through the bung-holes. |
c. Farming. To fatten (lambs) for the market.
| 1851 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XII. ii. 395 Whenever farmers make off their own flock instead of selling their lamb-hogs to feeders, they choose a small breed. 1852 Ibid. XIII. i. 60 The lambs are..made off fat, early in the summer. 1868 Ibid. Ser. ii. IV. ii. 264 No store stock..is ever sold, everything being made off for the butcher. |
d. intr. To depart or leave a place suddenly, often with a disparaging implication; to hasten or run away; to decamp, ‘bolt’.
| 1709 Steele Tatler No. 85 ¶5 My Sister took this Occasion to make off. 1787 ‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsemen (1809) 29 Should your horse prove, what is properly termed too many for you, and make off. 1805 Log of H.M.S. Belleisle 21 Oct. in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (1846) VII. 164 note, Several of the Enemy's ships making off to leeward. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest xi, [He] perceived that the bull had not made off with the rest of the cattle. 1889 G. Gissing Nether World I. xii. 272 He..made off at a run. |
e. to make off with: to decamp with (something) in one's possession. Also, to make off with oneself = d.
| 1820 J. Gifford Compl. Eng. Lawyer ii. xiii. 216 Although the thief do not quite make off with them. 1856 J. H. Newman Callista xxviii. 249 He was quite easy about Agellius, who had, as he considered, successfully made off with himself. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. vii, Mr. Wegg had seen the minion surreptitiously making off with that bottle. 1890 Standard 14 Apr. 2/6 The girl had made off with her employer's money. |
90. make on. a. trans. To make (a fire). dial.
| 1634 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 110 The Lord is making on a fire in Jerusalem. 1777 Sir M. Hunter Jrnl. (1894) 26 We had got..a fire made on in our little room. 1885 Howells Silas Lapham (1891) I. 65 I'll be the death of that darkey..if he don't stop making on such a fire. 1893 Illustr. Lond. News Christm. No. 23/2 To ‘make on’ a good fire at nightfall. |
b. intr. To go forward, proceed; to hasten on.
| 1608 Yorksh. Trag. i. viii. 214 Up, up and struggle to thy horse; make on. 1622 Bacon Hen. VII 33 The Earle of Lincolne..resolued to make on where the King was, and to giue him battaile. a 1677 Barrow Serm. Wks. 1716 I. 2 He that knows his way..makes on merrily and carelessly..to his journey's end. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. iii, We made on to the southward. 1849 M. Arnold Sick King Bokhara, Send him away, Sirs, and make on. 1890 Graphic Summer No. 24/2 He made on in his headlong flight. |
91. make out. † a. trans. In various physical senses: (a) tr. L. exstruere, to build up; (b) to take or carry out (cf. make in, 88 a); (c) to send out (cf. sense 55); (d) to throw out (cards) from one's hand = lay out (lay v.1 56 k). Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Prov. xiv. 1 The wise womman bildeth vp hir hous; the vnwise the maad out [Vulg. exstructam]..shal destroȝe. a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 71 Noe yoman of this office..to bere or make oute of this office any breade but by knowledge of the brevour. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 109 He fel into the lappes of our horsemen, which were made out [L. fuerant emissi] to kepe hym from the spoyle. 1568 Grafton Chron. I. 142 The Londoners hearing of their doings, made out a certaine number of men of armes, who..put the Danes from that Tower. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 343 He..made out certaine pinnaces..for to observe what..landing places there were. 1680 Cotton Compl. Gamester viii. (ed. 2) 76 He that deals makes out the best Cards he can for his Crib, and the other the worst. |
b. To draw up (a list, a document, etc.); to make a draft of; to write out (a bill, cheque, etc.).
| 1465 Marg. Paston in P. Lett. II. 218 They have mad oute bothe warantes and supersedias. 1472–3 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 42/1 So alwey that every of the seid Writtes be made oute xx daies or more, afore the seid day of apparaunce lymyted. 1770 P. Burton Pract. Crt. Excheq. 18 The Inquiry is made out by the Clerk in Court, who pays only Two Shillings to the Master for signing, &c. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §278, I was myself forming and making out the necessary designs for..the balcony. 1801 tr. Gabrielli's Myst. Husb. I. 125 His Lordship..inquired whether he had paid the bill. ‘It is being made out, I am informed, Sir.’ 1825 New Monthly Mag. XVI. 557 The Duke had obliged the Duchess to receive Lady Denham as one of her ladies of the bedchamber; but just before her appointment was made out, she died. 1885 C. L. Pirkis Lady Lovelace I. xvi. 237 The cheque which I had made out. 1893 Law Times XCV. 34/2 The accounts generally took some three or four weeks to make out. |
c. (a) To succeed in accomplishing; to effect, achieve. Now Sc. Also absol. in certain games: To make the score prescribed by the rules as bringing the game to an end.
| 1535 Coverdale Ecclus. xxxviii. 28 He hath set his minde there vpon, that he wyll make out his worke. 1634 Massinger Very Woman iii. v, Now she is at a cold scent. Make out your doubles, Mistress. O well hunted, That's she. 1680 Cotton Compl. Gamester (ed. 2) 89 And if one and thirty be not made, then he that play'd last and is nearest one and thirty without making out, must set up one. 1706 De Foe Jure Div. i. 17 note, To implore the Gods that he might never enter that City, which they foresaw he would act the Fury in, and fill it with Blood and Slaughter, which he effectually made out. 1774 Kames Hist. Man ii. xi. II. 65 People there [in a populous city] seldom make out the usual time of life. 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inher. xxiv, I shall make out my visit to you yet. 1827 Examiner 246/1 Harley, as too frequently happens to this mercurial comedian, has to make out his own part of a roguish innkeeper as well as he is able. 1840 Carlyle Heroes v. (1858) 309 Byron, born rich and noble, made-out even less than Burns, poor and plebeian. |
(b) To manage, make shift, to do something. Also absol. to make shift, get along; to succeed, thrive; to get on (well, badly). Also to make it out.
| 1609 B. Jonson Silent Woman v. i, It is the price and estimation of your vertue only, that hath embarqu'd mee to this aduenture; and I could not but make out to tell you. 1776 A. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 180, I would not have you anxious about me. I make out better than I did. 1776 J. Adams ibid. 231 Amidst these interruptions, how shall I make out to write a letter? 1807 P. Gass Jrnl. 92 We..made out to get enough of drift wood to cook with. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. (1861) 42 She made out to accomplish her voyage in a very few months, and came to anchor at the mouth of the Hudson. 1820 ― in Life & Lett. (1864) II. 30, I wish you would..let me know..how you and Murray make out together. 1851 Hawthorne in N. Hawthorne & Wife (1885) I. 396 To whom is Dora married, and how is she making out? 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. xxi, I am rather bare here, but I hope you'll be able to make out tolerably well till Monday. 1861 W. Collins Tom Tiddler's Ground iv, in All Year Round Extra Christmas No., 12 Dec. 22/1 They were artisans and farm-labourers who couldn't make it out in the old country. 1891 Harper's Mag. Mar. 574/1, ‘I don't believe you will be satisfied in heaven; you will find it too monotonous’. ‘Oh, I shall make out, I'm sure’. 1894 Outing (U. S.) XXIV. 253/2, I have made out to sleep with tolerable comfort in a cave. 1916 ‘Boyd Cable’ Action Front 7, I took a fancy to seein' how the engines made out under war conditions. 1931 W. G. McAdoo Crowded Yrs. v. 55 Without my wife's..help I could not have made out at all. 1932 Wodehouse Hot Water x. 170 ‘How did you make out?’ ‘Oke. I'm in the Château.’ 1935 M. M. Atwater Murder in Midsummer vii. 64 Uncle Will can go to hell; we'll make out somehow. 1939 D. Parker Here Lies 116 With that big yard and all, I think we'll make out all right. 1942 J. Dill in W. S. Churchill Second World War (1951) IV. ii. xxv. 397 Leaving us with limited American assistance to make out as best we can against Germany. 1951 E. Paul Springtime in Paris ii. 37 We made out all right, with a hare paté, onion soup, a rare sirloin steak.., a slice of Port Salut, [etc.]. 1959 Observer 17 May 1/1 Whitsun seemed a good occasion to learn how Shakespeare and tourism were making out. 1965 Listener 16 Sept. 433/3 Sibelius might not have made out very well as an opera composer had he chosen to do so. 1966 Bereiter & Engelmann Teaching Disadvantaged Children i. 2 How do you think they'll make out there? |
(c) spec. To gain sexual satisfaction; to have sexual intercourse (with). slang (orig. U.S.). Cf. making vbl. n.1 10 b.
| 1939 I. Baird Waste Heritage vii. 99 Oh, say, how'd you make out with Hazel? 1961 Times 27 Apr. 17/2 The detailed accounts of how he ‘made out’ sexually and emotionally with some sixteen different girls. 1962 Amer. Speech XXXVII. 39 When I was young, if one ‘made out’, his accomplishment was a good deal more total than was implied by either to neck or to pet, or both. |
d. † To compensate (a lack, defect, disadvantage); to supply (what is wanting); to supply the deficiencies of, to eke out. Obs. Also intr. (? rare) to make up, compensate for.
| 1629 Earle Microcosm., Insolent Man (Arb.) 85 Such men are of no merit at all: but make out in pride what they want in worth. 1642 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. (1896) 19 Our wills must be our performances, and our intents make out our Actions. 1649 Milton Eikon. xxiv. 196 One mans defects cannot be made out..by another mans abilities. 1665 Dryden Ind. Emp. iv. i. (1668) 39 Make out the rest,—I am disorder'd so I know not farther what to say or do:—But answer me to what you think I meant. 1699 T. Brown in R. L'Estrange Erasm. Colloq. 42 And if such a Disaster happen'd to him, he did not fail to make it out one way or other at Home. 1700 Tyrrell Hist. Eng. II. 847 When the Lyon's Skin alone would not serve turn, he knew how to make it out with that of the Fox. 1709–10 Steele Tatler No. 128 ¶5 What I want in Length, I make out in Breadth. 1801 tr. Gabrielli's Myst. Husb. III. 104 [She] only lamented she had not something better to offer them, but promised to make it out at dinner. 1850 L. Hunt in Tait's Mag. XVII. 570/2 Conscious of not having all the strength he wished, he endeavoured to make out for it by violence and pretension. 1891 Leeds Merc. 3 Oct. 3/7 [They] are becoming listless and indifferent, supposing that someone will make out for them. |
† e. Of an item in a series: To complete (a certain total); also, of several items, to amount collectively to. Obs.
| 1535 Coverdale Ezek. i. 2 The fifth daye off the Moneth made out the fyfth yeare off kynge Ioachims captiuyte. 1571–2 Reg. Privy Council Scot. Ser. i. II. 112 The sowme of fyve hundrith and fifty merkis, with the thrid of the provestrie of Methven, makand out in the haill V{supm} merkis. |
f. To make complete; to get together with difficulty or by degrees.
| 1791 Burke App. Whigs Wks. VI. 48 They..must make out a scanty subsistence with the labour of their hands. 1828–32 Webster s.v., He promised to pay, but was not able to make out the money or the whole sum. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. xxxvii, He by little and little made out this elegant and beautiful property. 1879 M. Pattison Milton xii. 162 Adding to them, with a view to make out a volume, his college exercises. |
g. To fill up or while away (the time) with some occupation. ? Obs.
| 1809 Malkin Gil Blas iii. vi. ¶1 To make the most of the precious moments, and..to make out the time agreeably. 1813 Jane Austen Lett. (1884) II. 196 We were obliged to saunter about anywhere..to make out the time. 1849 Alb. Smith Pottleton Leg. (repr.) 76 To doze, or otherwise make out the time, until the first train went back. |
h. To represent or delineate clearly or in detail; now only in Art. † Also of things: To form the figure of (obs.).
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iii. xxiv. 170 Hippopotamus..so little resembleth an horse, that..in all, except the feet, it better makes out a swine. 1647 J. Saltmarsh Spark. Glory (1847) 127 God..would make out himself in an image in this Creation. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 117 It may be objected, That a wheel of manifold rims whirl'd upon its axletree, would make out uneven bows of circles. 1784 J. Barry in Lect. Paint. v. (1848) 179 All the parts of objects exposed to the light..appear more made out and determined, than the parts in shadow. 1825 New Monthly Mag. XV. 534 Its dumb show is very eloquent and impressive; its story is fully made out to the eye. 1862 Thornbury Turner I. 199 The foliage of the ash-trees in the foreground is not at all made out, but is washed in..with hardly any details. 1875 Tyrwhitt Handbk. Pict. Art (ed. 2) 194 Proceed to make out the two distant hills by putting in quick triangular..touches. Ibid., That want is expressed by the words ‘making out’. That is to say, you want additional facts, principally of form. |
i. To establish by evidence, argument, or investigation; to demonstrate, prove. Also colloq. esp. in how do you make that out? = By what process do you arrive at that conclusion? Also with clause as obj.
| 1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriot. i. ¶5 If it could be made out that Adam was buried near Damascus. 1660 tr. Amyraldus' Treat. conc. Relig. ii. iii. 197 They are..at a loss..to make out whence they learn't that God is powerful. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. iv. §13 What they only touch at, we shall endeavour to make out more at large. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 29 That all Vegetables have a constant perspiration, the continual dispersion of their odour makes out. 1794 Paley Evid. ii. vi. §36 (1817) 165 That in truth it was so, is made out by a variety of examples which the writings of Josephus furnish. 1803 Pic Nic No. 4 (1806) I. 144 How do these gentlemen make out their case? 1883 Law Rep. 11 Q. Bench Div. 597 A subordinate judge is liable to an action for slander, if malice is clearly made out. 1887 L. Carroll Game of Logic iv. 93 ‘That lets me into a little fact about you, you know!’ ‘Why, how do you make that out? You never heard me play the organ?’ 1892 Sat. Rev. 8 Oct. 419/2 It would be easy to make out a strong case for the contention. |
j. To claim to have proved, or to try to prove (something to be true); to make to appear, to represent, pretend. With clause as obj., or with obj. and complement, or inf.
| 1658–9 Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 43 There is a Petition in some person's hands touching this business. They make it out that their right was in the time of Henry VI. 1832 Examiner 17/2 What, Sir, would you make me out a Radical? 1855 Prescott Philip II, iv. (1857) 65 Making him out..as much of an Englishman as possible. 1861 Mrs. H. Wood East Lynne iii. xiii, It seems they want to make out now that Dick never murdered Hallijohn. 1872 Butler Erewhon viii. 68, I certainly did not make myself out to be any better than I was. 1873 Black Pr. Thule xi. 177 She is not nearly so soft as she tries to make out. 1891 Spectator 30 May, Mr. Hutton was certainly careless as to figures, though not so careless as Dr. Abbott makes out. 1902 A. E. W. Mason Four Feathers xiv. 133, ‘I was not thinking of that’, Ethne exclaimed, ‘when I asked why we must wait. That makes me out most selfish’. |
k. To find out the meaning of; to discover the drift of; to arrive at an understanding of; to interpret for oneself; to decipher, succeed in reading; † to understand or ‘take’ (an author) in a particular way (obs.); to understand the behaviour of (a person). Also (with clause or obj. and inf.), to discover, find out.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vi. i. 277 By this Chronology are many Greeke authors to be understood; and thus is Martinus Crusius to be made out, when [etc.]. 1688 Boyle Final Causes Nat. Things iv. 141 To suppose Him to have made such things for a particular end, which we cannot make out to be in any considerable measure worthy of his wisdom. 1709 Felton Dissert. Classicks (1718) 145 Your Antiquaries make out the most ancient Medals from a letter and some Pieces of Letters,..with great Difficulty to be discerned upon the Face or Reverse. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. iv. (Globe) 669/1, I would not lose the rest of it [sc. a letter] for a guinea. Here, mother, do you make it out. 1794 ‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsemen xvii. (1809) 135 His shouts (which, from what I can make out from the Girl's imitations of them, much resembled the war-hoops of the Indians). 1859 Jephson Brittany iii. 35 He could not make out what the police wanted. 1863 Bagehot Biog. Stud. 208 To those who had an opportunity of accurately observing Sir George Lewis there was no difficulty in making him out. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. vi. 528 As far as it is possible to make out anything from the tangled mazes of history and legend. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 193, I made out, as I thought, that he was a stranger with whom you were talking. 1883 Sir N. Lindley in Law Times Rep. (1884) XLIX. 727/1 They are clearly inviting the public to come and buy, both wholesale and retail, as far as I can make out. |
l. To discern or discover visually; to succeed in perceiving or identifying (something not easily visible). Also with clause as obj., and with obj. and inf. or complement. (Cf. 22.)
| 1754 Richardson Grandison (1776) VI. 193, I always think when I see those badgerly virgins fond of a parrot,..or a lap dog, that their imagination makes out husband and children in their animals. 1805 E. Berry 13 Oct. in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (1846) VII. 117 note, The ship that bore down to us I soon made out to be a Three-decker. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest xi, At last he thought that he could make out a human figure lying at the bottom [of the pit]. 1872 Black Adv. Phaeton xxx. 406 Minute dots that you can make out to be sheep. 1889 Doyle Micah Clarke xxxi. 325 By the aid of a glass I was able to make out their lines and camp. 1891 Temple Bar Dec. 581 In the darkness he made out a shed by the path. |
m. intr. To go, start, or sally forth; to get away, to escape. ? Now only dial.
| 1558 T. Phaer æneid iv. (1573) L ij b, Set sailes aloft, make out with ores, in ships, in boates, in frames. c 1583 Hayes in Hakluyt's Voy. (1589) 692 Making out from this danger, we sownded one while seuen fathome, then fiue fathome, then [etc.]... At last we recouered..in some despaire, to sea roome enough. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. ii. v. 65 Seauen of my people with an obedient start, make out for him. a 1632 T. Taylor God's Judgem. i. ii. xviii. (1642) 240 The Lion made out for his prey. a 1703 Burkitt On N.T., Luke ii. 20 A gracious soul no sooner hears where Christ is, but instantly makes out after him. 1847 L. Hunt Men, Women, & B. I. ix. 153 Poor Abbott..rushes forth for the second time, and makes out as fast as he can for a third coffee-house. 1884 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Melb. Memories xxii. 157 The ruder portion of the herd ‘made out’ that way. |
n. To extend in a particular direction or for a specified distance. (Cf. 73 b.) rare.
| 1743 Pococke Descr. of East I. 25 From the north end..the foot of the hill makes out to the river. 1860 Merc. Marine Mag. VII. 198 At the N. W. end of San Nicolas heavy breakers make out 2½ miles. |
92. make over. a. trans. To hand over (properly, by a formal agreement); to transfer the possession of (a thing) from oneself to another.
| 1546 O. Johnson in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. II. 178 When she doeth intend to occupie her monney she will lett me knowe for to write to Robert Androwe to make it over. 1651 Baxter Inf. Bapt. 13 The mercies that Christ hath purchased for their Children, and made over to them. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 270 Being persuaded to make it [a fortune] over to his son. 1879 M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. xxi. 206 He made over the whole free kingdom of England to the Pope. 1883 Black Yolande III. xiii. 249 It is all settled now, and the land made over to its rightful possessor. 1893 W. Forbes-Mitchell Remin. Gt. Mutiny 180 My prisoner had no sooner been made over to me than [etc.]. |
† b. spec. ‘To settle in the hands of trustees’ (J.); also absol. Obs.
| 1650 May Old Couple iv. (1658) 33 All your widowes of Aldermen, that marry Lords, of late, Make over their estates, and by that meanes, Retaine a power to curbe their lordly husbands. 1678 Butler Hud. iii. i. 670 And Widows, who have try'd one Lover, Trust none again, 'till th'have made over. Ibid. 1193. |
† c. To remove from one place to another. Obs.
| 1713 Addison Guard. No. 121 ¶5 My waist..is reduced to the depth of four inches by what I have already made over to my neck. |
d. To remake, refashion.
| 1698 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. ii. (1703) 59 Age and youth can never be made over or adjusted. Nothing but time can take away years or give them. 1883 Howells Woman's Reason xii. II. 4 She made over all her bonnets and dresses. 1884 Lowell Democr., etc. (1887) 26 We have taken from Europe..the most turbulent of her people, and have made them over into good citizens. 1899 R. W. Trine In Tune with the Infinite (1903) 50 That the entire human structure can be completely changed, made over, within a period of less than one year. 1903 H. James Ambassadors viii. 111 The new quantity was represented by the fact that Chad had been made over. 1928 R. Macaulay Keeping Up Appearances ix. 94 Feeling..in need of restoration, she..had a small port. That's better, she agreed with herself..makes you feel quite made over. 1936 ‘J. Tey’ Shilling for Candles xvi. 180 She..never recognized Chris... She'd heard that they made you over in Hollywood. Perhaps that was it. 1958 Technology Jan. 375/4 Had we better do what we can to ‘make over’ the traditional grammar school for an age of scientific industry? 1972 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 8 Sept. 26/1 A sewing machine stands on a table with a limp-looking dress, in the process of being ‘made over’, hanging on a nearby chair. |
† e. intr. = come over (come 70 a). Obs.
| 1488 Paston Lett. III. 344 And they had nott seylyd not paste vj. leges butt they aspied a Frencheman, and the Frencheman mad over to them. |
† 93. make through. intr. To go through. Obs.
| 1606 Marston Sophonisba ii. ii. Wks. 1856 I. 172 Then amaine Make through to Scipio; he yields safe abodes. 1628 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 42, I doubt not but that, if hell were betwixt you and Christ, as a river which ye behoved to cross ere you could come at Him, but ye would willingly put in your foot and make through to be at Him. 1825–80 Jamieson, To Mak throw wi', to finish, to come to a conclusion, after surmounting all difficulties; as, ‘He maid throw wi' his sermon after an unco pingle’. |
† 94. make to. intr. To set to work. Sc. Obs.
| 1563 Winȝet Wks. (1890) II. 4 Quhilkis being done..makis he to without delay. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. xii. 91 First on the feildis mak schortly to. 1572 Ibid. xxxi. 12 How sone I vnderstude the cace, I maid me to frahand. a 1662 R. Baillie Lett. (1775) II. 36 (Jam.) Sundry other shires are making to. |
† 95. make together. trans. To compound.
| 1535 Coverdale Ecclus. xlix. 1 Whan the Apotecary maketh many precious swete smellynge thinges together. |
96. make up. † a. trans. To build, erect (a tower, city, etc.). Obs.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 275 Argus made vp a mekyll ship. c 1400 Rom. Rose 7060 And he couthe thurgh his sleight Do maken up a tour of height. c 1450 Merlin 39 Than comaunded Vortiger the werkemen to make vp the toure the strengest that myght be devised. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xvi. 63 He fonde eneas..all ocupyed for to make vp the cytee of cartage. |
† b. To build up (a bank, etc.) again where it has fallen away; to repair (an earthwork, fence, etc.) by filling up gaps. Obs.
| 1468 Peebles Charters etc. (1872) 158 Mychell of Forest sall mak wp hys syd dyk fra his bern to the yet wythin viij dayis. 1553 Wriothesley Chron. (Camden) II. 102 The worke..was begun to be made up agayn with breke. 1576 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford 385 By the default of the..Cytie in not meakinge up the..bancks. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. I. xix. 22 b, That whiche was beaten downe..the assieged made vp againe. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 863 The Christians in the meane time made up their breaches with earth, [etc.] 1611 Bible Ezek. xiii. 5 Yee haue not gone vp into the gaps, neither made vp the hedge for the house of Israel. |
c. To supply (deficiencies); to make complete.
(a) To fill up what is wanting to; to supply the deficiencies of; to complete (a given number, quantity, period, etc.). † Also pass. to be made up, to be completed in form or growth.
| a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. ii. (Arb.) 138 Now to know, what Author doth medle onelie with some one..member of eloquence, and who doth perfitelie make vp the whole bodie. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. xiv. §2 Before the full and complete measure of things necessarie be made vp. Ibid. ii. viii. §5 Whatsoeuer to make vp the doctrine of mans saluation is added, as in supply of the scriptures vnsufficiencie, we reiect it. 1579 Beard Theatre God's Judgem. (1612) 490 [He] passing that night in great distresse, the next day made vp his wicked and miserable end. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. i. 21 Sent before my time Into this breathing World, scarse halfe made vp. 1611 ― Cymb. iv. ii. 109 Being scarse made vp, I meane to man. 1612 Bacon Ess., Beauty (Arb.) 212 For no youth can be comely, but by pardon, and considering the youth, as to make vp the comlinesse. 1629 Milton Hymn Nativ. xiii, And with your ninefold harmony Make up full consort to th' Angelike symphony. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 137 Lastly, I will make up the Decade with a meaner person,..Elizabeth Folks. 1651 Life Father Sarpi (1676) 28 Not only from being verst, but consummate, and made up in all sorts of Learning. 1656 Cowley Davideis i. Note 14 There are some Places in him [Virgil], which I dare almost swear have been made up..by the putid Officiousness of some Grammarians. 1793 Regal Rambler 47 Paper is thrown in to make up the weight. 1879 ‘Cavendish’ Card Essays, etc. 189 When people are asked to make up a rubber. 1888 J. Payn Myst. Mirbridge I. v. 84 He will make up our game of lawn tennis..three is always an awkward number. 1892 Monthly Packet May 575 They..decided to sell the cow in order to make up the rent. 1894 R. Bridges Feast of Bacchus i. 234 'Twill make our numbers up. |
(b) † To bring up to (a given number, expressed by numeral compl.) (obs.). Also, to raise (a sum) to a larger sum.
| 1629 J. Cole Of Death 195 His deceased children were alive still in heaven; and the ten more given him here, made them up twenty. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. vi. 124 At first, I distributed linen sufficient to make every one of them four shirts; and, at the Spaniard's request, afterwards made them up six. 1890 Illustr. Lond. News 28 June 814/3 He makes up the income of his wife..to {pstlg}2000 per annum. |
(c) To make good, to compensate for (something that is wanting); to supply (a deficiency). Phrases, to make up (lost) ground, leeway.
| 1538 Elyot Dict., Suppleo..To make vp that whiche lacketh. 1660 N. Ingelo Bentiv. & Ur. i. (1682) 27 This he performed with such accurate Skill, that it made up whatsoever he wanted of Force. 1688 Burnet Lett. Pres. St. Italy 122 The Clergy..had neither learning nor vertue but made up all Defects by a slavish Obsequiousness. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 127 ¶2 What they have lost in Height they make up in Breadth. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. iv, What the conversation wanted in wit was made up in laughter. 1812 L. M. Hawkins C'tess & Gertr. IV. lxviii. 25 [The Almighty] never forgets us; it's all made up to us one time or the other. 1837 Ord. & Reg. Harvard Univ. 10 Recitations omitted may be made up with the assent of the Instructer, at any time within the term, in which they occur. 1862 Temple Bar VI. 397 Should the confessor order him to make up the injury done to the treasury? 1882 Edna Lyall Donovan xlii, He had large arrears of sleep to make up. 1890 Sat. Rev. 31 May 668/2 After getting a very indifferent start, she made up ground at the Bushes. 1890 Illustr. Sport. & Dram. News 10 May 279/2 The huntsman..is now rapidly making up lost ground. |
(d) intr. To compensate for, atone for.
| 1711 Steele Spect. No. 33 ¶1 Daphne..found her self obliged to acquire some Accomplishments to make up for the want of those Attractions. 1774 Foote Cozeners iii. ii. (1778) 70 You may renew hostilities and make up for lost time, as soon as you are out of the house. 1856 J. H. Newman Callista (1885) 274 If we have been wanting in due consideration for him, we now trust to make up for it. 1859 Jephson Brittany ii. 16 A lovely view made up to me for the sights and smells. 1879 Dowden Southey v. 132 Southey made up in weight for what was wanting in measure. 1889 Mrs. E. Kennard Landing a Prize I. xi. 191 She does not attempt to make up for lost ground. |
d. trans. To fill up (an opening or gap); to stop up (a hole or passage); to shut or fasten up (a door, a house). Now chiefly dial.
| 1582 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford 435 Nayles and woorkmanshippe to make uppe the hole in the walle. 1603 B. Jonson Sejanus i. ii, We must make up our eares 'gainst these assaults Of charming tongues. 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1687) 12/2 Some say that the old channel was quite made up. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. iv, I made up the entrance, which till now I had left open. 1841 Trench Parables (1893) 334 The house is made up for the night, barred and bolted. 1886 Chesh. Gloss., Make up..(3) to repair, to close up. ‘You mun mak yon gap up’. 1886 S. W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., ‘The silt soon maks up the pipes’. 1889 N. W. Linc. Gloss., Make up. (1) To fasten up. To shut up. 1891 Law Times XC. 395/1 The hind proceeded to make up the gap by placing wooden rails on the side next the glebe land. |
e. † To close up (a letter); to wrap up (an article); to put together (a parcel) of goods.
| 1626 Massinger Rom. Actor iv. i, I brib'd the boy that did conuey the letter, And, hauing perus'd it, made it vp againe. 1709 Brit. Apollo II. No. 70. 3/2 [Paper] to make up Soap in. 1823 Examiner 802/2, I was making up a parcel. 1832 Ibid. 617/1 Mails will be made up at the Post-office for..Lisbon every Tuesday. 1889 Stevenson Master of B. x. 277 Making up his portmanteau for a voyage. |
f. To put together, construct, compound.
(a) To put together a substance or material into a particular form: the obj. being either the word denoting the substance or that denoting the form.
| 1530 Palsgr. 632/1 Nowe that I have made up my cockes I wyll carye in as fast as I can. 1727 Arbuthnot Tables Anc. Coins etc. 304 A Catapotium is a Medicine that is..most commonly made up in Pills. 1852 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XIII. i. 40 If proper care is taken in ‘making up’ the butter formed from cream slightly acescent. 1859 Ibid. XX. i. 45 The hay is sometimes made up into bundles. 1861 Temple Bar III. 250 Some curious tricks of the trade are practised in making up false hair. Ibid. 254 The best coiffeurs..having a secret of making up a lady's head to last for three months. |
(b) To make (a garment, etc.) by fitting and sewing pieces of material cut out for the purpose; also, to fit together (pieces of material) to form a garment, etc.; to make (cloth) into clothing.
| 1672 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 295 For making up y⊇ Sarcenet Curtain. 1672 Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal iii. i. (Arb.) 69 [A tailor says] If I can't make up all the work I cut out, I shan't want Journey⁓men to help me. 1709 Lond. Gaz. No. 4577/4 A wrought Gown stitch'd upon East-India Dimety,..not..made up. 1789 Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France I. 184 A skeleton wire upon the head, such as we use to make up hats. 1789 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Expost. Odes xi, Like mercers had variety of stuff For such whose turn it was to be made up. 1855 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 268 Took the black silk..to Catchpool..that it might be made up. 1863 Earl Lytton Ring of Amasis vii. (1890) 135 Mother was making up some bandages for his hand. 1879 M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. xxx. 301 They pay twenty-five times as much for making up the dress as the cloth cost at first. |
(c) quasi-pass. To admit of being made up.
| 1861 Mrs. H. Wood East Lynne ii. vii, Her striped silk, turned, will make up as handsome as ever. 1892 Sat. Rev. 10 Dec. 682/1 It is a modest, unobtrusive stone, and makes up so well with diamonds, that [etc.]. |
(d) trans. To compound (a substance, medicine, etc.) of different ingredients; to mix (dough).
| 1649 Culpepper (title) Physical Directory; a Translation of the Dispensatory..imposed upon all the Apothecaries of England to make up their Medicines by. 1699 Evelyn Acetaria 18 Omlets, made up with Cream. 1718 Freethinker No. 97 ¶8, I make up my own Medicines. 1824 Examiner 10/1 [She] is in the habit of making up medicines for the poor. 1829 Ibid. 589/2 The prescription was made up by Mr. Snow's assistant. 1844 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. V. i. 3 A description of flour called ‘cowens,’ used by the bakers for making up their dough. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xiii. 115 Rachel now took down a snowy moulding-board, and..proceeded quietly to make up some biscuits. 1883 Howells Woman's Reason xi. I. 216 I'll give you a tonic. Make you up a bottle and send it to you. |
(e) To get together, collect (a company, a sum of money); to furnish by contributions from different sources.
| 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, ii. i. 40 Make up no factious numbers for the matter. 1654 tr. Scudery's Curia Pol. 106 To imbezell the treasure of the State, and so make up Bankes for private uses. 1691 Locke Consid. Lower. Interest (1692) 92 How will the Farmer be able to make up his Rent at Quarter Day? c 1718 Prior Ladle 158 The miser must make up his plum. 1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 435/1 Nor was this an expensive company made up for the new house; for all, or nearly, all of the performers..had belonged to the old one. 1846 C. St. John Wild Sports Highl. 27 It requires quick shooting and good walking to make up a handsome bag. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xv. III. 547 To contribute of their substance in order to make up a purse for Jeffreys. 1880 Goldw. Smith Cowper ii. 22 His relations..combined to make up a little income for him. 1887 Baring-Gould Gaverocks II. xxv. 59 We used to make up parties to read plays, each taking a part. |
(f) Printing. To arrange into columns or pages.
| 1771 Luckombe Printing 380 Having made up the Head of the first page, we cut it off by a rule. Ibid., The first page being made up to the length of the number of lines of which it is to consist. 1896 T. L. De Vinne Moxon's Mech. Exerc., Printing 421 The compositor was required to make up his page as soon as it was composed. |
(g) To put (coaches, etc.) together to form a train; also, to put (a train) together.
| 1864 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XXV. ii. 372 The waggons..were made up into trains. 1889 Scribner's Mag. May 581/2 The train once made ‘up’,..its progress..is comparatively simple. |
(h) † Formerly, to lay and light (a fire). Now, to add fuel to (a fire already burning) so as to keep it at a proper ‘height’.
| 1785 Mrs. Fletcher in Wesley's Serm. lvii. Wks. (1827) IX. 28 The servant came in to make up the fire. 1801 C. Smith Lett. Solit. Wand. I. 93 The usual hour of bringing candles, and making up the fire, was certainly past. Ibid. II. 168 The daughter of the poor man under whose roof she was made up a fire in the wretched room assigned to her. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. liii, I made up the fire which was still burning. 1889 Mrs. Oliphant Poor Gentleman II. x. 172, ‘I might at least find a decent fire.’ ‘I'll make it up in a moment, Edward. A little wood will make it all right’. |
g. To compose, compile.
(a) To put together in due form; to compile, draw up (a list, document, etc.).
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 291 (340) And day is set, the chartres up to make. 1552 Huloet, Make vp, scribo. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. i. 75 He makes vp the File Of all the Gentry. 1662 J. Graunt Bills of Mortality 11 On Wednesday the general Accompt is made up, and Printed. 1885 Act 48 Vict. c. 16. §6 Every future valuation roll to be made up in any county. 1891 Sat. Rev. 8 Aug. 163/1 The averages of the season, made up to Saturday last. |
(b) To compose (a book, sermon). Obs. or dial.
| 1630 Ussher Lett. (1686) 434 The History of Gotteschalcus,..which I am now a making up. 1825–80 Jamieson, To mak up..4. To compose; as, ‘The minister's thrang makin' up his sermon.’ |
(c) To concoct, invent, fabricate (a story, lie). Also, to compose (verses, etc.) impromptu; to improvise.
| 1825–80 in Jamieson. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest xiv, Well, the story was not badly made up. 1879 M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. iv. 28 People began to make up a history of the Britons. 1889 Mrs. H. L. Cameron Lost Wife II. iv. 47 One can easily make up some plausible reason. 1891 Mrs. S. Edwards Secr. Princess II. i. 2 He sang his verses as he made them up. 1891 Strand Mag. II. 502/2 Make it up out of your head. 1893 R. Kipling Many Invent. 98, I made up a whole lot of new things to go into the story. |
h. Said of component parts. (a) Of quantities, individuals: To form (a certain sum or total) either by themselves or with others. Now rare.
| 1504 in Bury Wills (Camden) 96 As mych lond more as shall makuppe the valo{supr} of xj marc̃ by yeer w{supt} the seid londes in Watton. 1542–3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 5. §12 As muche of the two partes residue, as shall accomplishe and make vp a full thirde parte. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 207 That you three fooles, lackt mee foole, to make vp the messe. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. ii. Wks. 1856 I. 27, I have nineteene mistresses alreadie, and I not much disdeigne that thou shold'st make up the ful score. 1641 Brome Jov. Crew i. Wks. 1873 III. 358 Cash; which added Unto your former Banck, makes up in all..Twelve thousand and odd pounds. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. i. v §2 Reckoning three Generations to make up a century. 1748 Richardson Clarissa III. 321 These four [gentlemen], with Mrs. Sinclair, Miss Partington,..Mr. Lovelace, and myself, made up the company. 1860 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XXI. ii. 450 The sums..do not quite make up 100. |
(b) To form the components of; to constitute, compose; to contribute to the formation of; to go to form or produce. Freq. in passive to be made up (of certain parts).
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. i. 48 Old cakes of Roses Were thinly scattered, to make vp a shew. 1593 ― 3 Hen. VI, i. iv. 25 The Sands are numbred, that makes vp my Life. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 2 Men and manners, which make up a Librarie to themselves. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 63 The River..is pleasant and large, and helps to make up a good haven. 1688 Burnet Lett. Pres. St. Italy 129, I have writ you a very loose sort of a Letter, all made up of digressions. 1693 Dryden Disc. Satire Ess. (ed. Ker) II. 45 Satyrus, that mixed kind of animal,..made up betwixt a man and a goat. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 152 ¶3 These are the People who make up the Gross of the Soldiery. 1711 Swift Let. conc. Sacram. Test Misc. 335 The Parties among us are made up on one side of Moderate Whigs, and on the other, of Presbyterians. 1712 Berkeley Pass. Obed. Wks. III. 107 An audience almost wholly made up of young persons. 1713 Addison Cato iv. iii. 48 He was all made up of Love and Charms. 1834 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (1837) I. xxi. 316 Soul and body make up one man. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 131 The few members who made up what was contemptuously called the Rump of the House of Commons. 1861 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 81 Ramsgate..is made up of narrow, steep, confused streets. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. App. 756 The force was made up of men of all nations. 1889 K. S. Macquoid Roger Ferron I. 122 Life is made up of tiny trifles. 1890 Temple Bar Feb. 168 All in short that goes to make up..an Englishman's ideal of felicity. |
i. To prepare. † (a) To attire (a person) suitably for receiving guests, etc. Obs.
| 1602 Dekker Satirom. K 4 b, Wat Terrill, th'art ill suited, ill made vp, In Sable collours. 1633 B. Jonson Tale of Tub i. iv, The bravest, richest, and the properest, man A Taylor could make up. 1634 Massinger Very Woman i. i, Ped. 'Morrow sister, Do I not come unseasonably? Al. Why good brother? Ped. Because you are not yet fully made up, Nor fit for visitation. |
(b) (esp. Theatr.) To prepare (an actor) for the impersonation of a character by dressing him in an appropriate costume and disguising his features by means of false hair, cosmetics, etc. Of a woman: to apply cosmetics to (one's face). Chiefly refl. and pass.
| 1808 Monthly Pantheon I. 346/1 Yes, she produces a good effect!—she's well made up! 1809 Malkin Gil Blas iii. ix. ¶2, I made myself up,..with the barber's aid, as a sort of middle man between Don Cæsar and Gil Blas. Ibid. iv. vii. ¶5 Just as he had done making himself up [said of an old beau at his toilette]. a 1817 Jane Austen Persuasion (1818) IV. x. 222 Morning visits are never fair by women at her time of life, who make themselves up so little. If she would only wear rouge. 1844 Puck 30 (Farmer) My young ambition sadly I resign,—My mind and face made up for first old men. 1859 Lang Wand. India 362 The General was very old, close upon eighty; but he was ‘made up’ to represent a gentleman of about forty. 1862 Temple Bar VI. 339 His face is marvellously ‘made up’. 1891 New Rev. Aug. 176 They have no teeth; they have skins that would make a lemon look white;..But the maid makes them up; and people say how handsome they are. 1926 Galsworthy Silver Spoon iii. vi. 258 Marjorie Ferrar stepped into the Box, not exactly nervous, and only just ‘made-up’. 1930 V. Sackville-West Edwardians i. 15 She was heavily but badly made-up, with a triangle of red on either cheek. 1945 S. Lewis Cass Timberlane (1946) xlvii. 333 Small white wool socks..to be worn with bare legs that were made-up to look tanned. 1968 A. Munro in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories 2nd Ser. 295 The women's faces in the room, made up some time before, have begun to show the effects of heat. |
(c) intr. for refl.
| 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xxv, Mr. Crummles..had..‘made up’ for the part by arraying himself in a theatrical wig [etc.]. 1862 Temple Bar VI. 340 Mr. Sothern ‘makes up’ so very darkly as to appear almost Jewish. 1879 Sala Paris herself again (ed. 4) II. ii. 28 He had ‘made up’ for the part of a distressed poet. 1890 Sat. Rev. 22 Nov. 591/2 When she went off with Paris, he had by magic arts made up as Menelaus, and she thought he was her husband. 1901 C. Morris Life on Stage v. 26 Of course when you are making up for a character part you go by a different rule. 1931 Daily Tel. 21 May 13/3 She came to a car in which one girl was smoking a cigarette and two others were busily ‘making up’. |
(d) To arrange (the features) so as to produce a particular expression. to make up one's mouth: see mouth n. Now U.S.
| 1641 Brome Joviall Crew iv. i, Make up your face quickly. [The person addressed has been weeping.] Here comes one of the Servants, I suppose. 1828–32 Webster s.v., To assume a particular form of features; as, to make up a face; whence, to make up a lip, is to pout. |
(e) To get (a horse, etc.) into good condition for selling; to fatten. Also intr. for pass. (Cf. make off, 89 c.)
| 1794 Sporting Mag. IV. 208 He thoroughly understands (what is termed by dealers) making up a horse. 1842 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. III. ii. 217 All the lambs being made up for the butcher. 1857 Ibid. XVIII. i. 19 The majority..buy them as colts; when fit for the collar,..make them up for the London brewers. 1867 Ibid. Ser. ii. III. ii. 533 If they [fowls] have been ‘sent along’ with Indian corn [etc.],..they will make up to nearly 2 lbs. heavier. |
(f) To prepare, put in order (a bed) for a particular occasion. Also, to put (a room) in order; to ‘do up’ (? local).
| 1824 Examiner 45/2 [She] desired witness to make up the bed in her room. 1879 C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iv. xxxii. 346 She had a couch made up for her on deck. 1889 W. Westall Birch Dene I. xiii. 178 We might..make you up a bed on the office floor. 1891 Blackw. Mag. CL. 506/2 ‘Where have you made up Mr. Smith's room’? ‘In the north wing, sir’. 1894 G. Moore Esther Waters 102 Esther said she would make up her room, and when that was done she insisted on helping her mother with the house⁓work. |
(g) To get up (linen). rare.
| 1890 Blackw. Mag. CXLVIII. 56/1 They can make up linen execrably. |
(h) To bring (spirits) to a required degree of strength by adding water; to ‘lower’.
| 1725 G. Smith Distilling 77 When you have made up your goods to the quantity and quality you intend. 1731 P. Shaw Ess. Artif. Philos. 89 To keep out of the Spirit the grosser Oil of the Faints; and instead of these, to make up, as they call it, to Proof, with pure distill'd or simple water. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Making-up, When it is necessary to make up waters lower than proof, they are generally cloudy. |
j. To set out the items of (an account) in order; to add up and balance (an account).
| 1472 J. Paston in P. Lett. III. 32, I porpose to make up my byllys clere, and send yow the copyse. 1607 Shakes. Cor. i. i. 148 Yet I can make my Awdit vp, that [etc.]. a 1729 J. Rogers 19 Serm. ii. (1735) 33 He was to make up his Accounts with his Lord. 1742 Richardson Pamela III. 250 A Desk, at which sometimes Mr. Jonathan makes up his running Accounts to Mr. Longman. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones v. viii, Who but an atheist could think of leaving the world without having first made up his account? 1858 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XIX. i. 123 A farmer's accounts should be made up once a year. 1889 M. E. Carter Mrs. Severn I. i. i. 27 Her husband..made up the tradesmen's books. 1892 J. Adam Commerc. Corresp. 22 It is customary for the banker to make up, or balance, the current account at the end of each half-year. |
k. (a) to make up one's mind: to come to a decision or conclusion; often const. inf. or clause. Also (nonce-uses), to make up one's resolution, † a determination. Hence, with extended meaning, to make up one's mind for, to, or to do (something): to be reconciled to the thought of, to be prepared for. † Also in pass.: ? = ‘to have one's mind made up’ for.
| 1595 Shakes. John ii. i. 541, I know she is not for this match made vp. [Otherwise in modern editions.] 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. ii. ii. 170 To make vp a free determination 'Twixt right and wrong. 1821 Examiner 363/1 In winter people make up their minds for the worst and go. 1830 Ibid. 663/2 The King has quite made up his mind to the loss of Belgium. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest xiv, Edward made up his resolution to join the army. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 107 He..had wisely made up his mind to what could no longer be avoided. 1859 Mill Liberty v. (1865) 62/2 If the government would make up its mind to require for every child a good education. 1883 Stevenson Treas. Isl. iv. xvii, We had all quietly made up our minds to treat him like one of ourselves. 1887 Ruskin Præterita II. 189, I believe he made up his mind that I was heartless and selfish. |
† (b) absol. ? ‘To come to a decision’ (Schmidt).
| 1605 Shakes. Lear i. i. 209 Pardon me, Royall Sir, Election makes not vp in such conditions. |
l. To settle, arrange. (a) To arrange, settle (a marriage, etc.); to conclude (a treaty).
| 1562 Child-Marr. (1897) 75 Bie the consent of their frendes, who made vp the mariage betwixe them. 1607 Shakes. Cor. v. iii. 140 Be Blest For making vp this peace. 1879 M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. xxxviii. 384 Edward tried to make up a kind of peace between them. 1890 Univ. Rev. Feb. 282 The best marriages are those which are made up by sympathetic and understanding friends. |
(b) To settle (a dispute, etc.); to end (a quarrel) by reconciliation.
| 1699 T. Brown Erasm. Colloq. 67 What passes between two People is much easier made up, than when once it has taken Air. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. II. xxxvii. 62 Mediators in making up Cases of Debate and Contention. 1773 Foote Bankrupt iii. Wks. 1799 II. 133 And now this difference is whole and compos'd, let me try if I can't make up the other. 1828 Scott F. M. Perth xxi, Perhaps the feud may be made up without farther fighting or difficulty. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xix. IV. 301 That two..gentlemen should be deputed to wait on Her Majesty and try to make matters up. 1870 Rogers Hist. Gleanings Ser. ii. 230 He had made up his differences with Fox. |
(c) intr. (also often to make it up). To be reconciled after a dispute; to become friends again.
| 1669 R. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 441 You had made up with the Duke of York without his knowledge. 1748 Richardson Clarissa IV. 26 If I should be obliged to make up with him again, I shall think I am always doing myself a spight. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones vii. v, I beseech you..that you will endeavour to make it up with my aunt. 1837 Thackeray Yellowplush i, There we were, quarrelling and making up..by turns. 1887 C. L. Pirkis Dateless Bargain II. xviii. 232 We've kissed and made it up again. 1892 Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker xix. 288 We..had quarrelled and made up. |
m. To make the fortune of, enrich. dial.
| 1786 Scotland's Glory & Shame ii. 53 He'll make you up for ever. 1829 Hogg Sheph. Cal. viii. I. 230 Your master will soon be sic a rich man now, that we'll a' be made up. |
n. intr. (a) To advance in a certain direction; now only in to make up to, to draw near to, approach. Also occas. of the tide: To flow up a river (cf. 72).
| 1595 Shakes. John iii. ii. 5 Philip make vp. 1596 Edw. III, iv. vii. 31 Make up once more with me; the twentieth part Of those that liue, are men inow to quaile The feeble handfull on the aduerse part. 1611 Heywood Gold. Age v. Wks. 1874 III. 75 Let's make vp to his rescue. 1622 Fletcher Span. Cur. i. i, There I would follow you as a guid to honour, Though all the horrours of the Warre made up To stop my passage. 1632 Massinger Maid of Hon. iv. i, Hell, stoppe their brawling throats; againe! make up And cudgel them into jelly. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. i. 38 He espied two Men come tumbling over the Wall,..and they made up a pace to him. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 104 With intent to have endeavoured to make up into the latitude of 50 or 60°. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas x. viii. ¶9 Impatient to know,..he made up to me immediately. 1855 Costello Stor. Screen 87, I saw her make up to the lady I have described. 1898 Daily News 25 March 8/3 There was very little water in the river as the tide was only just beginning to make up. |
(b) to make up to (fig.): to make advances to (a person); to pay court or make love to.
| 1781 D. Williams tr. Voltaire's Dram. Wks. II. 25 She ogles me still, or I'm mistaken; I'll e'en make up to her. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas vii. i. ¶2 They made up to Don Cæsar or his son at once, without currying my favour as the channel of all good graces. 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy ii. 22 Tom's making up to the widow. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xii, Young Bullock,..who had been making up to Miss Maria the last two seasons. 1889 Stevenson Master of B. i. 8, I have it by all accounts that Mr. Henry was more made up to from that hour. |
☛ Key to phrases, etc.
Uses of pass. 3, 3 b, 3 c, 4; (= L. fieri) 9 e, 48 f, 49 d, e; refl. (with for or inf.) 34 a, 35; impers. (of the weather) 8 b; (it) maksna Sc. 25; intr. (= compose poetry) 5 b, (= go) 35 b; see also 69–74.
What make you here? 58; what do you make of..? 20. ¶ Make or mar, make or break 46 b; make or mend 1 c; meddle or make with 71. ¶ Proverbs and proverbial phrases occur in senses 1 d, 10, 24, 53 c.
Make account of 19 b; m acquainted 48 b; m ado 9; m after 75; m again 83; m against 76; m the agreeable 67; m alms 57 a; m amends 61; m an army 57 b; m as if, as though 70; m an ass of oneself 18; m asseth 61; m at 77; m away 84; m away with 85; m a bag 15 c; m a bargain 57 d; m battle 57 b; m one's beard 40; m a beast of oneself 18; m a bed 36; m believe 53 e; m the best of 18 d; m bold 69; m a book 5, 15 d; m a (or one's) bow 57 c; m a business of 18; m (it) one's business 49 c; m a campaign 57 b; m capital out of 29; m (= score with) a card 30; m the cards 43; m care 62; m a case 19 d; m the chalice 42; m a child 17; m a circuit 57 f; m coffee 2 b; m a coil, a commotion 9; m one's Communion 57 e; m one's compliments 61; m (one's) confession 57 e; m conscience 19 a; m a contract 57 d; m a corner (in) 9; m count of 19 b; m one's course 57 f; m a covenant 57 d; m it coy 68 b; m a decision 61 c; m a difference 10, 19 a; m (= eat) a dinner 60; m (= train) a dog 45; m dole 62; m (= shut) a door 37; m (no) doubt 19 a; m down 86; m an effort 63; m English 48; m esteem, estimation (of) 19 b; m even 48; m an example of 18; m an excursion 57 f; m an exhibition of oneself 18; m an expedition 57 f; m expense 64, one's expenses 64 b; m a face (at) 57 c; m fast 48; m a fault 57 a; m fealty 61; m a feast 14; m felt 48 b; m (a) fight 57 b; m a fire 6; m (= prepare) fish 39; m a fool of 18; m for 25, 25 b, 78; m force (at) 63; m forth 87; m a fortune 29; m free 69; m friends 13 c; m (something) from 2; m (= bring forth) fruit 16; m fun, a fuss, game 9; m games 12 b; m a garden 7; m glad 69; m gladness, glee 62; m good 48; m it goodly 68 b; m a hash of 18 e; m (= train) a hawk 45; m hay 38; m head 61 b; m a head 15 a; m head or tail of 20; m heard 48 b; m hence 33; m a hole 8; m homage 61; m horns 57 c; m (= train) a horse 45; m it hot 48; m (long) hours 66; m a House 15 b; m an impression 9; m in 88; m in one's way 48 c; m (= give) an instance 61; m (something) into 50, 50 b; m it (= cause it to be so) 10 b; m it one's boast, business, etc. 49 c; m it (coy, etc.) 68, 68 b; m it so 51 e; m a journey 57 f; m joy 62; m a judgement 19 a, 61 c; m known 48 b; m labour 63; m Latin(s 5 c; m a law 12; m a leg 57 c; m a lie 57 a; m light of 21; m like (= look like) 73 a; m little of 18 d, 21; m things lively 48; m a living 29; m a loss 64; m love 61; m a mark 8; m a marriage 57 d; m (= arrange) a match 12 b; m (no) matter 25; m a meal 60; m (= prepare) meat 2 b; m melody 8; m memory 57 h; m mercy 57 a; m merriment 62; m merry 69; m a mess of 18 e; m mind 57 h; m minstrelsy 8; m a miracle 57 a; m mirth 62; m (a) mock (of) 62 b; m money 29; m the most of 18 d; m much of 18 d, 21; m a muddle of 18 e; m a name (for oneself) 29; m (it) nice 68 b, 69; m a noise, a note 8; m nothing of 18 d, 21; m nothing to do (= not to hesitate) 51 c; m (= give) notice 61; m (an) obeisance 57 c; m..of 1 b, 2, 4, 4 b, 18; (= esteem) 21 b; m..of it 18 c; m off 89; m on 90; m one (of) 26; m an oration 57 g; m an order, ordinance 12; m out 91; m..out of 1 b, 2, 18; m out of the way 33; m over 94; m a pace 57 f; m pain 63; m a park 7; m a passage 57 f; m peace 9 c; m penance 57 e; m place 9 d; m a practice of 18; m a profit 29; m a progress 57 f; m it proud, quaint 68 b; m question 19 a; m (= propound) a question 61; m a quorum 15 b; m (= impose) a rate 12; m ready 48, 48 d; m (= give) a reason 61; m reckoning, regard of 19 b; m (a) reputation 29; m return (= come back) 57 f; m a road 7; m room 9 d; m a row 9; m a rule 12; m runs 30 b; m the sacrament 57 e; m sail 44; m a salaam 57 c; m satisfaction 61; m oneself scarce 48 e; m a score 30 b; m scorn (of) 62 b; m scruple 19 a; m a sensation 9; m sense of 20; m a sermon 57 g; m shipwreck 64; m short 48 d; m slight of 21; m something of 18 d; m sorrow 62; m one's soul 47; m a sound 8; m a speech 57 g; m sport 9; m a step 57 f; m a stir 9; m store of (= value highly) 19 b; m (it) stout, strange 68 b, 69; m sure 48, 48 d; m the tackling 44; m tea 2 b; m that..(= bring it about that) 52, (= show or allege that) 56 b; m through 93; m timber 31, 41; m (good, short, etc.) time 66; m a title 19 d; m to (prep.) 79, (adv.) 94; m (= bring or reduce) to (a condition) 33; m (one) to (king, etc.) 49 e; m (= attempt) to do 34 b; m together 95; m top or tail of 20; m it tough 68 b; m a tour 57 f; m towards 35 b; m a trade of 18; m a trick 30; m a trip 57 f; m understood 48 b; m unready 48; m unto 80; m up 96; m upon 81; m urine 16 b; m verses 5; m void 48; m a voyage 57 f; m war 57 b; m it warm 48; m (= give) warning 61; m waste 48; m water 16 b, 31; m way 9 d; m one's way 57 f; m weight 31; m a will 5 d; m with 82, 71; m..with 1 b, 2; m a wonder 10; m wood 31, 41; m work 10; m a wound 8; m wreck 64.
For many other phrases, with nouns expressing the action of a verb, see the lists in 59 and 59 b.
Sense 65 c in Dict. becomes 65 d and sense 51f becomes 51g. Add: [I.] [2.] c. U.S. To bring (a crop) to maturity; to raise (raise v.1 10 c). Also absol. for pass. Cf. senses 16 a below.
| 1714 Boston News-Let. 9–16 Aug. 2/2 We have had an extraordinary drought here last Spring and all of this Summer, which makes us apprehensive of a Scarcity of Corn, and little or no Tobacco to be made. 1763 G. Washington Diary 1 Sept. (1925) I. 187 My..Corn was just beginning to show... Quere, has it time to make or Ripen? 1848 Southern Lit. Messenger XIV. 635/2 Some corn and some cotton are ‘made’, as the Virginians say. 1867 Country Gentleman XXIX. 388/1 Seventeen years ago it rained more or less for 27 days in the month of May... Enormous crops of hay were made that year. 1898 Ibid. LXIII. 418/1 Corn crop is now made, well-eared in most cases. 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling xiv. 140 Pa, the quail has hatched under the Scuppernog. And the grapes is makin'. Ibid. 143 There was no more corn and would not be until the summer's crop was made. 1972 F. Knebel Dark Horse (1973) vi. 83 Eddie, you don't want no old man like me around. I ain't even made a crop in ten years. 1989 Maharidge & Williamson Their Children After Them iv. iv. 221 He had stopped planting Hobe's Hill, but was again hoping to make a crop on the bottomland to pay off his debt. |
[5.] e. To create (a recording, film, etc.) of a musical or dramatic work; to produce (a filmed adaptation) of or from a literary work; also occas., to represent (a literary work) cinematographically. Also without const. Cf. senses 1 a, 5 a above.
| 1914 J. B. Rathbun Motion Picture Making ii. 29 (heading) Making the picture. 1918 C. Sandburg Comhusker 51 There is drama in that point... Griffith would make a movie of it to fetch sobs. 1932 Times Educ. Suppl. 17 Dec. p. ii/2 The records made by the great tenor..have been re-recorded by the Company. 1962 J. McCabe Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy iii. 76 For a while they worked as extras for a small company which was making L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz stories. 1976 Gramophone June 69/3 Trevor Pinnock's previous Rameau recording..of the E minor and the later A minor Suites was made on a Rubio instrument after Tasquin. 1978 Lancashire Life Apr. 29/3 The two-disc album is from a recording made in Holland in 1951. 1987 C. Simmons Belles Lettres Papers vi. 97 He was promoting a movie that was being made from a best-seller. |
[9.] f. To make available (the time necessary for a task, etc.) by careful scheduling of one's activities. Cf. find v. 10 b. See also sense 66.
| 1841 T. Carlyle Let. 21 Sept. in H. J. Nicoll T. Carlyle (1884) iv. 112 If at anytime a definite service can be done by answering, doubt not I shall make time for it. 1853 C. Bronte Villette II. xxiii. 129 ‘You write to me!—You'll not have time.’ ‘Oh! I will find or make time.’ 1869 L. Alcott Little Women II. xi. 175 ‘I'm very proud of him and should like you to see him.’...‘I fear I shall not make the time for that.’ 1984 K. Waterhouse Thinks xvi. 147, I could arrange to make some time and we could perhaps go out for a little drink or a meal. 1987 L. Goldman Part of Fortune xxii. 99 Frequently her calendar was so full that she couldn't make time for him. |
[30.] [b.] To create the opportunity for or ‘set up’ (a particular move, stroke, or manoeuvre) by means of skilful play. (Further examples.)
| 1923 Daily Mail 16 Apr. 11/5 Chambers really ‘made’ England's two goals and he was as good as any forward on the field. 1988 I. Morrison Billiards & Snooker 28/2 Billiards is a scientific game and..you will have to learn how to ‘make’ your shots;..you need to know where the cue and object-balls are going to finish after every shot. |
[III.] [48.] [a.] Freq. in parenthetical phrases to make matters (or things) worse, to make it worse, to cause an already awkward or distressing situation to deteriorate further; to encounter a specified circumstance as an additional difficulty, disadvantage, etc.
| 1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 110, I was sorry I had gone so far, since I saw what disorder it put him in, but I desir'd him not to talk to me of Explanations, for that would but make things worse. 1816 Scott Antiquary III. xiii. 287 The man is doing his miserable duty, and you will only make matters worse by opposing him. 1861 Dickens Great Expectations I. xiii. 105 In the minds of the whole company..I was an excrescence on the entertainment. And to make it worse, they all asked me from time to time..why I didn't enjoy myself. 1903 J. London Call of Wild iv. 115 The dogs were tired, the drivers grumbling, and to make matters worse, it snowed every day. 1943 ‘Taffrail’ White Ensigns ii. 32 To make matters worse the ‘nozzers,’ or novices,..had their soap and water purloined. 1987 C. Phillips European Tribe Introd. 8 My appetite for academic study was gone, and to make things worse it was the transitory season of autumn. |
[III.] [51.] f. In imp., with it: ‘let it be’ (what is denoted by the complement), esp. as a suggested modification to or clarification of a previous proposal; spec. with complement denoting (a) a drink requested by the speaker (also with mine, etc.); (b) the time or place of an appointment; (c) an amount, number, or price. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
| 1883 ‘Mark Twain’ Life on Mississippi li. 507 ‘Have you got that drink yet?’.. He softened, and said make it a bottle of champagne. 1900 G. Ade Fables in Slang 96 He was ready to Weep for anyone who would hand him $8. Afterthought—make it $7.50. 1934 Neuphilol. Mitt. XXXV. 132 Euchre... To make it next, ‘to declare the trump suit changed to the opposite suit of the same colour’. 1940 W. Faulkner Hamlet i. iii. 70 ‘Ten dollars,’ Ratliff said... ‘Make it five.’ ‘No,’ Ratliff said pleasantly. 1962 S. Gore Down Golden Mile vi. 120 Make mine a glass this time, seein' I have to go on the scoot with you booze artists to-night. 1973 M. Russell Double Hit viii. 55 Make it an hour. I'll be twenty minutes loosening up... I'm after the exercise. 1985 J. Raban Foreign Land (1986) iii. 46 Tom thought: it could be worth three hundred pounds, no, make it four. |
[V.] [63.] Also intr. for pass.. (Further examples.)
| 1833 J. J. Strang Diary 9 Feb. in M. M. Quaife Kingdom of St. James (1930) 214 Powerful exertions were making to delay until Congress could get some facts to act upon. 1914 D. H. Lawrence Prussian Officer 12 He saw the young man's breast heaving as he made an effort for words. 1973 E. F. Schumacher Small is Beautiful iii. iii. 182 Many people..plead that the rich countries ought to make a much bigger financial effort. |
[65.] [b.] Add before ‘Freq.’: Also, to ‘manage’ (an appointment, date, etc.). (Further example.)
| 1974 K. Amis Ending Up x. 56 They can't make Boxing Day. They'll be down with us. 1993 Beautiful British Columbia Mag. Fall Insert 24–25 For those who can't make it for the big weekend (Sept. 9–12), the sandsculptures will be on display until October 11. |
c. orig. and chiefly U.S. Of a pupil, student, etc.: to attain (a grade); to obtain (a mark or score). Cf. sense 30 b above. to make the grade: see also grade n. 10 e.
| 1870 B. P. Patrick Let. 24 Oct. in M. Collie-Cooper Lett. from Two Brothers (1988) 49, I will be glad to hear of your making a diploma this session and one at Phil. [Philadelphia] next year. 1928 ‘W. Fabian’ Unforbidden Fruit i. 12 She had ‘made’ a key in Junior year and was hot on the trail of other honors. 1954 W. Faulkner Fable 249 He graduated not only at the top of the class but with the highest marks ever made at the Academy. 1976 Laurel (Montana) Outlook 9 June 8/4 Four students made 4.00 point averages. 1987 A. Miller Timebends i. 51 They had looked up my..academic record and laughingly reported that I had made all D's. |
e. colloq. (orig. Naval). With ellipsis of article: to attain the rank of.
Cf. the earlier, related naval usage to be made post s.v. post n.3 4 a.
| 1918 Our Navy May 11/1 In time of peace, in the regular Navy, they would probably go to sea..as yeomen second class and make first class in a year. 1942 G. Gach In Army Now xxiv. 253 If Sayad can make Looey I betcha I can make General. 1951 D. & C. Christie His Excellency i. i. 16 She joined up in the war, made sergeant inside six months, and had the time of her life. 1987 New Yorker 29 June 67/2 O'Brien had made sergeant, and it is the policy of the New York Police Department to transfer a newly promoted sergeant to another unit. |
f. To achieve a place in (a list).
| 1928 Publishers' Weekly 24 Nov. 2184/2 Two books that almost made the Best Seller List. 1979 R. Jaffe Class Reunion (1980) i. vi. 73 When she got two A's and two B's she couldn't believe it. She had made the Dean's List! 1984 National Times (Austral.) 2 Nov. 41/3 Companies like Revlon and Atari should never have made the list in the first place. 1987 S. Quinn Mind of her Own (1988) ii. 46 Fraulein Banning was the first woman to make Karen's list of real-life and literary heroes. |
g. To receive prominent attention in (the news media, etc.), esp. in make the front page(s). to make or hit the headline: see headline n. 2 c.
| 1938 Life 4 Apr. 30/1 This year, at the spring openings, publicity-wise Schiaparelli made headlines by showing circus print dresses. 1939 Florida (Federal Writers' Project) iii. 311 If the storm is of dangerous intensity..it ‘makes’ the front page. 1983 S. Rushdie Shame iv. x. 216 The murders barely made the newspapers; they were not reported on the radio. 1992 New Republic 25 May 22/2 Bradley made the front page with his announcement that he wanted to cut the..police force by 7 percent. |
[VII.] [96.] [c.] Freq. in colloq. phr. to make it up to (someone), to compensate or atone to (someone) for a loss or wrong suffered. Cf. sense 96 l (c).
| 1860 W. Collins Woman in White II. vi. 142, I must make it up to you for having been afraid to speak out at a better time. 1879 H. James Confidence (1880) xix. 201 He had wronged her... As he could not make it up to her, the only reasonable thing was to keep out of her way. 1915 W. Cather Song of Lark 405 My own father died in Nebraska when Gunner was born..and I was sorry, but the baby made it up to me. 1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) xii. 188 You're a good girl... Make it up to you some time. 1973 A. MacVicar Painted Doll Affair xi. 130, I persuaded myself that it was justified. Tomorrow I would make it up to him. 1992 I. Pattison More Rab C. Nesbitt Scripts 16 Rab: Jaffa cakes on a Wednesday, Mary.. Pure decadence. Mary: I had to lash oot on them, din't I? To make it up to the wean! |
o. transf. To promote to a higher rank. colloq. (orig. Services').
| 1943 Hunt & Pringle Service Slang 45 Made up, promoted. (Applied to the stages from Corporal to Warrant Officer.) 1958 A. Hunter Gently through Mill viii. 97 ‘Then why was Blacker made foreman?’.. ‘I made him up on his ability!’ 1975 Daily Tel. 19 July 9/7 Jones is working-class made-up to lance-corporal. 1992 Independent 16 Nov. 23/3 Companies are narrowing the path that leads toward the holy grail of partnership. Slaughter and May..‘made up’ just one partner in the current financial year, compared with 10 in 1991–92. |
▪ V. † make, v.2 Obs.
Also 6 Sc. maik.
[f. make n.1]
trans. and intr. To mate, pair, match.
| 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 23, I wille she haue..my flat pece enchased to make with a salt saler of sylver. 1513 Douglas æneis iv. Prol. 53 The snaw quhite dow oft to the gray maik will. 1522 Mundus et Infans (Manly) 262 So fell a fyghter in felde was there neuer yfounde. To me no man is makyde. |
▪ VI. make
see mawk, meak, meek.