▪ I. making, vbl. n.1
(ˈmeɪkɪŋ)
[OE. macung, f. macian: see make v.1 and -ing1.]
1. a. The action of make v.1 in its various senses: fabrication, production, preparation; institution, appointment; doing, performance (of a specified action); conversion into, causing to become something; etc. (See the vb.) Also occas. the process of being made.
| a 1123 O.E. Chron. an. 1101 Þurh þes macunge..se eorl Rotbert..þis land mid unfriðe ᵹesohte. a 1300 Cursor M. 1551 Quen sa fele yeier ar wroken oute..Þe planetes all ar went again O þair first making in to þe state. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. iii. 62, I shal..Wowes do whitten and wyndowes glasen, Do peynten and purtraye and paye for þe makynge. c 1440 Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) ii. xxxiv, We be beholde to loue Ihū moche for oure makynge but more for our ayenbyenge. 1483 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 254/1 Sith the tymes of makynge of the seid Acts of Atteinders. 1529 Rastell Pastime of People (1811) 148 The makynge of Westmyster halle. 1553 Cranmer Let. to Q. Mary in Coverdale Lett. Martyrs (1564) 1 If by any meanes it had bene in me to haue letted the makyng of that will. 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. vii. 13 Of this herbe they make Axsen, whiche is vsed for the making of glasses. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 1 To motion the making of a new Law for the abrogating of an old. 1625 Hart Anat. Ur. ii. i. 55 Whether the vrine were thinne at the first making or not. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. iv. §5 Many causes concurred to the making of this Deluge. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 113. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 239 Most Counties in England afford Earth for the making of Bricks. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 320 They set it..up for a maxim, that the making of a Stadtholder was the giving up their liberty. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 52, I think she was cut out for a Gentlewoman, but she was spoil'd in the making. 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 29 Whitening and plaister of Paris..whiten the flour, and contribute to its adhesion in making. 1828 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 343 In the making of the purchases. 1842 Tennyson Morte D'Arthur 203 Since the making of the world. 1875 F. Guthrie Magn. & Electr. §236 If it be desired to get a still more nimble making and breaking of the circuit. 1891 Law Rep. Weekly Notes 138/1 The making of the Codicil. 1897 Daily News 4 Jan. 3/4 There was a general move up in all the ranks of the force, accompanied by the ‘making’ of several engineers. |
b. Often used gerundially as the second member of an objective combination, as biscuit-making, carpet-making, debate-making, gift-making, ice-making, imposition-making, war-making, etc. See also book-making, haymaking, etc.
| c 1400 Laud Troy-bk. 3113 In sorwe and dele-makyng Lenges non honour. Ibid. 14538 With-oute any debate-makyng. c 1449 Pecock Repr. (Rolls) II. 552 With this trust thei helden hem content and paied in her ȝifte making. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. clv. 187 Such as were at the imposicion makyng. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 116 b, They take in hande also an other peace making. 1614 T. Godwin Moses & Aaron (1641) 142 Their Apotheosis, or god-making Ceremonies. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ., Montriul iii, His talents of drum-beating and spatterdash-making. 1863 Trevelyan Compet. Wallah (1866) 182 An early effort of the Public Works Department in the canal-making line. 1880 Morris in Mackail Life (1899) II. 5 The art of Carpet-making is dead, or dying fast. 1891 T. Hardy Tess xxix, At skimmings, at butter-makings, at cheese-makings. |
c. Qualified by a possessive, in phr. of (so-and-so's) making = made by (so and so). In predicative use sometimes with omission of of.
| 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. lxii. 519, I kyng Hermaunce..am slayn..thurȝ two knyghtes..of myn own bryngyng vp and of myn owne makyng. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xlvi. 55 His creature of his awin making. ? c 1526 Frith Disput. Purgat. To Rdr. (?1533) A iv b, I haue sent you such bokes as you wrote for, and one moo of Rastels makinge. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. ¶13 [They] doe either make new Translations themselues, or follow new ones of other mens making. a 1654 Selden Table-t. (Arb.) 35 The Laws of the Church are most Favourable to the Church, because they were the Churches own making. 1676 Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 28 'Twas a match of his friends and not his owne making. a 1700 Dryden Cinyras & Myrrha 52 Man a Slave of his own making lives. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 44 ¶3 The Statuary, who fell in Love with the Image of his own making. 1828 Carlyle Misc. (1857) I. 206 A poet of Nature's own making. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman iii. xvii. 183 The marriage was not of her making. |
d. (to be) in making, a-making, now usually to be making: (to be) in course of being made.
| c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode (1869) 19 All manere of fardelles maad and in makinge. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccviii. 190 That bisshop had in london a fayre toure in makynge. 1535 Coverdale 2 Macc. i. 23 All the prestes prayed, whyle the sacrifice was a makynge. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iii. iv. 34 The Feast is sold That is not often vouch'd, while 'tis a making. 1702 Royal Proclam. 8 Mar. in Lond. Gaz. No. 3790/4 Corn or Grain making into Malt. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. III. liv. 171 Provisions of arms were making beyond the sea. 1767 Mrs. S. Pennington Lett. III. 177 This..gentleman..informed her of the use that was making of her letters. 1791 Washington Lett. Writ. 1892 XII. 54 Those changes, which are either making, or contemplated. 1793 Copper-Plate Mag. No. 22 This ancient place..is watered by the River Soar,..now making navigable. 1816 Shelley Lett. Pr. Wks. 1888 I. 341 The hay was making under the trees. 1857 Kingsley Misc., Th. Gravel-pit II. 381 When the South-Western Railway was in making. 1891 Graphic 31 Oct. 526/3 That good prices are making for English cheese argues good quality. |
e. in the making: used adjectively (in imitation of Milton) to designate something as existing in an undeveloped state.
| 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 69 Opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. lxiv, His opinion..may be our virtue in the making. 1879 H. Maudsley Pathol. Mind vi. 282 Evil is good in the making as vice is virtue in the making. 1889 D. Hannay Capt. Marryat vii. 99 Unless the [newspaper] correspondent has seen history in the making. 1890 Guardian 26 Nov. 1892/3 It is a great soul in the making. |
2. spec. in technical uses: The training or bringing to the required condition (of an animal); the preparation (of hay); the curing (of fish).
| 1390 Gower Conf. II. 161 He tawhte men..the makinge Of Oxen, and of hors the same. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §25 A man maye speke of makynge of hey, and gettynge of corne, but god disposeth and ordreth all thynge. 1615 Latham Falconry (1633) 12 Forget not all this time of her making..to walke round about her, using your voice, and giving her many bits with your hand. 1809 Kendall Trav. II. xlvii. 154 The curing, or as it is called, the making of the fish. 1893 Field 17 June 904/3 The light swath is converted from grass to hay in a few hours without any ‘making’. 1902 Daily Chron. 21 July 3/1 Ponies that only require ‘making’ in order to become valuable. |
† 3. Poetical composition; poetizing, versifying. Also pl. = poetical compositions, poems. Obs.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 129 For þis makyng I will no mede bot gude prayere when ȝe it rede. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 1789 But litel bok no makyng þow nenuye But subgit be to alle poesye. c 1375 XI Pains Hell 352 in O. E. Misc. 222 Meruel ȝe not of þis makyng. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 16 Þow medlest þe with makynges and myȝtest go sey þi sauter. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 128, I the refreyn tooke, Of hym that was in makyng soverayne, My maister Chaucier. 1567 Drant Horace, Ep. To Rdr. *v, Flim flames, and gue gawes,..are soner rapte vp thenne are those which be lettered and Clarkly makings. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xix. (Arb.) 247 A noble gentleman and much delighted in vulgar making. 1614 J. Davies Eclogue 19 (Grosart) For, fro thy Makings, milke, and mellie, flowes To feed the Songster-swaines with Arts soot-meats. |
† 4. Testamentary disposition. [= MDu. makinge.] Obs.
| 1621 in Brasenose Coll. Muniments (MS.) 22/12, I charge myne executors that the same [money] bee payed according to my makinge. |
5. Advancement, success. Obs. exc. in phr. to be the making of: to be what ensures the success of (a person or thing).
| c 1470 G. Ashby Active Policy 731 A man to be preferred to honour Of fee or office to his grete makyng. 1496–7 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 124 Your good and discret answere may be my making. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 215 They [women] are the making or the marring of their house. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) II. 31 A lucky Repartee hit upon by Chance may be the making of a Man. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones viii. xi, The fine gentleman,..who doth so much honour to his family and is to be the making of it. 1871 Smiles Charac. xi. (1876) 324 A wife may be the making or the unmaking of the best of men. |
† 6. a. The way in which a thing is made; style of construction; conformation, form, shape, build, ‘make’. Obs.
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xiv. 193 Þer-fore meruaileþ me for man, as in makynge, Is most yliche þe in wit and in werkes, Whi [etc.]. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P. R. xviii. ix. (1495) 763 Congres and Elys ben lyke to serpentes in makynge. c 1400 Destr. Troy 9774, I..am febiller be fer þen þe fre prinse, Both of myght, & of makyng, & of mayn strenkith. 1466 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) III. 93 The same dores and wyndowes shalbe like of strength and makyng of the dores and wyndowes of the other new scoles. 1494 in Somerset Medieval Wills (1901) 323 A newe mete-cloth of Lankeshire making. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §2 There be plowes of dyuers makynges in dyuers countreys. 1534 More On Passion Wks. 1304/1 That oyntment truly made was veri costly: which was the cause that the true making was lesse vsed. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 103 In colour, eating, and making like a Makarell. 1642 Shirley Sisters v. i. (1652) 49, I see the greatest men are flesh And blood, our souls are much upon a making. 1656 Heylin Surv. France 54 There are erected..[nine] hansome Crosses of stone; all of a making. 1660 Act 12 Chas. II, c. 4. Sched. s.v. Buckrams, Buckrams of French making. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 263 Another sort of insect of a making much like a Spider. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. ii. 45 A general and particular Description, Making, and Use of all the..Instruments. |
† b. with reference to a literary production; in quots. = version, edition. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Prov. Prol., Masloch, that Ebrues Parablis, the comun making [St. Jerome vulgata editio] Prouerbis clepeth. 1482 Caxton Higden's Polychron. Prohemye, Polychronicon..emprynted & sette in forme by me William Caxton and a lytel embelysshed fro tholde makyng. |
† c. Of persons: Bodily form or appearance; build, ‘make’. Obs.
| c 1430 Generydes 4555 By his making He is ful like to my derling. 1587 Fleming Cont. Holinshed III. 355/1 Some..esteemed him a man for making well proportioned. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iv. ii. 22 Stigmaticall in making worse in minde. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. 282 Bigge he was of making, and withall verie tall. c 1640 Lovely North. Lasse iii. in Child Ballads IV. 208/2, I was so greatly taken with his speech, and with his comely making. |
† d. Mental or moral character; = make n.2 3.
| 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §120 William earl of Pembroke was next, a man of another mould and making. |
7. concr. a. Something that has been made; † a created thing, creature (obs.); a product of manufacture. Also, the quantity made at one time.
| 1340 Ayenb. 92 Þet þet body of man is þe meste poure makynge..and þe spirit of man..ys..þe heȝeste ssepþe þet may by. 1645 Shetland Witch Trial in Hibbert Descr. Shetl. Isles (1822) 594 You did thereby marr and undo twa whole makings of the said bear, quhilk never did good. 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 139 Whatever quantity is required for any particular job of work should be made all at one time; no two makings coming away alike, but depending entirely upon accident. Ibid. 150 Cut your making into cakes. 1882 Ogilvie, Making..2. What has been made, especially at one time; as, the whole making is before you. 1890 Century Dict. s.v., A making of bread. |
b. pl. Earnings, profits. colloq.
| 1837 H. Martineau Soc. Amer. III. 122 That a wife shall possess half, or a large part, of her husband's earnings or makings. 1892 Cassell's Sat. Jrnl. 21 Sept. 13/3 My makings in the way of tips bringing in on an average about twice that sum. 1900 Daily News 10 Feb. 2/4 ‘Makings’, in the way of tips, had been very poor. |
8. a. The material out of which something may be made; the potentiality of becoming something; in phr. to have or be the making(s of{ddd}
| 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, iv. i. 87 She had all the Royall makings of a Queene. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxvii, He seemed to have the makings of a very nice fellow about him. 1857 Lawrence Guy Liv. iii. 17 There was the making of a good rider in many of them. 1858 Trollope Dr. Thorne I. v. 124 He's the making of a very nice horse, I don't doubt. 1861 W. H. Russell in Times 24 Sept., They are not an army, but they are the making, as we say, of a splendid one. 1886 American XII. 134 This Bavarian king was the making of a fine man when he was young. 1887 H. Smart Cleverly won ii. 16 There was possibly the makings of a great cross-country horse in her. |
b. pl. Paper and tobacco for rolling a cigarette. N. Amer., Austral., and N.Z. colloq.
| 1905 ‘O. Henry’ in Everybody's Mag. Dec. 817/1 He took out his ‘makings’ and rolled a cigarette. 1907 S. E. White Arizona Nights i. ix. 161 ‘Well,’ agreed Rogers, ‘pass over the {oqq}makings{cqq} and I will.’ 1910 R. W. Service Trail of '98 (1911) i. iv. 15 ‘Got the makings?’ ‘No, I'm sorry; I don't smoke.’ 1912 Collier's 21 Dec. 23/2 A revelation to any man who doesn't know a real ‘makin's’ cigarette. 1930 J. Devanny Bushman Burke 26 He grinned and took out the ‘makings’. 1940 Amer. Speech XV. 213/1 The day before payday, the camp's ‘smoking’ has become scarce and ‘rollings’ or ‘makings’ are at a premium. 1941 Coast to Coast 207 We rolled our makings, lit them and stood about waiting for someone to start talking about something. 1949 S. P. Llewellyn Troopships 7 The normal Kiwi..his clothes in a heap beside him, the ‘makings’ handy. 1963 B. Pearson Coal Flat iv. 70 Rogers offered him a cigarette but McKenzie shook his head and pulled out the makings in a way that seemed to suggest that tailor-mades were a stigma of middle-class ideology. 1963 H. Garner in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories (1968) 2nd Ser. 30, I gave McKinnon enough money to get me a package of makings. |
9. pl. in Coal-mining. (See quots.)
| 1851 Greenwell Coal-trade Terms Northumb. & Durh. 36 Makings.—The small coals hewed out in kirving. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal Mining, Makings, the slack and dirt made in holing. |
10. Comb. a. attributive: making-cylinder, in a paper-making machine, the cylinder on which the pulp is felted into a sheet (distinguished from the beating cylinder and the drying cylinder); making-felt, ‘that felt of a cylinder paper-machine on which the web of pulp is taken from the making-cylinder’ (Knight); making-iron (now often confused with meaking-iron: see meaking), a kind of grooved chisel used by caulkers to finish off seams.
| 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) ii, Calfat double, a caulker's making-iron. 1846 Young Naut. Dict. s.v. Caulk. |
b. With following adv. or adj., forming nouns of action corresponding to phrasal combinations of the n., as making-off, making-out, making-over, making-up; making-good; making-merry rare = merry-making; making-out, the action of the vbl. phr. to make out (make v.1 91 c (c)); making-ready, preparation (for technical uses see ready a. III); also attrib. Also making-as-if nonce-wd. (cf. make v.1 70), pretence, make-believe.
| 1382 Wyclif John xix. 14 It was the makinge redy, or euyn, of pask. 1530 Palsgr. 242/1 Makyng redy, parure. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 118 For the better making out of which, we are to bethink our selves, that [etc.]. Ibid. 129 We shall find that begetting the like, is making over of springs. 1813 L. Hunt in Examiner 3 May 273/2 That ordinary and vulgar state-cunning,—that wretched making-as-if. 1815 J. Laing Voy. Spitzbergen (1822) 99 The process of paring and barrelling up the blubber, is termed making off. 1822 Scott Peveril iv, A making-merry in the house of Tirzah. 1846 Young Naut. Dict. s.v. Flensing, The blubber..is cut into square pieces and stowed in the hold; afterwards, these are..cut into smaller pieces to be stowed away in casks; this latter process is termed making-off. 1874 Southward Pract. Print. xlv. (ed. 4) 413 Place the sheet [of paper]..on the making-ready board. 1881 Young Every Man his own Mechanic §1386 All making good as it is technically called—i.e. patching up holes in old plastering—used to be done with plaster. 1887 Goode, etc. Fisheries U. S. Sect. v. II. 286 Paring and barreling blubber, termed making-off. 1957 F. Kohner Gidget vii. 76 ‘No sweaty hands, no making out in drive-in movies.’ ‘Making out?’ My God, Larry, where've you been living. I guess you still call it necking.’ 1964 C. Nicolai Murder in Fine Arts xxviii. 248 He had a violent aversion to necking or ‘making out’ as the current expression had it. 1967 ‘J. H. Roberts’ February Plan i. iv. 113 She had been..putting him off when it came to making out (how many evasive phrases were there for the act of sexual intercourse?). 1969 E. Goffman Where Action Is 157 Adult males may define a female as an object to initiate a sexually potential relationship with... This action is sometimes called ‘making out’. In our society there are special times and places set aside for making out. |
Add: [8.] [a.] Also ellipt. as the makings. See also sense b below.
| a 1953 E. O'Neill Long Day's Journey (1956) iv. 154 He hasn't even got the makings. 1977 Rolling Stone 13 Jan. 55/1 Phoebe Snow is not yet a mature artist. Though the makings are nowhere more evident than on her third album. |
▪ II. † ˈmaking, vbl. n.2 Obs.
[f. make v.2 + -ing2.]
Mating, matchmaking.
| 1608 Middleton Trick to Catch Old One iii. iii, My Vncle comes with Gentlemen, his friends, And tis vpon a making. |
▪ III. making, ppl. a. rare.
(ˈmeɪkɪŋ)
[f. make v.1 + -ing1.]
That makes (in various senses); † productive, creative; † money-making, prosperous.
| 1434 Misyn Mending Life 126 With swetnes of þe godhede & warmnes of Makand lyght. 1592 West 1st Pt. Symbol. §46 A, Instruments..of their effects be either constitutiue and making, or remissorie and liberatorie. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 118 You are an industrious and a making young man. a 1774 Goldsm. Surv. Exp. Philos. (1776) I. 31 When artificial magnets are made by rubbing, each pole in the making magnet begets its sympathetic pole of a different name in the newly made magnet. 1903 Daily Chron. 18 Nov. 8/6 Artificial Florist.—Wanted a good making forewoman. |