Commonly used english part 52 doc

511

make a check out (to someone)

- write a check to give to someone with their name on it
I made a check out to the animal hospital after they cared for our dog.

make a clean breast of (something)

- confess something bad that you have done in order not to feel guilty/bad
The woman made a clean breast of things and worked hard to start over.

make a clean sweep of (something)

- do something completely or thoroughly
The new political party made a clean sweep of the large cities during the election.

make a comeback

- return to one's former (successful) career
The boxer has been training very hard in his attempt to make a comeback.

make a day of it

- do something all day
We decided to make a day of it and spend the day at the beach.

make a dent in (something)

- make progress doing something

We worked hard all day but we didn`t make a dent in the amount of work left to do.

make a difference

- cause a change in a situation
It doesn`t make a difference whether he comes to the meeting or not.


512

make a face (at someone)

- make a strange face to ridicule someone
The little girl made a face at the boy in her class.

make a fast/quick buck

- make money with little effort
The two men tried to make a fast buck during the construction boom.

make a fool out of (someone)

- make someone look foolish
The secretary made a fool out of her boss when she argued with him at the meeting.

make a fuss (over someone or something)

- worry about or make a bother about someone or something
My grandmother always makes a fuss over me when I go to visit her.

make a go of (something)

- succeed at something, produce good results
Although he tried hard he was never able to make a go of his business.

make a great show of (something)

- do something in a showy fashion
The woman made a great show of telling everybody about her new and rich
boyfriend.

make a hit

- be successful
Her cake made a hit at the party.


513

make a killing

- make a large amount of money
Her mother made a killing on the real estate market before she retired.

make a laughingstock of (someone)

- do something that makes people laugh at someone
I made a laughingstock of myself when I dropped the plate of crackers at the party.

make a living

- earn enough money to live
He cannot make a living by only doing a part-time job.

make a long story short

- bring a story to an end by omitting some details
I had to make a long story short in order to finish my story and leave to catch my train
home.

make a meal of (something)

- eat one main dish/food as an entire meal
We were able to make a meal of the chicken that my mother gave us last night.

make a mistake

- make an error
I made a mistake on the math test.

make a mountain out of a molehill

- make a big problem out of a small problem
He is making a mountain out of a molehill by worrying about his son`s problem.


514

make a name for oneself

- become well-known or famous
He has made a name for himself in the field of computers.

make a night/evening of (doing something)

- do something for the entire night/evening
We decided to stay home and make a night of playing cards.

make a note of (something)

- to write something on a piece of paper
I made a note of the people that I was going to phone on the weekend.

make a nuisance of oneself

- be a constant bother
I didn't phone the apartment manager to complain about the sink because I didn't want
to make a nuisance of myself.

make a pass at (someone)

- make romantic advances to someone
The man was fired because he made a pass at one of the women who he works with.

make a pitch (for someone or something)

- attempt to promote/sell/advance someone or something
The city made a pitch for more money from other levels of government to help build a
new sports stadium.

515

make a play for (someone)

- try to make someone romantically interested in you
I worked hard all term to make a play for a woman in my computer class.

make a point

- state something important
The speaker used some good examples in order to make a point during his speech.

make a point of (doing/saying something)

- do or say something with a definite intent
He always makes a point of visiting his aunt when he is in town.

make a practice of (something)

- turn something into a habit
I make a practice of going to bed at 11:00 PM every evening.

make a reservation

- reserve a seat in an airplane/restaurant etc. in advance
I phoned the airline last night so that I could make a reservation.

make a run for it

- dash for safety, make a quick escape
I made a run for it as soon as the class finished.

make a scene

- make a public display or disturbance
The woman made a scene in the supermarket when she saw the liquid soap on the
floor.


516

make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

- create something valuable out of something of no value
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear and the fact is that the woman is not a
good singer and will probably never sing in the choir.

make a stink (about something)

- make a major issue out of something
The woman went to the store to make a stink about the broken CD player that she had
bought.

make an all-out effort

- make a big effort
The police made an all-out effort to discover who had robbed the three banks.

make an appearance

- appear somewhere, appear in a performance
The famous actor made an appearance at the party for the politician.

make an appointment (with someone)

- schedule a meeting with someone
I made an appointment with my dentist to have my teeth checked.

make an example of (someone)

- make a public issue out of someone's bad behavior
The teacher punished the student severely in order to make an example of him for the
other students.






517

make an exception (for someone)

- suspend a rule for someone for one time

The security guard made an exception for me and allowed me to enter the parking lot
after it was closed.

make an impression (on someone)

- produce a memorable effect on someone
The elderly man made an impression on me and I was very sad when I heard that he
had died.

make an issue of (something)

- turn something into an important matter
Our supervisor often tries to make an issue of events that are not important at all.

make allowances for (someone or something)

- allow extra time for someone or something, make excuses for someone or something
We had to make allowances for the fact that the new employee was very slow.

make amends for (something)

- do something to compensate for an error/injury/loss
I was forced to do some extra work to make amends for my mistake of last week.

make arrangements for (someone or something)

- make plans for someone or something
We made arrangements for a small wedding for my cousin.

518

make as if (to do something)

- act as if one were about to do something
The driver made as if he was going to turn right but he actually turned left.

make away with (something)

- take or carry away something
The cat made away with the fish that was sitting on top of the kitchen counter.

make believe

- act as if something is true although one knows that it is not, pretend
The children were playing make believe and pretended that they lived in a castle.

make book on (something)

- make or accept bets on something
The gamblers were planning to make book on the coming election.

make cracks (about someone or something)

- ridicule or make jokes about someone or something

The radio announcer made cracks about the famous athlete during the interview.

make do with (something)

- substitute one thing for another
If there is no cream for the coffee we will have to make do with milk.

make ends meet

- be able to live on the money that one has
It is hard to make ends meet on his salary.


519

make eyes at (someone)

- flirt with someone, look at someone to try and attract them
The boy was making eyes at the girl in his history class.

make for (someone or somewhere)

- go/start toward someone or somewhere
As soon as it began to get dark we decided to make for a quiet place to camp.

make free with (someone or something)

- take advantage or use something as if it were one's own
My roommate always makes free with my clothes which I don't like at all.

make friends

- form friendships with people or animals
She is shy and is not able to make friends easily.

make fun of (someone or something)

- ridicule someone or something
The students were making fun of the girl with the short hair.

make good money

- earn a large amount of money
My friend is able to make good money selling computer equipment in the evenings.

make good on (something)

- fulfill a promise, make something come true. repay a debt
Our boss made good on his promise to give everyone a raise in the new year.


520

make good time

- be successful in arriving at a destination in a short time or quicker than you expected
We made good time yesterday and arrived home before it got dark.

make hay while the sun shines

- do something at the right time, take advantage of an opportunity
You should make hay while the sun shines and paint the house while the weather is
good.

not make head nor tail of (something)

- not be able to understand something
We could not make head nor tail of what he was trying to say during his speech.

make it

- succeed
The woman worked hard and was able to make it in the publishing industry.

make (it/an event)

- attend an event
I was feeling sick so I was not able to make the monthly meeting of our club.

make it as far as

- travel as far as somewhere, endure something until you must stop
We made it as far as the city limits before our car began to have problems.

make it hot for (someone)

- make things difficult for someone
The questions from the reporters were making it hot for the city council member.