make of


Also found in: Idioms.
Related to make of: make off, made of, call on, took over

make of

vb (tr, preposition)
1. to interpret as the meaning of: what do you make of this news?.
2. to produce or construct from: houses made of brick.
3. make little of make nothing of
a. not to understand
b. to attribute little or no importance to
c. to gain little or no benefit from
4. make much of make a lot of
a. (used with a negative) to make sense of: he couldn't make much of her babble.
b. to give importance to
c. to gain benefit from
d. to pay flattering attention to: the reporters made much of the film star.
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
Translations

make

(meik) – past tense, past participle made (meid) – verb
1. to create, form or produce. God made the Earth; She makes all her own clothes; He made it out of paper; to make a muddle/mess of the job; to make lunch/coffee; We made an arrangement/agreement/deal/bargain.
2. to compel, force or cause (a person or thing to do something). They made her do it; He made me laugh.
3. to cause to be. I made it clear; You've made me very unhappy.
4. to gain or earn. He makes $100 a week; to make a profit.
5. (of numbers etc) to add up to; to amount to. 2 and 2 make(s) 4.
6. to become, turn into, or be. He'll make an excellent teacher.
7. to estimate as. I make the total 483.
8. to appoint, or choose, as. He was made manager.
9. used with many nouns to give a similar meaning to that of the verb from which the noun is formed. He made several attempts (= attempted several times); They made a left turn (= turned left); He made (= offered) a suggestion/proposal; Have you any comments to make?
noun
a (usually manufacturer's) brand. What make is your new car?
ˈmaker noun
a person who makes. a tool-maker; a dressmaker.
ˈmaking noun
the process of producing or forming something. glassmaking; (also adjective) the road-making industry.
ˌmake-beˈlieve noun
the act or art of pretending and imagining. a world of make-believe; (also adjective) a make-believe world.
ˈmake-ˌover noun
a (complete) change in a person's appearance made by cosmetic treatment, new hairstyle, new clothes etc.
ˈmakeshift adjective
temporary and usually of poor quality. a makeshift garden shed.
ˈmake-up noun
1. cosmetics applied to the face etc. She never wears any make-up.
2. the set, or combination, of characteristics or ingredients that together form something, eg a personality; composition. Violence is just not part of his make-up.
have the makings of
to have the clear ability for becoming. Your son has the makings of an engineer.
in the making
being made or formed at this very moment. A revolution is in the making.
make a/one's bed
to tidy and straighten the sheets, blankets etc on a bed after it has been used. The children make their own beds every morning.
make believe
to pretend (that). The children made believe they were animals.
make do (with with)
to use something as a poor-quality or temporary alternative to the real thing. There's no meat, so we'll have to make do with potatoes.
make for
to go towards. We're making for home.
make it
to be successful. After twenty years, we've finally made it.
make it up
1. to become friends again after a quarrel. It's time you two made it up (with each other).
2. to give compensation or make amends for something. I'm sorry – I'll make it up to you somehow.
make (something) of (something)
to understand (something) by or from (something). What do you make of all this?
make out
1. to see, hear or understand. He could make out a ship in the distance.
2. to make it seem that. He made out that he was earning a huge amount of money.
3. to write or fill in. The doctor made out a prescription.
4. (slang) to kiss, hug and caress; to neck. They were making out in the back seat.
make over
(American) to change something or turn it into something else. They made over the room as an office; The plastic surgeon made her face over.
make up
1. to invent. He made up the whole story.
2. to compose or be part(s) of. The group was made up of doctors and lawyers.
3. to complete. We need one more player – will you make up the number(s)?
4. to apply cosmetics to (the face). I don't like to see women making up (their faces) in public.
5. to become friends again (after a quarrel etc). They've finally made up (their disagreement).
make up for
to supply a reward, substitute etc for disappointment, damage, loss (of money or time) etc. Next week we'll try to make up for lost time.
make up one's mind
to make a decision. He finally made up his mind about the job.
make up to
to try to gain the favour or love of by flattery etc. She's always making up to the teacher by bringing him presents.
made of is used in speaking of the material from which an object is constructed etc: This table is made of wood/plastic/steel .
made from is used in speaking of the raw material from which something has been produced by a process of manufacture: Paper is made from wood/rags .
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
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