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90s Slang You Should Know

make1

[meyk] /meɪk/
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verb (used with object), made, making.
1.
to bring into existence by shaping or changing material, combining parts, etc.:
to make a dress; to make a channel; to make a work of art.
2.
to produce; cause to exist or happen; bring about:
to make trouble; to make war.
3.
to cause to be or become; render:
to make someone happy.
4.
to appoint or name:
The president made her his special envoy.
5.
to put in the proper condition or state, as for use; fix; prepare:
to make a bed; to make dinner.
6.
to bring into a certain form:
to make bricks out of clay.
7.
to convert from one state, condition, category, etc., to another:
to make a virtue of one's vices.
8.
to cause, induce, or compel:
to make a horse jump a barrier.
9.
to give rise to; occasion:
It's not worth making a fuss over such a trifle.
10.
to produce, earn, or win for oneself:
to make a good salary; to make one's fortune in oil.
11.
to write or compose:
to make a short poem for the occasion.
12.
to draw up, as a legal document; draft:
to make a will.
13.
to do; effect:
to make a bargain.
14.
to establish or enact; put into existence:
to make laws.
15.
to become by development; prove to be:
You'll make a good lawyer.
16.
to form in the mind, as a judgment or estimate:
to make a decision.
17.
to judge or interpret, as to the truth, nature, meaning, etc. (often followed by of):
What do you make of it?
18.
to estimate; reckon:
to make the distance at ten miles.
19.
to bring together separate parts so as to produce a whole; compose; form:
to make a matched set.
20.
to amount to; bring up the total to:
Two plus two makes four. That makes an even dozen.
21.
to serve as:
to make good reading.
22.
to be sufficient to constitute:
One story does not make a writer.
23.
to be adequate or suitable for:
This wool will make a warm sweater.
24.
to assure the success or fortune of:
a deal that could make or break him; Seeing her made my day.
25.
to deliver, utter, or put forth:
to make a stirring speech.
26.
to go or travel at a particular speed:
to make 60 miles an hour.
27.
to arrive at or reach; attain:
The ship made port on Friday. Do you think he'll make 80?
28.
to arrive in time for:
to make the first show.
29.
to arrive in time to be a passenger on (a plane, boat, bus, train, etc.):
If you hurry, you can make the next flight.
30.
Informal. to gain or acquire a position within:
He made the big time.
31.
to receive mention or appear in or on:
The robbery made the front page.
32.
to gain recognition or honor by winning a place or being chosen for inclusion in or on:
The novel made the bestseller list. He made the all-American team three years in a row.
33.
Slang. to have sexual intercourse with.
34.
Cards.
  1. to name (the trump).
  2. to take a trick with (a card).
  3. Bridge. to fulfill or achieve (a contract or bid).
  4. to shuffle (the cards).
35.
to earn, as a score:
The team made 40 points in the first half.
36.
Slang.
  1. to recognize or identify:
    Any cop in town will make you as soon as you walk down the street.
  2. to charge or cause to be charged with a crime:
    The police expect to make a couple of suspects soon.
37.
to close (an electric circuit).
38.
South Midland and Southern U.S. to plant and cultivate or produce (a crop):
He makes some of the best corn in the country.
verb (used without object), made, making.
39.
to cause oneself, or something understood, to be as specified:
to make sure.
40.
to show oneself to be or seem in action or behavior (usually followed by an adjective):
to make merry.
41.
to be made, as specified:
This fabric makes up into beautiful drapes.
42.
to move or proceed in a particular direction:
They made after the thief.
43.
to rise, as the tide or water in a ship.
44.
South Midland and Southern U.S. (of a crop) to grow, develop, or mature:
It looks like the corn's going to make pretty good this year.
45.
make down, Chiefly Pennsylvania German. to rain or snow:
It's making down hard.
46.
make fast, Chiefly Nautical. to fasten or secure.
47.
make shut, Chiefly Pennsylvania German. to close:
Make the door shut.
noun
48.
the style or manner in which something is made; form; build.
49.
production with reference to the manufacturer; brand:
our own make.
50.
disposition; character; nature.
51.
the act or process of making.
52.
quantity made; output.
53.
Cards. the act of naming the trump, or the suit named as trump.
54.
Electricity. the closing of an electric circuit.
55.
Jewelry. the excellence of a polished diamond with regard to proportion, symmetry, and finish.
56.
Slang. identifying information about a person or thing from police records:
He radioed headquarters for a make on the car's license plate.
Verb phrases
57.
make out,
  1. to write out or complete, as a bill or check.
  2. to establish; prove.
  3. to decipher; discern.
  4. to imply, suggest, or impute:
    He made me out to be a liar.
  5. to manage; succeed:
    How are you making out in your new job?
  6. Slang. to engage in kissing and caressing; neck.
  7. Slang. to have sexual intercourse.
  8. Chiefly Pennsylvania German. to turn off or extinguish (especially a light or fire):
    Make the light out.
58.
make over,
  1. to remodel; alter:
    to make over a dress; to make over a page layout.
  2. to transfer the title of (property); convey:
    After she retired she made over her property to her children and moved to Florida.
59.
make for,
  1. to go toward; approach:
    to make for home.
  2. to lunge at; attack.
  3. to help to promote or maintain:
    This incident will not make for better understanding between the warring factions.
60.
make off,
  1. to run away; depart hastily:
    The only witness to the accident made off before the police arrived.
  2. Nautical. to stand off from a coast, especially a lee shore.
61.
make off with, to carry away; steal:
While the family was away, thieves made off with most of their valuables.
62.
make on, Chiefly Pennsylvania German. to turn on, light, or ignite (especially a light or fire):
Make the light on.
63.
make up,
  1. (of parts) to constitute; compose; form.
  2. to put together; construct; compile.
  3. to concoct; invent.
  4. Also, make up for. to compensate for; make good.
  5. to complete.
  6. to put in order; arrange:
    The maid will make up the room.
  7. to conclude; decide.
  8. to settle amicably, as differences.
  9. to become reconciled, as after a quarrel.
  10. Printing. to arrange set type, illustrations, etc., into columns or pages.
  11. to dress in appropriate costume and apply cosmetics for a part on the stage.
  12. to apply cosmetics.
  13. to adjust or balance, as accounts; prepare, as statements.
  14. Education. to repeat (a course or examination that one has failed).
  15. Education. to take an examination that one had been unable to take when first given, usually because of absence.
  16. to specify and indicate the layout or arrangement of (columns, pages, etc., of matter to be printed).
  17. Atlantic States. (of the weather or clouds) to develop or gather:
    It's making up for a storm.
  18. Atlantic States. (of the sea) to become turbulent:
    If the sea makes up, row toward land.
64.
make up to,
  1. Informal. to try to become friendly with; fawn on.
  2. to make advances to; flirt with:
    He makes up to every new woman in the office.
Idioms
65.
make a play for, to try to get:
He made a play for his brother's girlfriend. They made a play for control of the company's stock.
66.
make as if / as though, Informal. to act as if; pretend:
We will make as if to leave, then come back and surprise him.
67.
make away with,
  1. to steal:
    The clerk made away with the cash and checks.
  2. to destroy; kill:
    He made away with his enemies.
  3. to get rid of.
  4. to consume, drink, or eat completely:
    The boys made away with the contents of the refrigerator.
68.
make believe, to pretend; imagine:
The little girl dressed in a sheet and made believe she was a ghost.
69.
make (so) bold, to have the temerity; be so rash; dare:
May I make so bold as to suggest that you stand when they enter?
70.
make book, Slang.
  1. to take bets and give odds.
  2. to make a business of this.
71.
make colors, Nautical. to hoist an ensign, as on board a warship.
72.
make do, to function, manage, or operate, usually on a deprivation level with minimal requirements:
During the war we had no butter or coffee, so we had to make do without them.
73.
make good,
  1. to provide restitution or reparation for:
    The bank teller made good the shortage and was given a light sentence.
  2. to succeed:
    Talent and training are necessary to make good in some fields.
  3. to fulfill:
    He made good on his promise.
  4. Navigation. to compute (a course) allowing for leeway and compass deviation.
74.
make heavy weather,
  1. Nautical. to roll and pitch in heavy seas.
  2. to progress laboriously; struggle, especially to struggle needlessly:
    I am making heavy weather with my income tax return.
75.
make it,
  1. Informal. to achieve a specific goal:
    to make it to the train; to make it through college.
  2. Informal. to succeed in general:
    He'll never make it in business.
  3. Slang. to have sexual intercourse.
76.
make it so, Nautical. strike the ship's bell accordingly: said by the officer of the watch when the hour is announced.
77.
make like, Informal. to try or pretend to be like; imitate:
I'm going to go out and make like a gardener.
78.
make one's manners, Southern U.S.
  1. to perform an appropriate or expected social courtesy.
  2. Older Use. to bow or curtsy.
79.
make sail, Nautical.
  1. to set sails.
  2. to brace the yards of a ship that has been hove to in order to make headway.
80.
make time. time (def 52).
81.
make water,
  1. to urinate.
  2. Nautical. (of a hull) to leak.
82.
make with, Slang.
  1. to operate; use:
    Let's make with the feet.
  2. to bring about; provide or produce:
    He makes with the big ideas, but can't follow through.
83.
on the make, Informal.
  1. seeking to improve one's social or financial position, usually at the expense of others or of principle.
  2. increasing; advancing.
  3. Slang. seeking amorous or sexual relations:
    The park was swarming with sailors on the make.
84.
put the make on, Slang. to make sexual overtures to.
Origin of make1
Middle English
Old English
900
before 900; Middle English maken, Old English macian; cognate with Low German, Dutch maken, German machen
Related forms
makable, adjective
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
1. form; build; produce; fabricate, create, fashion, mold. 7. transform, change, turn. 8. force. 10. get, gain, acquire, obtain, secure, procure. 13. perform, execute. 18. judge, gauge. 48. shape, structure, construction, constitution.
Antonyms
1. destroy.
Synonym Study
1.Make, construct, manufacture mean to produce, to put into definite form, or to put parts together to make a whole. Make is the general term: Bees make wax. Construct, more formal, means to put parts together, usually according to a plan or design: to construct a building. Manufacture usually refers to producing something from material that requires conversion from one state or condition to another, now almost entirely by means of machinery in a relatively complex process: to manufacture automobiles by the assembly of different parts. The term is also often used contemptuously of unimaginative or hackneyed works of art with the implication that the work was produced mechanically, and is used abstractly with the idea of denying genuineness: to manufacture an excuse.

make2

[meyk] /meɪk/
noun, British Dialect.
1.
a peer or equal.
2.
a spouse, mate, consort, or lover.
3.
a friend; companion.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English mak, make, Old English gemaca. See match2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2017.
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Examples from the Web for make
Contemporary Examples
Historical Examples

  • But she wanted to make it clear, too, that she knew now that she would never marry him.

    K Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • Not to admire, is all the art I know, To make men happy, and to keep them so.

    Essay on Man Alexander Pope

  • Harriet's climbing was not so rapid as to make her dizzy; but business was coming.

    K Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • They have a very tempting proposition to make to the farmers.

    Still Jim Honor Willsie Morrow

  • They would take off their hats, and make the humblest bows you ever saw.

    The Miraculous Pitcher Nathaniel Hawthorne
British Dictionary definitions for make

make1

/meɪk/
verb (mainly transitive) makes, making, made
1.
to bring into being by shaping, changing, or combining materials, ideas, etc; form or fashion; create: to make a chair from bits of wood, make a poem
2.
to draw up, establish, or form: to make a decision, make one's will
3.
to cause to exist, bring about, or produce: don't make a noise
4.
to cause, compel, or induce: please make him go away
5.
to appoint or assign, as to a rank or position: they made him chairman
6.
to constitute: one swallow doesn't make a summer
7.
(also intransitive) to come or cause to come into a specified state or condition: to make merry, make someone happy
8.
(copula) to be or become through development: he will make a good teacher
9.
to cause or ensure the success of: your news has made my day
10.
to amount to: twelve inches make a foot
11.
to be part of or a member of: did she make one of the party?
12.
to serve as or be suitable for: that piece of cloth will make a coat
13.
to prepare or put into a fit condition for use: to make a bed
14.
to be the essential element in or part of: charm makes a good salesman
15.
to carry out, effect, or do: to make a gesture
16.
(intransitive; foll by to, as if to, or as though to) to act with the intention or with a show of doing something: they made to go out, he made as if to hit her
17.
to use for a specified purpose: I will make this town my base
18.
to deliver or pronounce: to make a speech
19.
to judge, reckon, or give one's own opinion or information as to: what time do you make it?
20.
to cause to seem or represent as being: that furniture makes the room look dark
21.
to earn, acquire, or win for oneself: to make friends, make a fortune
22.
to engage in: make love not war
23.
to traverse or cover (distance) by travelling: we can make a hundred miles by nightfall
24.
to arrive in time for: he didn't make the first act of the play
25.
(cards)
  1. to win a trick with (a specified card)
  2. to shuffle (the cards)
  3. (bridge) to fulfil (a contract) by winning the necessary number of tricks
26.
(cricket) to score (runs)
27.
(electronics) to close (a circuit) permitting a flow of current Compare break (sense 44)
28.
(intransitive) to increase in depth: the water in the hold was making a foot a minute
29.
(intransitive) (of hay) to dry and mature
30.
(informal) to gain a place or position on or in: to make the headlines, make the first team
31.
(informal) to achieve the rank of
32.
(slang) to seduce
33.
make a book, to take bets on a race or other contest
34.
make a day of it, to cause an activity to last a day
35.
make a night of it, to cause an activity to last a night
36.
make do, See do1 (sense 37)
37.
make eyes at, to flirt with or ogle
38.
make good, See good (sense 44)
39.
(nautical) make heavy weather, to roll and pitch in heavy seas
40.
(informal) make heavy weather of something, to carry something out with great difficulty or unnecessarily great effort
41.
make it
  1. (informal) to be successful in doing something
  2. (foll by with) (slang) to have sexual intercourse
  3. (slang) to inject a narcotic drug
42.
(slang, mainly US & Canadian) make like, to imitate
43.
make love
  1. to have sexual intercourse
  2. (archaic) to engage in courtship
44.
make love to someone
  1. to have sexual intercourse with someone
  2. (archaic) to engage in courtship with someone
45.
make or break, to bring success or ruin
46.
make time, See time (sense 45)
47.
make water
  1. another term for urinate
  2. (of a boat, hull, etc) to let in water
noun
48.
brand, type, or style: what make of car is that?
49.
the manner or way in which something is made
50.
disposition or character; make-up
51.
the act or process of making
52.
the amount or number made
53.
(bridge) the contract to be played
54.
(cards) a player's turn to shuffle
55.
on the make
  1. (informal) out for profit or conquest
  2. (slang) in search of a sexual partner
See also make after, make away, make for, make of, make off, make out, make over, make-up, make with
Derived Forms
makable, adjective
Word Origin
Old English macian; related to Old Frisian makia to construct, Dutch maken, German machen to make

make2

/meɪk/
noun (archaic)
1.
a peer or consort
2.
a mate or spouse
Derived Forms
makeless, adjective
Word Origin
Old English gemaca mate; related to match1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word Origin and History for make
v.

Old English macian "to make, form, construct, do; prepare, arrange, cause; behave, fare, transform," from West Germanic *makon "to fashion, fit" (cf. Old Saxon makon, Old Frisian makia "to build, make," Middle Dutch and Dutch maken, Old High German mahhon "to construct, make," German machen "to make"), from PIE *mag- "to knead, mix; to fashion, fit" (see macerate). If so, sense evolution perhaps is via prehistoric houses built of mud. Gradually replaced the main Old English word, gewyrcan (see work (v.)).

Meaning "to arrive at" (a place), first attested 1620s, originally was nautical. Formerly used in many places where specific verbs now are used, e.g. to make Latin (c.1500) "to write Latin compositions." This broader usage survives in some phrases, e.g. to make water "to urinate," to make a book "arrange a series of bets" (1828), make hay "to turn over mown grass to expose it to sun." Make the grade is 1912, perhaps from the notion of railway engines going up an incline.

Read the valuable suggestions in Dr. C.V. Mosby's book -- be prepared to surmount obstacles before you encounter them -- equipped with the power to "make the grade" in life's climb. [advertisement for "Making the Grade," December 1916]
But the phrase also was in use in a schoolwork context at the time. Make do "manage with what is available" is attested from 1867. Make time "go fast" is 1849; make tracks in this sense is from 1834. To make a federal case out of (something) popularized in 1959 movie "Anatomy of a Murder;" to make an offer (one) can't refuse is from Mario Puzo's 1969 novel "The Godfather." To make (one's) day is from 1909; menacing make my day is from 1971, popularized by Clint Eastwood in film "Sudden Impact" (1983). Related: Made; making.

n.

"match, mate, companion" (now archaic or dialectal), from Old English gemaca "mate, equal; one of a pair, comrade; consort, husband, wife," from Proto-Germanic *gamakon-, related to Old English gemæcc "well-matched, suitable," macian "to make" (see make (v.)). Meaning "manner in which something is made, design, construction" is from c.1300. Phrase on the make "intent on profit or advancement" is from 1869.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang definitions & phrases for make

make

noun

  1. Positive identification: The woman gave us a make on the guy who slugged her
  2. A person regarded merely as a sex partner; lay: an easy make (1918+)

verb

  1. To rob; steal; heist (1700+ Underworld)
  2. To recognize or identify; make an identification: The dealer-suspect ''made'' (i e, correctly identified) one of the staked-out 53 cars/ He made me the minute he saw me (1906+ Underworld & police)
  3. To understand; grasp; dig: I don't make you, kid. What did the boy do? (1912+)
  4. o bring fame, success, wealth, etc: That one show made her (1460+)
  5. To do the sex act with; lay, screw: Not only is the King in love with me, but the Queen tried to make me too/ in the sense of ''making'' handsome men (1918+)
  6. To arrive at; hit: We'll never make Padanaram before dark (1624+)
  7. To defecate; dump, shit (1950s+)
  8. To initiate one into the Mafia: The purpose of a particular meeting had been to make us ''to incorporate individuals as new members of the family'' (1960s+)
  9. also make up)To shuffle playing cards: Peter made the cards and handed them to Stern to deal

Related Terms

easy make, on the make, on the take, put the make on someone, run a make

The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D.
Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.
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Idioms and Phrases with make

make

also see:
also see under:
made
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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