make sense

Idioms  

1. Be understandable. This usage, first recorded in 1686, is often used in a negative context, as in This explanation doesn't make sense .

2. Be reasonable, wise, or practical, as in It makes sense to find out first how many will attend the conference . This term employs sense in the meaning of “what is reasonable,” a usage dating from 1600. In Britain it is also put as stand to sense .

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Example Sentences

Dilbert replied: “Or we could come up with strategies that make sense. Then employees would embrace change.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Her brows were pinched together like a couple of busy knitting needles, and she kept on trying to make sense of the nighttime garden scene.

From Literature

Davis’ book makes sense of all this without being overly didactic.

From Los Angeles Times

Leerink’s Mayo says new management is doing a thorough cleanup, divesting assets the company bought over the years that no longer make sense to hold.

From The Wall Street Journal

“That makes sense for private property but not for nations,” said Fontaine, who now runs the Center for a New American Security, a think tank in Washington.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• get on