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definitions
  • synonyms

make-believe

[meyk-bi-leev]
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noun
  1. pretense, especially of an innocent or playful kind; feigning; sham: the make-believe of children playing.
  2. a pretender; a person who pretends.
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adjective
  1. pretended; feigned; imaginary; made-up; unreal: a make-believe world of fantasy.
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Origin of make-believe

First recorded in 1805–15

make1

[meyk]
verb (used with object), made, mak·ing.
  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. (especially in police and underworld use)
    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.
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verb (used without object), made, mak·ing.
  1. to cause oneself, or something understood, to be as specified: to make sure.
  2. to show oneself to be or seem in action or behavior (usually followed by an adjective): to make merry.
  3. to be made, as specified: This fabric makes up into beautiful drapes.
  4. to move or proceed in a particular direction: They made after the thief.
  5. to rise, as the tide or water in a ship.
  6. 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.
  7. make down, Chiefly Pennsylvania German. to rain or snow: It's making down hard.
  8. make fast, Chiefly Nautical. to fasten or secure.
  9. make shut, Chiefly Pennsylvania German. to close: Make the door shut.
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noun
  1. the style or manner in which something is made; form; build.
  2. production with reference to the manufacturer; brand: our own make.
  3. disposition; character; nature.
  4. the act or process of making.
  5. quantity made; output.
  6. Cards. the act of naming the trump, or the suit named as trump.
  7. Electricity. the closing of an electric circuit.
  8. Jewelry. the excellence of a polished diamond with regard to proportion, symmetry, and finish.
  9. Slang. identifying information about a person or thing from police records: He radioed headquarters for a make on the car's license plate.
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Verb Phrases
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. make off with, to carry away; steal: While the family was away, thieves made off with most of their valuables.
  6. make on, Chiefly Pennsylvania German. to turn on, light, or ignite (especially a light or fire): Make the light on.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
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Idioms
  1. 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.
  2. make as if/as though, Informal. to act as if; pretend: We will make as if to leave, then come back and surprise him.
  3. 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.
  4. make believe, to pretend; imagine: The little girl dressed in a sheet and made believe she was a ghost.
  5. 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?
  6. make book, Slang.
    1. to take bets and give odds.
    2. to make a business of this.
  7. make colors, Nautical. to hoist an ensign, as on board a warship.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. make it so, Nautical. strike the ship's bell accordingly: said by the officer of the watch when the hour is announced.
  13. make like, Informal. to try or pretend to be like; imitate: I'm going to go out and make like a gardener.
  14. make one's manners, Southern U.S.
    1. to perform an appropriate or expected social courtesy.
    2. Older Use.to bow or curtsy.
  15. 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.
  16. make time. time(def 52).
  17. make water,
    1. to urinate.
    2. Nautical.(of a hull) to leak.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. put the make on, Slang. to make sexual overtures to.
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Origin of make1

before 900; Middle English maken, Old English macian; cognate with Low German, Dutch maken, German machen
Related formsmak·a·ble, adjective

Synonyms

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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.

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.

Antonyms

1. destroy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

bluffcounterfeitdreamenactfakefantasizefeignfoolimagineplaypretendsimulateplay-actplayact
British Dictionary definitions for make believe

make believe

verb
  1. to pretend or enact a fantasythe children made believe they were doctors
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noun make-believe
    1. a fantasy, pretence, or unreality
    2. (as modifier)a make-believe world
  2. a person who pretends
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make1

verb makes, making or made (mainly tr)
  1. to bring into being by shaping, changing, or combining materials, ideas, etc; form or fashion; createto make a chair from bits of wood; make a poem
  2. to draw up, establish, or formto make a decision; make one's will
  3. to cause to exist, bring about, or producedon't make a noise
  4. to cause, compel, or induceplease make him go away
  5. to appoint or assign, as to a rank or positionthey made him chairman
  6. to constituteone swallow doesn't make a summer
  7. (also intr) to come or cause to come into a specified state or conditionto make merry; make someone happy
  8. (copula) to be or become through developmenthe will make a good teacher
  9. to cause or ensure the success ofyour news has made my day
  10. to amount totwelve inches make a foot
  11. to be part of or a member ofdid she make one of the party?
  12. to serve as or be suitable forthat piece of cloth will make a coat
  13. to prepare or put into a fit condition for useto make a bed
  14. to be the essential element in or part ofcharm makes a good salesman
  15. to carry out, effect, or doto make a gesture
  16. (intr; foll by to, as if to, or as though to) to act with the intention or with a show of doing somethingthey made to go out; he made as if to hit her
  17. to use for a specified purposeI will make this town my base
  18. to deliver or pronounceto make a speech
  19. to judge, reckon, or give one's own opinion or information as towhat time do you make it?
  20. to cause to seem or represent as beingthat furniture makes the room look dark
  21. to earn, acquire, or win for oneselfto make friends; make a fortune
  22. to engage inmake love not war
  23. to traverse or cover (distance) by travellingwe can make a hundred miles by nightfall
  24. to arrive in time forhe 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. bridgeto 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 currentCompare break (def. 44)
  28. (intr) to increase in depththe water in the hold was making a foot a minute
  29. (intr) (of hay) to dry and mature
  30. informal to gain a place or position on or into 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 do 1 (def. 37)
  37. make eyes at to flirt with or ogle
  38. make good See good (def. 44)
  39. make heavy weather nautical to roll and pitch in heavy seas
  40. make heavy weather of something informal to carry something out with great difficulty or unnecessarily great effort
  41. make it
    1. informalto be successful in doing something
    2. (foll by with) slangto have sexual intercourse
    3. slangto inject a narcotic drug
  42. make like slang, mainly US and Canadian to imitate
  43. make love
    1. to have sexual intercourse
    2. archaicto engage in courtship
  44. make love to someone
    1. to have sexual intercourse with someone
    2. archaicto engage in courtship with someone
  45. make or break to bring success or ruin
  46. make time See time (def. 45)
  47. make water
    1. another term for urinate
    2. (of a boat, hull, etc) to let in water
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noun
  1. brand, type, or stylewhat make of car is that?
  2. the manner or way in which something is made
  3. disposition or character; make-up
  4. the act or process of making
  5. the amount or number made
  6. bridge the contract to be played
  7. cards a player's turn to shuffle
  8. on the make
    1. informalout for profit or conquest
    2. slangin search of a sexual partner
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See also make after, make away, make for, make of, make off, make out, make over, make-up, make with
Derived Formsmakable, adjective

Word Origin

Old English macian; related to Old Frisian makia to construct, Dutch maken, German machen to make

make2

noun archaic
  1. a peer or consort
  2. a mate or spouse
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Derived Formsmakeless, adjective

Word Origin

Old English gemaca mate; related to match 1
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

Word Origin and History for make believe

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.

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make

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.

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make-believe

n.

"pretence," 1811, from make (v.) + believe. As an adjective by 1824.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with make believe

make believe

Pretend, as in Let's make believe we're elves. This expression in effect means making oneself believe in an illusion. [Early 1700s]

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make

In addition to the idioms beginning with make

  • make a beeline for
  • make a break for
  • make a bundle
  • make a clean breast of
  • make a clean sweep
  • make a comeback
  • make a crack
  • make a date
  • make a day of it
  • make a dent in
  • make a difference
  • make advances
  • make a face
  • make a federal case of
  • make a fool of
  • make a fortune
  • make a fuss
  • make a go of
  • make a hash of
  • make a hit
  • make a hole in
  • make a killing
  • make a laughingstock of
  • make a living
  • make allowance for
  • make a long story short
  • make amends
  • make a monkey out of
  • make a mountain out of a molehill
  • make a name for oneself
  • make an appearance
  • make an appointment
  • make an ass of
  • make an end of
  • make an example of
  • make an exception
  • make an exhibition of oneself
  • make a night of it
  • make an impression
  • make a note of
  • make a nuisance of oneself
  • make a pass at
  • make a pig of oneself
  • make a pile
  • make a pitch for
  • make a play for
  • make a point of
  • make a practice of
  • make arrangements for
  • make a run for
  • make a scene
  • make as if
  • make a silk purse
  • make a stab at
  • make a stand
  • make a statement
  • make a stink
  • make a virtue of necessity
  • make away with
  • make bail
  • make believe
  • make bold
  • make book
  • make bricks without straw
  • make capital out of
  • make conversation
  • make demands on
  • make do
  • make ends meet
  • make eyes at
  • make fast work of
  • make for
  • make free with
  • make friends
  • make fun of
  • make good
  • make good time
  • make great strides
  • make haste
  • make hay while the sun shines
  • make head or tail of
  • make headway
  • make heavy weather
  • make history
  • make inroads into
  • make it
  • make it hot for
  • make it one's business
  • make it snappy
  • make it up
  • make it with
  • make light of
  • make like
  • make little of
  • make love
  • make mincemeat of
  • make mischief
  • make much of
  • make my day
  • make no bones about
  • make no difference
  • make no mistake
  • make nothing of
  • make off
  • make one's bed and lie in it
  • make one's blood boil
  • make one's blood run cold
  • make one's day
  • make one's ears burn
  • make oneself at home
  • make oneself scarce
  • make one's flesh creep
  • make one's hair stand on end
  • make one's head spin
  • make one sick
  • make one's mark
  • make one's mouth water
  • make one's peace with
  • make one's point
  • make one's way
  • make or break
  • make out
  • make out like a bandit
  • make over
  • make peace
  • make ready
  • make rounds
  • make sail
  • make sense
  • make short work of
  • make someone look good
  • make something of
  • make sport of
  • make stick
  • make sure
  • make the bed
  • make the best of it
  • make the dust fly
  • make the grade
  • make the most of
  • make the rounds
  • make the scene
  • make the sparks fly
  • make time
  • make tracks
  • make up
  • make up for lost time
  • make up one's mind
  • make up to
  • make use of
  • make waves
  • make way
  • make whoopee
  • make with

also see:

  • absence makes the heart grow fonder
  • all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
  • can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear
  • can't make head or tail of
  • kiss and make up
  • many hands make light work
  • might makes right
  • on the make
  • practice makes perfect
  • put in (make) an appearance
  • put the make on
  • run for it, make a
  • that makes two of us
  • two wrongs do not make a right
  • what makes one tick

Also see undermade.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.