make-or-break

[ meyk-er-breyk ]

/ ˈmeɪk ərˈbreɪk /

Save This Word!

adjective

either completely successful or utterly disastrous: a make-or-break marketing policy.

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of make-or-break

First recorded in 1915–20

How to use make-or-break in a sentence

As this list shows, punishments typically run to a short-ish jail sentence and/or a moderately hefty fine.
In Defense of Blasphemy|Michael Tomasky|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Genetics alone does not an eating disorder make, generally speaking, and Bulik points out that environment still plays a role.
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models|Carrie Arnold|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And yes, our values include tolerance of those who wish to make fun of religion.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Our Duty Is to Keep Charlie Hebdo Alive|Ayaan Hirsi Ali|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The court ruled she lacked the maturity to make her own medical decisions.
Should Teens Have The Right To Die?|Brandy Zadrozny|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST

And it must make sure that the platform of debate where we can freely exchange ideas is safe and sound.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Our Duty Is to Keep Charlie Hebdo Alive|Ayaan Hirsi Ali|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And to tell the truth, she couldn't help wishing he could see, so he could make the game livelier.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey
She did not need a great cook-book; She knew how much and what it took To make things good and sweet and light.
Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I (of 17)|Various
Now this setting up of an orderly law-abiding self seems to me to imply that there are impulses which make for order.
Children's Ways|James Sully
Give a sweet savour, and a memorial of fine flour, and make a fat offering, and then give place to the physician.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
Those in whom the impulse is strong and dominant are perhaps those who in later years make the good society actors.
Children's Ways|James Sully

Other Idioms and Phrases with make-or-break

make or break

Cause either total success or total ruin, as in This assignment will make or break her as a reporter. This rhyming expression, first recorded in Charles Dickens's Barnaby Rudge (1840), has largely replaced the much older (16th-century) alliterative synonym make or mar, at least in America.