make sense


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

Words Nearby make sense

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

How to use make sense in a sentence

  • It is impossible to make sense without reading nolde for wolde.

  • The woman seemed to be talking a great deal and to say very much, but he could not make sense of it.

    Gallegher and Other Stories | Richard Harding Davis
  • The facts brought in by their reporters naturally sounded fantastic to the editors, so they rearranged them to "make sense."

    The Double Spy | Dan T. Moore
  • Marin sat and stared at the wall, turning over hypotheses in his mind, discarding them when they failed to make sense.

    Student Body | Floyd L. Wallace
  • Of course, I could only catch a few disjointed words, and out of them I tried to make sense.

    The Sign of Silence | William Le Queux