make sense

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 .

Related Words

• get on