Commonly used english part 52 doc

make a clean breast of something - confess something bad that you have done in order not to feel guilty/bad The woman made a clean breast of things and worked hard to start over.. make a

make a check out (to someone)

- write a check to give to someone with their name on it

I made a check out to the animal hospital after they cared for our dog

make a clean breast of (something)

- confess something bad that you have done in order not to feel guilty/bad

The woman made a clean breast of things and worked hard to start over

make a clean sweep of (something)

- do something completely or thoroughly

The new political party made a clean sweep of the large cities during the election

make a comeback

- return to one's former (successful) career

The boxer has been training very hard in his attempt to make a comeback

make a day of it

- do something all day

We decided to make a day of it and spend the day at the beach

make a dent in (something)

- make progress doing something

We worked hard all day but we didn`t make a dent in the amount of work left to do

make a difference

- cause a change in a situation

It doesn`t make a difference whether he comes to the meeting or not

make a face (at someone)

- make a strange face to ridicule someone

The little girl made a face at the boy in her class

make a fast/quick buck

- make money with little effort

The two men tried to make a fast buck during the construction boom

make a fool out of (someone)

- make someone look foolish

The secretary made a fool out of her boss when she argued with him at the meeting

make a fuss (over someone or something)

- worry about or make a bother about someone or something

My grandmother always makes a fuss over me when I go to visit her

make a go of (something)

- succeed at something, produce good results

Although he tried hard he was never able to make a go of his business

make a great show of (something)

- do something in a showy fashion

The woman made a great show of telling everybody about her new and rich

boyfriend

make a hit

- be successful

Her cake made a hit at the party

make a killing

- make a large amount of money

Her mother made a killing on the real estate market before she retired

make a laughingstock of (someone)

- do something that makes people laugh at someone

I made a laughingstock of myself when I dropped the plate of crackers at the party

make a living

- earn enough money to live

He cannot make a living by only doing a part-time job

make a long story short

- bring a story to an end by omitting some details

I had to make a long story short in order to finish my story and leave to catch my train home

make a meal of (something)

- eat one main dish/food as an entire meal

We were able to make a meal of the chicken that my mother gave us last night

make a mistake

- make an error

I made a mistake on the math test

make a mountain out of a molehill

- make a big problem out of a small problem

He is making a mountain out of a molehill by worrying about his son`s problem

make a name for oneself

- become well-known or famous

He has made a name for himself in the field of computers

make a night/evening of (doing something)

- do something for the entire night/evening

We decided to stay home and make a night of playing cards

make a note of (something)

- to write something on a piece of paper

I made a note of the people that I was going to phone on the weekend

make a nuisance of oneself

- be a constant bother

I didn't phone the apartment manager to complain about the sink because I didn't want

to make a nuisance of myself

make a pass at (someone)

- make romantic advances to someone

The man was fired because he made a pass at one of the women who he works with

make a pitch (for someone or something)

- attempt to promote/sell/advance someone or something

The city made a pitch for more money from other levels of government to help build a new sports stadium

make a play for (someone)

- try to make someone romantically interested in you

I worked hard all term to make a play for a woman in my computer class

make a point

- state something important

The speaker used some good examples in order to make a point during his speech

make a point of (doing/saying something)

- do or say something with a definite intent

He always makes a point of visiting his aunt when he is in town

make a practice of (something)

- turn something into a habit

I make a practice of going to bed at 11:00 PM every evening

make a reservation

- reserve a seat in an airplane/restaurant etc in advance

I phoned the airline last night so that I could make a reservation

make a run for it

- dash for safety, make a quick escape

I made a run for it as soon as the class finished

make a scene

- make a public display or disturbance

The woman made a scene in the supermarket when she saw the liquid soap on the floor

make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

- create something valuable out of something of no value

You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear and the fact is that the woman is not a good singer and will probably never sing in the choir

make a stink (about something)

- make a major issue out of something

The woman went to the store to make a stink about the broken CD player that she had bought

make an all-out effort

- make a big effort

The police made an all-out effort to discover who had robbed the three banks

make an appearance

- appear somewhere, appear in a performance

The famous actor made an appearance at the party for the politician

make an appointment (with someone)

- schedule a meeting with someone

I made an appointment with my dentist to have my teeth checked

make an example of (someone)

- make a public issue out of someone's bad behavior

The teacher punished the student severely in order to make an example of him for the other students

make an exception (for someone)

- suspend a rule for someone for one time

The security guard made an exception for me and allowed me to enter the parking lot after it was closed

make an impression (on someone)

- produce a memorable effect on someone

The elderly man made an impression on me and I was very sad when I heard that he had died

make an issue of (something)

- turn something into an important matter

Our supervisor often tries to make an issue of events that are not important at all

make allowances for (someone or something)

- allow extra time for someone or something, make excuses for someone or something

We had to make allowances for the fact that the new employee was very slow

make amends for (something)

- do something to compensate for an error/injury/loss

I was forced to do some extra work to make amends for my mistake of last week

make arrangements for (someone or something)

- make plans for someone or something

We made arrangements for a small wedding for my cousin

make as if (to do something)

- act as if one were about to do something

The driver made as if he was going to turn right but he actually turned left

make away with (something)

- take or carry away something

The cat made away with the fish that was sitting on top of the kitchen counter

make believe

- act as if something is true although one knows that it is not, pretend

The children were playing make believe and pretended that they lived in a castle

make book on (something)

- make or accept bets on something

The gamblers were planning to make book on the coming election

make cracks (about someone or something)

- ridicule or make jokes about someone or something

The radio announcer made cracks about the famous athlete during the interview

make do with (something)

- substitute one thing for another

If there is no cream for the coffee we will have to make do with milk

make ends meet

- be able to live on the money that one has

It is hard to make ends meet on his salary

make eyes at (someone)

- flirt with someone, look at someone to try and attract them

The boy was making eyes at the girl in his history class

make for (someone or somewhere)

- go/start toward someone or somewhere

As soon as it began to get dark we decided to make for a quiet place to camp

make free with (someone or something)

- take advantage or use something as if it were one's own

My roommate always makes free with my clothes which I don't like at all

make friends

- form friendships with people or animals

She is shy and is not able to make friends easily

make fun of (someone or something)

- ridicule someone or something

The students were making fun of the girl with the short hair

make good money

- earn a large amount of money

My friend is able to make good money selling computer equipment in the evenings

make good on (something)

- fulfill a promise, make something come true repay a debt

Our boss made good on his promise to give everyone a raise in the new year

make good time

- be successful in arriving at a destination in a short time or quicker than you expected

We made good time yesterday and arrived home before it got dark

make hay while the sun shines

- do something at the right time, take advantage of an opportunity

You should make hay while the sun shines and paint the house while the weather is good

not make head nor tail of (something)

- not be able to understand something

We could not make head nor tail of what he was trying to say during his speech

make it

- succeed

The woman worked hard and was able to make it in the publishing industry

make (it/an event)

- attend an event

I was feeling sick so I was not able to make the monthly meeting of our club

make it as far as

- travel as far as somewhere, endure something until you must stop

We made it as far as the city limits before our car began to have problems

make it hot for (someone)

- make things difficult for someone

The questions from the reporters were making it hot for the city council member