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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

make.

To create.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/meɪk/[meɪkʲ][meːk]Canada, Multicultural-London-English/mɛk/Northumbria
  1. To create. To build, construct, produce, or originate.

    transitive
    We made a bird feeder for our yard.
    I'll make a man out of him yet.
  2. To create. To write or compose.

    transitive
    I made a poem for her wedding.
    He made a will.
  3. To create. To bring about; to effect or produce by means of some action.

    transitive
    make war
    They were just a bunch of ne'er-do-wells who went around making trouble for honest men.
  4. To create. To create (the universe), especially (in Christianity) from nothing.

    transitive
    God made earth and heaven.
  5. To create. To prepare (food); to cook (food).

    transitive
    I'm making cereal for breakfast. Who wants some?
  6. To behave, to act.

    colloquial · intransitive
    To make like a deer caught in the headlights.
    They made nice together, as if their fight never happened.
  7. To tend; to contribute; to have effect; with for or against.

    intransitive
  8. To constitute.

    They make a cute couple.
    This makes the third infraction.
  9. To add up to, have a sum of.

    transitive
    Two and four make six.
  10. To interpret.

    transitive
    I don’t know what to make of it.
    They couldn't make anything of the inscription.
  11. To bring into success.

    stressed · transitive · usually
    This company is what made you.
    She married into wealth and so has it made.
  12. To cause to be.

    ditransitive
    The blisters on my foot made it a problem to walk without a cane.
    Caesar made rich men of his supporters back in Rome.
  13. To cause to appear to be; to represent as.

    Homer makes Aphrodite the daughter of Zeus, unlike Hesiod who depicted her as born from the sea foam.
  14. To cause (to do something); to compel (to do something).

    ditransitive
    You're making her cry.
    I was made to feel like a criminal.
  15. To force to do.

    ditransitive
    The teacher made the student study harder.
    Don’t let them make you suffer.
  16. To indicate or suggest to be.

    ditransitive
    His past mistakes don’t make him a bad person.
  17. To cover neatly with bedclothes.

    transitive
  18. To recognise, identify, spot.

    US · slang · transitive
  19. To arrive at a destination, usually at or by a certain time.

    colloquial · transitive
    We should make Cincinnati by 7 tonight.
    I won't be able to make dinner; something's come up at work.
  20. To proceed (in a direction).

    colloquial · intransitive
    They made westward over the snowy mountains.
    Make for the hills! It's a wildfire!
  21. To cover (a given distance) by travelling.

    transitive
  22. To move at (a speed).

    transitive
    The ship could make 20 knots an hour in calm seas.
    This baby can make 220 miles an hour.
  23. To appoint; to name.

  24. To induct into the Mafia or a similar organization (as a made man).

    slang · transitive
  25. To defecate or urinate.

    colloquial · euphemistic · intransitive
  26. To earn, to gain (money, points, membership or status).

    transitive
    They hope to make a bigger profit.
    He didn't make the choir after his voice changed.
  27. To achieve coverage in; to appear in.

    transitive
  28. To pay, to cover (an expense); chiefly used after expressions of inability.

    transitive
  29. To compose verses; to write poetry; to versify.

    intransitive · obsolete
  30. To enact; to establish.

  31. To develop into; to prove to be.

    She'll make a fine president.
    Classical literature usually makes heavy reading.
  32. To study or train so as to become (a profession); to grow up to be (something).

    Appalachia
    He'll make a doctor one day.
  33. To form or formulate in the mind.

    make plans
    made a questionable decision
  34. To perform a feat.

    make a leap
    make a pass
  35. To gain sufficient audience to warrant its existence.

    intransitive
    In the end, my class didn't make, which left me with a bit of free time.
  36. To act in a certain manner; to have to do; to manage; to interfere; to be active; often in the phrase to meddle or make.

    obsolete
  37. To increase; to augment; to accrue.

    obsolete
  38. To be engaged or concerned in.

    obsolete
  39. To cause to be (in a specified place), used after a subjective what.

    archaic
  40. To take the virginity of.

    euphemistic · transitive
  41. To have sexual intercourse with.

    transitive
  42. Of water, to flow toward land; to rise.

    intransitive
  43. To establish two or more men on (a point) so that it cannot be captured.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English macen, machiæ, macian, macke, mak, make, maken, makiȝe, from Old English macian (“to build, make, work”), from Proto-West Germanic *makōn (“to build, make, work”), from *mak (“agreeable, comfortable, fit, suitable”), from Proto-Germanic *makaz (“agreeable, comfortable, fit, suitable”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂ǵ-, *meh₂ḱ- (“to knead”) or *meg- (“to be comfortable, pleasant”). Related to match. Cognates Cognate with Scots mak (“to make”), Yola maak, maake (“to make”), North Frisian maage, maaki, mååge (“to make”), Saterland Frisian moakje (“to make; to repair; to prepare; to preach; to earn”), West Frisian meitsje (“to make”), Alemannic German mache (“to make; to do”), Bavarian måcha, måchn (“to make; to do; to go; to cause; to play; to matter; to look”), Cimbrian machan (“to make”), Dutch and Low German maken (“to make”), German machen (“to make; to do; to go; to cause; to play; to fare; to look”), Luxembourgish maachen, man (“to make; to do; to take; to equal; to put”), Mòcheno mòchen (“to make”), Vilamovian mahha (“to make; to do”), Yiddish מאַכן (makhn, “to create, make; to do; to say”); also probably Irish mám (“yoke; duty, obligation; function, service”), Latin mācerō (“to soften; to weaken; to mortify; to torture”), Ancient Greek μάσσω (mássō, “to handle, knead; to wipe”), Bulgarian ма́жа (máža, “to smear; to oil”), Czech mazat (“to lubricate; to spread; to smear; to scribble; to erase”), Polish mazać (“to smear; to scribble; to pule, whimper”), Russian ма́зать (mázatʹ, “to oil; to paint; to smear; to soil; to miss”), Serbo-Croatian ма̏зати, mȁzati (“to smear; to dirty”), Ukrainian ма́зати (mázaty, “to smear”), Old Armenian մած (mac, “glued together, joined; coagulated, curdled; adhesive, sticking; compact; dense”), Hindi मचाना (macānā, “to cause, raise, wreak”).

noun/meɪk/[meɪkʲ][meːk]Canada, Multicultural-London-English/mɛk/Northumbria
  1. Brand; marque; manufacturer; maker.

    we service all makes and models
    Q: What make and model of car do you drive? A: It's a Buick LaCrosse.
  2. Manner or style of construction (style of how a thing is made).

  3. Origin (of a manufactured article); manufacture; production.

    The camera was of German make.
    The camera was of recent make.
  4. A person's character or disposition.

  5. The act or process of making something, especially in industrial manufacturing.

    dated
  6. Quantity produced, especially of materials.

    uncountable
  7. A software utility for automatically building large applications, or an implementation of this utility.

  8. Identification: recognition (of identity), especially from police records or evidence.

    slang
  9. A promotion.

    slang
  10. A homemade project, particularly one demonstrated on television.

  11. Turn to declare the trump for a hand (in bridge), or to shuffle the cards.

  12. A made basket.

  13. The closing of an electrical circuit.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English macen, machiæ, macian, macke, mak, make, maken, makiȝe, from Old English macian (“to build, make, work”), from Proto-West Germanic *makōn (“to build, make, work”), from *mak (“agreeable, comfortable, fit, suitable”), from Proto-Germanic *makaz (“agreeable, comfortable, fit, suitable”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂ǵ-, *meh₂ḱ- (“to knead”) or *meg- (“to be comfortable, pleasant”). Related to match. Cognates Cognate with Scots mak (“to make”), Yola maak, maake (“to make”), North Frisian maage, maaki, mååge (“to make”), Saterland Frisian moakje (“to make; to repair; to prepare; to preach; to earn”), West Frisian meitsje (“to make”), Alemannic German mache (“to make; to do”), Bavarian måcha, måchn (“to make; to do; to go; to cause; to play; to matter; to look”), Cimbrian machan (“to make”), Dutch and Low German maken (“to make”), German machen (“to make; to do; to go; to cause; to play; to fare; to look”), Luxembourgish maachen, man (“to make; to do; to take; to equal; to put”), Mòcheno mòchen (“to make”), Vilamovian mahha (“to make; to do”), Yiddish מאַכן (makhn, “to create, make; to do; to say”); also probably Irish mám (“yoke; duty, obligation; function, service”), Latin mācerō (“to soften; to weaken; to mortify; to torture”), Ancient Greek μάσσω (mássō, “to handle, knead; to wipe”), Bulgarian ма́жа (máža, “to smear; to oil”), Czech mazat (“to lubricate; to spread; to smear; to scribble; to erase”), Polish mazać (“to smear; to scribble; to pule, whimper”), Russian ма́зать (mázatʹ, “to oil; to paint; to smear; to soil; to miss”), Serbo-Croatian ма̏зати, mȁzati (“to smear; to dirty”), Ukrainian ма́зати (mázaty, “to smear”), Old Armenian մած (mac, “glued together, joined; coagulated, curdled; adhesive, sticking; compact; dense”), Hindi मचाना (macānā, “to cause, raise, wreak”).

noun/meɪk/[meɪkʲ][meːk]Canada, Multicultural-London-English/mɛk/Northumbria
  1. Past, present, or future target of seduction (usually female).

    slang
  2. Mate; a spouse or companion; a match.

    UK · dialectal
Where this word comes from

From Middle English make, imake, ȝemace, from Old English ġemaca (“a mate, an equal, companion, peer”), from Proto-West Germanic *gamakō, from Proto-Germanic *gamakô (“companion, comrade”), from Proto-Indo-European *maǵ- (“to knead, oil”). Reinforced by Old Norse maki (“an equal”). Cognate with Icelandic maki (“spouse”), Swedish make (“spouse, husband”), Danish mage (“companion, fellow, mate”). Doublet of match.

noun/meɪk/[meɪkʲ][meːk]Canada, Multicultural-London-English/mɛk/Northumbria
  1. A halfpenny.

    Ireland · Northern-England · Scotland · archaic
Where this word comes from

Uncertain.

noun/meɪk/[meɪkʲ][meːk]Canada, Multicultural-London-English/mɛk/Northumbria
  1. An agricultural tool resembling a scythe, used to cut (harvest) certain plants such as peas, reeds, or tares.

    East-Anglia · Essex · obsolete
Where this word comes from

Origin unclear.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.