▸ make off with PHRASAL VERB If you make off with something, you steal it and take it away with you. □ [V P P n] Masked robbers broke in and made off with $8,000.
▸ make out
1 PHRASAL VERB If you make something out , you manage with difficulty to see or hear it. □ [V P n] I could just make out a tall, pale, shadowy figure tramping through the undergrowth. □ [V n P ] She thought she heard a name. She couldn't make it out, though. □ [V P wh] I heard the voices, but couldn't make out what they were saying.
2 PHRASAL VERB If you try to make something out , you try to understand it or decide whether or not it is true. □ [V n P ] I couldn't make it out at all. □ [V P wh] It is hard to make out what criteria are used. □ [V P ] This was, as far as I can make out, the only time he's had proper employment.
3 PHRASAL VERB If you make out that something is the case or make something out to be the case, you try to cause people to believe that it is the case. □ [V P that] They were trying to make out that I'd actually done it. □ [V n P to-inf] I don't think it was as glorious as everybody made it out to be. □ [V P ] He was never half as bad as his teachers made out.
4 PHRASAL VERB If you make out a case for something, you try to establish or prove that it is the best thing to do. □ [V P n + for/against ] You could certainly make out a case for this point of view. [Also V n P ]
5 PHRASAL VERB When you make out a cheque, receipt, or order form, you write all the necessary information on it. □ [V n P + to ] If you would like to send a donation, you can make a cheque out to Feed the Children. □ [V P n] I'm going to make out a receipt for you.
6 PHRASAL VERB If two people are making out , they are engaged in sexual activity. [mainly AM , INFORMAL ] □ …pictures of the couple making out on the beach. [Also V P + with ]
▸ make up
1 PHRASAL VERB The people or things that make up something are the members or parts that form that thing. □ [V P n] UK shoppers make up the largest percentage of foreign buyers. □ [be V -ed P + of ] Insects are made up of tens of thousands of proteins. [Also V n P ]
2 PHRASAL VERB If you make up something such as a story or excuse, you invent it, sometimes in order to deceive people. □ [V P n] I think it's very unkind of you to make up stories about him. □ [V n P ] I'm not making it up. The character exists in real life.
3 PHRASAL VERB If you make yourself up or if someone else makes you up , make-up such as powder or lipstick is put on your face. □ [V n P ] She spent too much time making herself up. □ [V n P ] She chose Maggie to make her up for her engagement photographs. □ [V P n] I can't be bothered to make up my face.
4 PHRASAL VERB If you make up an amount, you add something to it so that it is as large as it should be. □ [V P n] We can't cover our costs, and rely on donors to make up the difference. □ [V n P ] The team had six professionals and made the number up with five amateurs. □ [V n P + to ] For every £100 you save, I will make it up to £125.
5 PHRASAL VERB If you make up time or hours, you work some extra hours because you have previously taken some time off work. □ [V P n] They'll have to make up time lost during the strike. [Also V n P ]
6 PHRASAL VERB If two people make up or make it up after a quarrel or disagreement, they become friends again. □ [V P ] She came back and they made up. □ [V P n] They never made up the quarrel. □ [V P + with ] They should make up with their ex-enemy in the West. □ [V n P + with ] I'll make it up with him again.
7 PHRASAL VERB If you make up something such as food or medicine, you prepare it by mixing or putting different things together. □ [V P n] Prepare the souffle dish before making up the souffle mixture. [Also V n P ]
8 PHRASAL VERB If you make up a bed, you put sheets and blankets on it so that someone can sleep there. □ [V P n] Her mother made up a bed in her old room.
▸ make up for PHRASAL VERB To make up for a bad experience or the loss of something means to make the situation better or make the person involved happier. □ [V P P n] Ask for an extra compensation payment to make up for the stress you have been caused.
▸ make up to PHRASAL VERB If you say that you will make it up to someone, you are promising that you will do something good for them after they have been upset or disappointed, especially by you. □ [V n P P n] I'll make it up to you, I promise. □ [V n P P n + for ] I must make it up to him for the awful intrusion of last night.
ma ke-belie ve
1 N‑UNCOUNT If someone is living in a make-believe world, they are pretending that things are better, different, or more exciting than they really are instead of facing up to reality. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ …the glamorous make-believe world of show business.
2 N‑UNCOUNT You use make-believe to refer to the activity involved when a child plays a game in which they pretend something, for example that they are someone else. □ She used to play games of make-believe with her elder sister. □ …his make-believe playmate.
3 ADJ You use make-believe to describe things, for example in a play or film, that imitate or copy something real, but which are not what they appear to be. □ The violence in those films was too unreal, it was make-believe.
make|over /me I koʊvə r / (makeovers )