Emily Dickinson Lexicon

MAKE, v.t. [pret. and pp. made. Sax. macian; G. machen; D. maaken; Dan. mager, to contrive; mager paa, to make, to form, to mold, to contrive, to practice. The primary sense is to cause to act or do, to press, drive, strain or compel, as in the phrases, make your servant work, make him go.]

1. To compel; to constrain. They should be made to rise at an early hour. Locke.
2. To form of materials; to fashion; to mold into shape; to cause to exist in a different form, or as a distinct thing. He fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf. Ex. xxxii. God not only made, but created; not only made the work, but the materials. Dwight, Theol.
3. To create; to cause to exist; to form from nothing. God made the materials of the earth and of all worlds.
4. To compose; to constitute as parts, materials or ingredients united in a whole. These several sums make the whole amount. The heaven, the air, the earth, and boundless sea / Make but one temple for the deity. Waller.
5. To form by art. And art with her contending, doth aspire / T' excel the natural with made delights. Spenser.
6. To produce or effect, as the agent. Call for Sampson, that he may make us sport. Judges xvi.
7. To produce, as the cause; to procure; to obtain. Good tillage is necessary to make good crops. Wealth maketh many friends. Prov. xix.
8. To do; to perform; to execute; as, to make a journey; to make a long voyage.
9. To cause to have any quality, as by change or alteration. Wealth may make a man proud; beauty may make a woman vain; a due sense of human weakness should make us humble.
10. To bring into any state or condition; to constitute. See I have made thee a God to Pharaoh. Exod. vii. Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Exod. ii.
11. To contract; to establish; as, to make friendship. Rowe.
12. To keep; as, to make abode. Dryden.
13. To raise to good fortune; to secure in riches or happiness; as when it is said, he is made for this world. Who makes or ruins with a smile or frown. Dryden.
14. To suffer. He accuses Neptune unjustly, who makes shipwreck a second time. Bacon.
15. To incur; as, to make a loss. [Improper.] Dryden.
16. To commit; to do. I will neither plead my age nor sickness in excuse of the faults which I made. [Little used.] Dryden.
17. To intend or to do; to purpose to do. Gomez, what mak'st thou here, with a whole brotherhood of city bailiffs? [Not used.] Dryden. We now say, what doest thou here?
18. To raise, as profit; to gain; to collect; as, to make money in trade or by husbandry; to make an estate by steady industry.
19. To discover; to arrive in sight of; a seaman's phrase. They made the land at nine o'clock on the larboard bow, distant five leagues.
20. To reach; to arrive at; as, to make a port or harbor; a seaman's phrase.
21. To gain by advance; as, to make little way with a head wind; we made our way to the next village. This phrase often implies difficulty.
22. To provide; as, to make a dinner or entertainment
23. To put or place; as, to make a difference between strict right and expedience.
24. To turn; to convert, as to use. Whate'er they catch / Their fury makes an instrument of war. Dryden.
25. To represent. He is not the fool you make him, that is, as your representation exhibits him.
26. To constitute; to form. It is melancholy to think that sensual pleasure makes the happiness of a great part of mankind.
27. To induce; to cause. Self-confidence makes a man rely too much on his own strength and resources.
28. To put into a suitable or regular form for use; as, to make a bed.
29. To fabricate; to forge. He made the story himself.
30. To compose; to form and write; as, to make verses or an oration.
31. To cure; to dry and prepare for preservation; as, to make hay. To make amends, to make good; to give adequate compensation; to replace the value or amount of loss. To make account of, to esteem; to regard. Bacon. To make away, to kill; to destroy. Sidney. Addison. #2. To alienate; to transfer. Waller. We now usually say, to make over property. To make free with, to treat with freedom; to treat without ceremony. Pope. To make good, to maintain; to defend. I'll either die, or I'll make good the place. Dryden. #2. To fulfill; to accomplish; as, to make good one's word, promise or engagement. #3. To make compensation for; to supply an equivalent; as, to make good a loss or damage. To make light of, to consider as of no consequence; to treat with indifference or contempt. They made light of it and went their way. Matth. xxii. To make love, or to make suit, to court; to attempt to gain the favor or affection. To make merry, to feast; to be joyful or jovial. Bacon. To make much of, to treat with fondness or esteem; to consider as of great value, or as giving great pleasure. To make of, to understand. He knows not what to make of the news, that is, he does not well understand it; he knows not how to consider or view it. #2. To produce from; to effect. I am astonished that those who have appeared against this paper, have made so very little of it. Addison. #3. To consider; to account; to esteem. Makes she no more of me than of a slave? Dryden. To make over, to transfer the title of; to convey; to alienate. He made over his estate in trust or in fee. To make out, to learn; to discover; to obtain a clear understanding of. I can not make out the meaning or sense of this difficult passage. Antiquaries are not able to make out the inscription on this medal. #2. To prove; to evince; to establish by evidence or argument. The plaintif, not being able to make out his ease, withdrew the suit. In the passages from divines, most of the reasonings which make out both my propositions are already suggested. Atterbury. #3. To furnish; to find or supply. He promised to pay, but was not able to make out the money or the whole sum. To make sure of, to consider as certain. Dryden. #2. To secure to one's possession, as, to make sure of the game. To make up, to collect into a sum or mass; as, to make up the amount of rent; to make up a bundle or package. #2. To reconcile; to compose; as, to make up a difference or quarrel. #3. To repair; as, to make up a hedge. Ezek. xiii. #4. To supply what is wanting. A dollar is wanted to make up the stipulated sum. #5. To compose, as ingredients or parts. Oh, he was all made up of love and charms! Addison. The parties among us are made up of moderate whigs and presbyterians. Swift. #6. To shape; as, to make up a mass into pills. #7. To assume a particular form of features; as, to make up a face; whence, to make up a lip, is to pout. #8. To compensate; to make good; as, to make up a loss. #9. To settle; to adjust, or to arrange for settlement; as, to make up accounts. #10. To determine; to bring to a definite conclusion; as, to make up one's mind. In seamen's language, to make sail, to increase the quantity of sail already extended. To make sternway, to move with the stern foremost. To make water, to leak. To make words, to multiply words.