To make one's way

make make, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {made} (m[=a]d); p. pr. & vb. n. {making}.] [OE. maken, makien, AS. macian; akin to OS. mak?n, OFries. makia, D. maken, G. machen, OHG. mahh?n to join, fit, prepare, make, Dan. mage. Cf. {Match} an equal.] 1. To cause to exist; to bring into being; to form; to produce; to frame; to fashion; to create. Hence, in various specific uses or applications: (a) To form of materials; to cause to exist in a certain form; to construct; to fabricate. [1913 Webster]

He . . . fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf. --Ex. xxxii. 4. [1913 Webster] (b) To produce, as something artificial, unnatural, or false; -- often with up; as, to make up a story. [1913 Webster]

And Art, with her contending, doth aspire To excel the natural with made delights. --Spenser. [1913 Webster] (c) To bring about; to bring forward; to be the cause or agent of; to effect, do, perform, or execute; -- often used with a noun to form a phrase equivalent to the simple verb that corresponds to such noun; as, to make complaint, for to complain; to make record of, for to record; to make abode, for to abide, etc. [1913 Webster]

Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. --Judg. xvi. 25. [1913 Webster]

Wealth maketh many friends. --Prov. xix. 4. [1913 Webster]

I will neither plead my age nor sickness in excuse of the faults which I have made. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] (d) To execute with the requisite formalities; as, to make a bill, note, will, deed, etc. (e) To gain, as the result of one's efforts; to get, as profit; to make acquisition of; to have accrue or happen to one; as, to make a large profit; to make an error; to make a loss; to make money. [1913 Webster]

He accuseth Neptune unjustly who makes shipwreck a second time. --Bacon. [1913 Webster] (f) To find, as the result of calculation or computation; to ascertain by enumeration; to find the number or amount of, by reckoning, weighing, measurement, and the like; as, he made the distance of; to travel over; as, the ship makes ten knots an hour; he made the distance in one day. (h) To put in a desired or desirable condition; to cause to thrive. [1913 Webster]

Who makes or ruins with a smile or frown. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

2. To cause to be or become; to put into a given state verb, or adjective; to constitute; as, to make known; to make public; to make fast. [1913 Webster]

Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? --Ex. ii. 14. [1913 Webster]

See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh. --Ex. vii. 1. [1913 Webster]

Note: When used reflexively with an adjective, the reflexive pronoun is often omitted; as, to make merry; to make bold; to make free, etc. [1913 Webster]

3. To cause to appear to be; to constitute subjectively; to esteem, suppose, or represent. [1913 Webster]

He is not that goose and ass that Valla would make him. --Baker. [1913 Webster]

4. To require; to constrain; to compel; to force; to cause; to occasion; -- followed by a noun or pronoun and infinitive. [1913 Webster]

Note: In the active voice the to of the infinitive is usually omitted. [1913 Webster]

I will make them hear my words. --Deut. iv. 10. [1913 Webster]

They should be made to rise at their early hour. --Locke. [1913 Webster]

5. To become; to be, or to be capable of being, changed or fashioned into; to do the part or office of; to furnish the material for; as, he will make a good musician; sweet cider makes sour vinegar; wool makes warm clothing. [1913 Webster]

And old cloak makes a new jerkin. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

6. To compose, as parts, ingredients, or materials; to constitute; to form; to amount to; as, a pound of ham makes a hearty meal. [1913 Webster]

The heaven, the air, the earth, and boundless sea, Make but one temple for the Deity. --Waller. [1913 Webster]

7. To be engaged or concerned in. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

Gomez, what makest thou here, with a whole brotherhood of city bailiffs? --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

8. To reach; to attain; to arrive at or in sight of. ``And make the Libyan shores.'' --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

They that sail in the middle can make no land of either side. --Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster]

{To make a bed}, to prepare a bed for being slept on, or to put it in order.

{To make a card} (Card Playing), to take a trick with it.

{To make account}. See under {Account}, n.

{To make account of}, to esteem; to regard.

{To make away}. (a) To put out of the way; to kill; to destroy. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

If a child were crooked or deformed in body or mind, they made him away. --Burton. [1913 Webster] (b) To alienate; to transfer; to make over. [Obs.] --Waller.

{To make believe}, to pretend; to feign; to simulate.

{To make bold}, to take the liberty; to venture.

{To make the cards} (Card Playing), to shuffle the pack.

{To make choice of}, to take by way of preference; to choose.

{To make danger}, to make experiment. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.

{To make default} (Law), to fail to appear or answer.

{To make the doors}, to shut the door. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

Make the doors upon a woman's wit, and it will out at the casement. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

{To make free with}. See under {Free}, a.

{To make good}. See under {Good}.

{To make head}, to make headway.

{To make light of}. See under {Light}, a.

{To make little of}. (a) To belittle. (b) To accomplish easily.

{To make love to}. See under {Love}, n.

{To make meat}, to cure meat in the open air. [Colloq. Western U. S.]

{To make merry}, to feast; to be joyful or jovial.

{To make much of}, to treat with much consideration,, attention, or fondness; to value highly.

{To make no bones}. See under {Bone}, n.

{To make no difference}, to have no weight or influence; to be a matter of indifference.

{To make no doubt}, to have no doubt.

{To make no matter}, to have no weight or importance; to make no difference.

{To make oath} (Law), to swear, as to the truth of something, in a prescribed form of law.

{To make of}. (a) To understand or think concerning; as, not to know what to make of the news. (b) To pay attention to; to cherish; to esteem; to account. ``Makes she no more of me than of a slave.'' --Dryden.

{To make one's law} (Old Law), to adduce proof to clear one's self of a charge.

{To make out}. (a) To find out; to discover; to decipher; as, to make out the meaning of a letter. (b) to gain sight of; to recognize; to discern; to descry; as, as they approached the city, he could make out the tower of the Chrysler Building. (c) To prove; to establish; as, the plaintiff was unable to make out his case. (d) To make complete or exact; as, he was not able to make out the money. (d) to write out; to write down; -- used especially of a bank check or bill; as, he made out a check for the cost of the dinner; the workman made out a bill and handed it to him.

{To make over}, to transfer the title of; to convey; to alienate; as, he made over his estate in trust or in fee.

{To make sail}. (Naut.) (a) To increase the quantity of sail already extended. (b) To set sail.

{To make shift}, to manage by expedients; as, they made shift to do without it. [Colloq.].

{To make sternway}, to move with the stern foremost; to go or drift backward.

{To make strange}, to act in an unfriendly manner or as if surprised; to treat as strange; as, to make strange of a request or suggestion.

{To make suit to}, to endeavor to gain the favor of; to court.

{To make sure}. See under {Sure}.

{To make up}. (a) To collect into a sum or mass; as, to make up the amount of rent; to make up a bundle or package. (b) To reconcile; to compose; as, to make up a difference or quarrel. (c) To supply what is wanting in; to complete; as, a dollar is wanted to make up the stipulated sum. (d) To compose, as from ingredients or parts; to shape, prepare, or fabricate; as, to make up a mass into pills; to make up a story. [1913 Webster]

He was all made up of love and charms! --Addison. [1913 Webster] (e) To compensate; to make good; as, to make up a loss. (f) To adjust, or to arrange for settlement; as, to make up accounts. (g) To dress and paint for a part, as an actor; as, he was well made up.

{To make up a face}, to distort the face as an expression of pain or derision.

{To make up one's mind}, to reach a mental determination; to resolve.

{To make way}, or {To make one's way}. (a) To make progress; to advance. (b) To open a passage; to clear the way.

{To make words}, to multiply words. [1913 Webster]