Phrasal Verbs M1

magic away

magic away sth
magic sth away

to make sth disappear so quickly that it seems as if you have used magic

e.g. A spot of make-up will magic away any shadows and imperfections.

major in sth

to study sth as your main subject at university

e.g She majored in French at Middlebury,

make after sb/sth

to chase sb/sth

e.g. We made after him in a van.

make away with sth

to steal sth

e.g. Thieves raided the premises and made away with $10,000 in cash.

make for swh

to go in the direction of a place

e.g. He got up and made for the exit, linking fairly ill.

make for sth

to cause a particular result or situation

e.g. Poor service does not make for satisfied customers.

make of sth/sb

if you ask sb what they make of sb or sth, you want to know their opinion about that person or thing, usually because there is sth strange about them

e.g. What do you make of this letter?

make off

to leave swh quickly, especially in order to escape

e.g. The burglars made off as soon as the police arrived.

make off with sth

to steal sth and take it away

e.g. Somebody broke into the shop and made off with several TVs and videos.

make out sth/sb
make sth/sb out

to be able to see or hear sth or sb, usually with difficulty

e.g. I listened but couldn’t make out what they were saying.

make out sth
make sth out

1. to understand sth, especially the reason why sth has happened
   
   e.g. Can you make out how they did it?

2. to write all the necessary information on an official document (e.g. cheque, ticket, application)

   
   e.g. I made out a cheque for $50.

make out sth

to claim falsely that sth is true

e.g. He made out that he’d been living in Paris all year.

make sb/sth out to be sth

to describe sb or sth in a false way

e.g. British food isn’t as bad as it’s made out to be.

make out sb
make sb out

to understand why sb behaves in the way that they do

e.g. I though James would be pleased to see ud. I can’t make him out at all.

make out

1. to deal with a situation, especially in a successful way
   
   e.g. How is Don making out with his new school?
   

2. to kiss, touch and hold sb in a sexual way
   
   e.g. Those two were too busy making out to notice anyone else.

3. to succeed in having sex with sb
   
   e.g. He’s only interested in making out with her.

make over sth
make sth over

to give money or possessions to sb in an official way, so that they own them legally

e.g. He made over his fortune to his wife.

make over sb/sth
make sb/sth over

to change sb or sth (e.g. house) to give them a different appearance or a new use

e.g. The hair stylist want to make Carla over.

make-over

If sb has a make-over, they have their appearance changed by a specially trained person

e.g. She was furious - he suggested she get a haircut and a make-over.

make towards sth

to go in the direction of sth

e.g. He made towards the door but the stopped and turned to face me.

make up sth
make sth up

1. to say or to write sth that is not true in order to deceive sb
   e.g. Can’t you make up an excuse?
   

2. to invent sth (e.g. a story, game)
   e.g. We haven’t fixed a program for the concert. We’ll just take it up as we go along.

3. to make an amount of sth complete or as big as it should be

   e.g. We are hoping to make up time (=become less late)

4. to prepare sth so that it is ready to be used
   e.g. We made up a bed for her on the sofa

make up sth

to form the whole of sth

e.g. Muscle fibres are made up of (=contain) two proteins.

make-up

the combination of things which form sth

e.g. Membership of the committee does not reflect the racial make-up of the city.

make up

to forgive sb who you have argued with and to become friendly with them again

e.g. Have you made up with Daryl yet?

make up sb
make sb up

to put make-up on sb

e.g. He was made up as an old man, with heavy lines on his face and a grey wig.

make up for sth

to replace sth that has been lost or provide sth good in order to make a bad situation better

e.g. This year’s good harvest will make up for last year’s bad one