make up

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Jump to: navigation, search
See also make-up, and makeup

Contents

[edit] English

[edit] Verb

Infinitive
to make up

Third person singular
makes up

Simple past
made up

Past participle
made up

Present participle
making up

to make up (third-person singular simple present makes up, present participle making up, simple past and past participle made up)

  1. (transitive) to constitute; to compose; to form
    • 1920, M. D. Eder, Dream Psychology, translation of original by Sigmund Freud:
      The words "dream interpretation" were and still are indeed fraught with unpleasant, unscientific associations. They remind one of all sorts of childish, superstitious notions, which make up the thread and woof of dream books, read by none but the ignorant and the primitive.
  2. (transitive) to compensate, fill in or catch up
    He can make up the time next week.
    I plan to make up for my failed midterm.
    Cuba took limited free market-oriented measures to alleviate severe shortages of food, consumer goods, and services to make up for the ending of Soviet subsidies.
  3. (transitive) to invent, imagine, or concoct (a story, claim, etc.)
    He was a great storyteller and could make up a story on the spot.
  4. (transitive) to assemble, or mix
    I can make up a batch of stew in a few minutes, but it will take a two hours to cook.
  5. (transitive) to apply cosmetics or makeup
    Let's leave as soon I make up my face.
  6. (intransitive) to resolve, forgive or smooth over an argument or fight
    They fight a lot, but they always manage to make up.

[edit] Usage notes

  • The object in all transitive senses can come before or after the particle. If it is a pronoun, then it MUST come before the particle.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Related terms

Personal tools