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make out

UK/meɪk aʊt/US/meɪk aʊt/
phraseB22 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To make out is to manage to see or hear something faint. It is there, and only just.

It usually appears in the negative, since being unable to make out a signature or a word on a recording is the commonest use. There are three other senses: making out that something is true means claiming it, usually falsely; making out a cheque means writing it; and how somebody is making out means how they are getting on. American English adds a sense of kissing.

Definitions of make out

  1. 1phrasemake outTo manage to see or hear something indistinct.B2

    “I could just make out a figure at the gate.”

  2. 2phraseclaimTo claim or pretend that something is the case.C1

    “He tried to make out that it was not his idea.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 4 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word