make out

See also: makeout and make-out

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /meɪk aʊt/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /meɪk æɔt/, /meɪk æʊt/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /meɪk ʌʊt/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /meɪk ɘʉt/

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To draw up (a document etc.), to designate (a cheque) to a given recipient, payee. [from 15th c.]

   Cheques may be made out to the Foo Bar Company.

2. (obsolete, transitive) To send out. [16th–17th c.]
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job I:17:

     The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

3. (transitive) To discern; to manage to see, hear etc. [from 16th c.]

   In the distance, I could just make out a shadowy figure.

   • August 16 2014, Daniel Taylor, "Swansea upstage Manchester United in Louis van Gaal’s Premier League bow," guardian.co.uk:

     There was a startling lack of creativity and if Van Gaal had listened closely he would have made out the mocking chants from the away end, as the visiting fans embarked on the repertoire of songs that formed the soundtrack to David Moyes’s time in the job.

   • 1898, J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London: Edward Arnold, →OCLC:

     Though nothing of the vault except the roof was visible from where I lay, and so I could not see these visitors, yet I heard every word spoken, and soon made out one voice as being Master Ratsey's.

4. (now chiefly US, regional, intransitive) To manage, get along; to do (well, badly etc.). [from 17th c.]

   Oh, you were on a TV game show? How did you make out?

   • 1931, Hart Crane, letter, 5 June:

     Regarding money—I shall economize and make out probably very well from now on—without any outside help.

   • 1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids:

     'Will this little shack serve – or do we go further?' I asked.
     'Oh, I guess we'll make out,' she said. And together we waded through the delicate cream carpet to explore.

5. (transitive, intransitive) To represent; to make (something) appear to be true. [from 17th c.]

   His version of the story makes me out to be the bad guy.

   • 2002, Meg Cabot, All-American Girl, 2003 Harper Trophy paperback edition, →ISBN, page 134:

     She hadn't invited me to a party at her house since the third grade, and here she was, making out like we'd never stopped being friends.

6. (slang, chiefly US, intransitive) To embrace and kiss passionately. [from 20th c.]

   We found a secluded spot where we could make out in private.

7. (slang, chiefly US, intransitive) To engage in heavy petting or sexual intercourse. [from 20th c.]

Synonyms

• (to discern): descry, detect; see also Thesaurus:perceive or Thesaurus:spot
• (manage, get along): make do
• (to embrace): hug, squeeze; see also Thesaurus:embrace
• (to kiss passionately): smooch, neck; see also Thesaurus:kiss
• (to engage in heavy petting): cop a feel, grope, touch up; see also Thesaurus:fondle
• (to engage in sexual intercourse): make it, make whoopee; see also Thesaurus:copulate

Derived terms

• (to succeed): make out like a bandit
• (to kiss, pet, and so on): makeout (noun)

Translations

to draw up; designate as the recipient

• Finnish: kirjoittaa (fi)
• French: libeller (fr)
• German: ausstellen (de), adressieren (de)
• Spanish: librar (es)
• Swedish: ställa ut (sv)

to send out

• Bulgarian: изпращам (bg) (izpraštam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 派遣 (zh) (pàiqiǎn)

• Spanish: enviar (es)

to discern

• Bulgarian: разбирам (bg) (razbiram)
• Finnish: saada selvää (fi), hahmottaa (fi), tunnistaa (fi)
• French: discerner (fr), dégager (fr)
• German: wahrnehmen (de), merken (de), mitbekommen (de), erkennen (de), herauslesen, bemerken (de)
• Polish: zrozumieć (pl)
• Romanian: distinge (ro), înțelege (ro)
• Russian: разобра́ть (ru) (razobrátʹ)
• Spanish: distinguir (es), divisar (es), vislumbrar (es)
• Swedish: urskilja (sv)

to manage, get along

• Bulgarian: справям се (bg) (spravjam se)
• Finnish: pärjätä (fi)
• French: réussir (fr), arriver (fr), (to seducing) conclure (fr)
• German: durchkommen (de), abschneiden (de)
• Russian: справля́ться (ru) (spravljátʹsja)
• Swedish: lyckas (sv)

to represent as being true

• Bulgarian: доказвам (bg) (dokazvam)
• Finnish: teeskennellä (fi); saada näyttämään (joltakin)
• French: représenter (fr), faire passer pour (fr)
• Greek: σκαρφίζομαι (el) (skarfízomai), επινοώ (el) (epinoó)
• Russian: изобража́ть (ru) (izobražátʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: leig air
• Spanish: hacer parecer
• Swedish: hitta på (sv), fabricera (sv)

to embrace and kiss passionately

• Azerbaijani: əmişmək
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 亲热 (zh) (qīnrè)

• Danish: snave
• Finnish: muhinoida (fi), nuolla (fi)
• French: embrasser (fr) (passionnément), faire l’amour (fr)
• German: knutschen (de), rummachen (de) (colloquial), sich küssen (de)
• Greek: φασώνομαι (el) (fasónomai)
• Hebrew: הִתְמַזְמֵז (he) (hitmazméz)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kline

• Russian: целова́ться (ru) impf (celovátʹsja)
• Spanish: liarse (es), enrollarse (es), darse el lote, apretar (es) (Costa Rica), besuquearse (es)
• Swedish: hångla (sv), strula (sv)

to engage in heavy petting or sexual intercourse

• Czech: milovat se (cs) impf
• Finnish: muhinoida (fi), nuolla (fi)
• Russian: заняться сексом (zanjatʹsja seksom), заняться любовью (zanjatʹsja ljubovʹju), переспать (ru) (perespatʹ)
• Spanish: enrollarse (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 调情 (zh) (tiáoqíng)

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} zoenen (nl), ^{(please verify)} vrijen (nl)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} kisadi
• Greek: (slang) ^{(please verify)} φασώνομαι (el) (fasónomai)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} pomiciare (it), ^{(please verify)} limonare (it)
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} kline
• Portuguese: ^{(please verify)} comer (pt)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} face dragoste
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} enrollarse (es), ^{(please verify)} atracar (es) (Chile)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} hångla (sv) (to kiss passionately)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} chim nhau