This page gathers the 4,686 dictionary entries of which at least one sense is labelled “Idiomatic” by Wiktionary. The definition shown is that sense; each word leads to its full entry. Page 26 of 47: from “make a grab” to “mile a minute”.
- make a grab verb To try to take quickly.
- make a meal of verb To spend more time and energy on some task than it warrants; to make something overly complicated; to make a big thing out of.
- make a mockery of verb To mock; to ridicule or imitate, often to express contempt.
- make a monkey out of verb To cause a person, group, or action to appear foolish or inferior; to subject someone or something to ridicule.
- make a mountain out of a molehill verb To treat a problem as greater than it is; to blow something out of proportion; to exaggerate the importance of something trivial.
- make a move verb To take action.
- make a point verb To argue or promote an idea.
- make a run for it verb To attempt to escape; to flee; to run away.
- make a scene verb To bring unnecessary attention to oneself, especially through a public expression of tumultuous emotion.
- make a silk purse of a sow's ear verb To produce something refined, admirable, or valuable from something which is unrefined, unpleasant, or of little or no value.
- make a statement verb To implicitly communicate an idea, often through one's fashion choices.
- make a virtue of necessity verb To make the best of a difficult situation; to recast or portray an action or situation in which one has no alternatives as an action or…
- make an example of verb To punish someone so as to give a warning to others; sometimes, to overpunish them for added deterrence.
- make believe verb To pretend or imagine.
- make biscuits verb Of a cat, to knead with the front paws.
- make book verb To gamble, either by placing or taking bets.
- make bricks without straw verb To accomplish a task without the proper materials or under unreasonable conditions; to do the impossible.
- make do verb To survive, get by (with), or use whatever is available (due to lack of resources).
- make do and mend verb Generally, to repair and reuse.
- make ends meet verb To have enough money to cover expenses; to get by financially; to get through the pay period (sufficient to meet the next payday).
- make for verb To set out to go (somewhere); to move towards.
- make good verb To achieve substantial success in life, often in business.
- make hard work of verb To do (something) in a way that makes it more difficult than it needs to be.
- make hay while the sun shines verb To act while an opportunity exists; to take action while a situation is favorable.
- make head or tail of verb To understand even minimally.
- make interesting verb To make a bet out of; to bet money on.
- make it interesting verb To bet money: to lay a wager.
- make it make sense phrase Used to express the absurdity of a situation.
- make it rain verb To bring prosperity or work to an enterprise by selling, inventing or other productive or successful activity.
- make it up to verb To pay back; to return someone a previous good deed.
- make love to the camera verb To pose or act in a way that suggests genuine emotional involvement, while being filmed or photographed.
- make matters worse verb To worsen an already difficult situation or unfavourable set of circumstances, typically by acting rashly, foolishly, or incompetently.
- make mincemeat out of verb To defeat one's opponent easily and completely during a fight, contest, or debate.
- make muffins verb Of a cat, to knead with the front paws.
- make noise verb To scold, condemn, or criticize very harshly.
- make one's bow verb To debut, to bow.
- make one's mark verb To make, or leave, a lasting impression, especially to achieve prominent success.
- make over verb To renovate or to convert to a different use, particularly houses, offices, or rooms within them.
- make peace verb To settle a dispute or disagreement.
- make quick work of verb To accomplish a specified task easily and quickly.
- make room verb To rearrange or organize existing people, objects, furniture, belongings, etc., to create space for new objects.
- make sense verb To be sensible, coherent, reasonable.
- make short work of verb To do (a task) relatively quickly or easily.
- make someone's blood boil verb To cause a person to feel angry or very annoyed, especially in situation in which one cannot fully display that feeling to others.
- make someone's ears sad verb To displease the ears of someone; to cause someone to hear music or sounds that are not to their liking.
- make sport of verb To make fun of someone or something.
- make strange verb To behave in a shy, uncommunicative, resistant manner when encountering an unfamiliar person or situation.
- make the best of verb To derive what limited advantage one can (from an unpleasant outcome or situation).
- make the cut verb To succeed at something or meet a requirement; to be chosen out of a field of candidates or possibilities.
- make the most of verb To realise the maximal value, worth, or potential of (something); to derive as much benefit or profit from (something) as is possible.
- make the welkin ring verb To celebrate or revel.
- make the world go around verb To play an essential role in causing the things in life to work as they should; to underlie the fulfillment of the needs of human existence.
- make time verb To recover lost time, as by travelling faster than usual.
- make tracks for verb To head for.
- make waves verb To cause a disturbance.
- mama's boy noun A male who has a very close bond with his mother, and may consequently be perceived as soft or effeminate.
- man among men noun A man who is accepted on the same terms, and as having the same worth, as other men in society.
- man down verb To lose courage or cause to lose courage.
- man of the people noun A man, usually a celebrity or political leader, who shows understanding of and sympathy for the concerns of ordinary people, and who has a…
- man up verb To be brave or tough enough to deal with something in a manner that is considered strong or manly. (Compare man (“brace oneself, steel…
- mare's fart noun Something of no value, importance, or consequence whatsoever; a thing utterly not cared about.
- mark one's own homework verb To assume the role of evaluating one's doings when a disinterested party is required.
- marriage bed noun Sexual activity between a married couple.
- marriage penalty noun A situation where a married couple pays more in taxes, typically income taxes, when filing jointly, than the two individuals would pay if…
- marry the ketchup verb To combine ketchup from half-empty bottles in a restaurant, in order to reduce the number of bottles.
- Mary Celeste noun A ship found empty of all people, in good condition, seemingly abandoned on the high seas; a ghost ship.
- mass destruction noun Killing of large numbers of people.
- Master of the Universe noun A powerful person.
- master plan noun A comprehensive document that sets out an overall strategy; the strategy itself.
- mastermind noun A person responsible for the highest level of planning and execution of a major operation.
- match made in heaven noun A relationship, such as a marriage, that is happy and successful, sometimes because the partners are very compatible.
- match made in hell noun A relationship that is likely to be unhappy or unsuccessful because the two partners are very incompatible with each other.
- matter of course noun A natural or logical outcome; perforce.
- matter of life and death noun An extremely urgent matter.
- may as well verb Used to express reluctance, to express that if one hypothetical or possible action happened, it would not make any notable difference.
- maypole noun A very tall girl or young lady.
- me three adv Used to express agreement, after someone has already said "me too." Can be continued as "me four," "me five," and so on.
- meal ticket noun Someone or something that provides income or livelihood, especially as an exploited source.
- mean the world to verb To be loved or cared about a great deal by.
- mean-mug verb To shoot a dirty look at (someone); to express hostility or menace towards (someone) through a dirty look.
- measure swords with verb To match one's abilities against an antagonist's.
- meat market noun A place where one goes for a casual sexual encounter, such as a bar (establishment) or nightclub.
- meat on one's bones noun An amount of flesh on one's body that prevents one from being very thin.
- meat on the bones noun A substantial addition to or augmentation of the content of something, especially something which is unfinished or incomplete.
- meat rack noun A place where people can meet looking for sexual partners.
- media darling noun A celebrity who is especially popular and who receives frequent and very favorable attention in the news media.
- meet halfway verb To compromise; to achieve a mutual accommodation.
- meeting of the mindless noun A serious disagreement, especially one resulting from a gathering in which discussion or negotiation took place.
- meeting of the minds noun An agreement, especially one resulting from a gathering in which discussion or negotiation took place.
- melon head noun A dimwit, a fool
- melt in the mouth verb To be deliciously soft and creamy; to create a melting sensation when eaten; to need little chewing.
- memory lane noun An imaginary path along which one can take a nostalgic or sentimental journey through one's memories of the past.
- mental gymnast noun Someone who excels at mental gymnastics; a person who thinks creatively and effortlessly.
- merchant of death noun One who engages in the unlawful distribution or supply of substances or objects with potentially fatal consequences, such as drugs or…
- mere mortal noun An ordinary person, without special expertise or status.
- mic drop noun An instance of dropping the mic.
- middle of nowhere noun A very remote or secluded area; a nondescript place lacking population, interesting things, or defining characteristics.
- middle of the road adj Having a centrist attitude or philosophy; not extreme, especially politically.
- might as well verb Used to express somewhat reluctant assent, saying that if one situation exists (or because it does exist), another event or situation that…
- mile a minute adv Very fast.