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Glite Dictionary
to make a go of

to make a go of

11 4.1
To try to make a business or relationship succeed
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : sacar adelante
  • I knew she was struggling to make a go of it, that she loved that club.
  • try to make a go of

They're professors and students at a small college that's having financial problems, and they try to make a go of it, which is to say, it's like life.

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Examples

Synonyms

to make a fist of
vsto make a go of
  • UK
8.2

Try hard to do a difficult task and succeed a little

is an effort to get a business or relationship to succeed

Antonyms

to give up
∞ 1.2

To stop trying to do something or accept defeat

to fail
898 1.0

Not succeed in doing something you wanted to do

How Successful

to thrive
241 3.2
to succeed
846 2.0
to make a go of
11 4.1
to manage
239 2.3

Surface Forms

make a go of infinitive
made a go of past
made a go of past participle
making a go of present participle
makes a go of third person singular

Morphology

make + a + go + of

Knowing 'make' (to do/succeed in) and 'go' (a single attempt) allows a learner to infer 'make a go of (something)' as trying to make an attempt or effort to get something to work. However, the construction is a fixed collocation with the pragmatic nuance of trying to succeed (not just attempting once), so the exact meaning and usage are not fully predictable from the parts and typically require some exposure.

Etymology

Make a go of comes from the image of giving something a 'try': a go is one attempt and to make it means to get it working. So, to make a go of a business or a relationship means to try hard and succeed in making it work.