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Glite Dictionary
💋 To kiss passionately 👀 To notice clearly 📝 To fill a form 🎭 To pretend 💪 To manage
to make out

to make out

109 4.6
To see, hear, or understand something when it is hard
  • phrasal verb
  • /meɪk aʊt/
translation icon : distinguir
  • Even in the poor light, Green Water could make out the piled mounds of glacial rock.
  • barely make out
  • make out the words
  • make out details

It takes effort to make out their words.

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Examples

  • Even in the low lights of her hair, I can make out individual hairs.

  • In the shadow of the doorway, Damien made out the form and features of a woman.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • I can still make out activity.

    Nefarious (2023)

  • I hear him talking to her, although I cannot make out what he is saying.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • But if you put your ear down to him, you could make out what he was saying.

  • The cloud cover was so low that I could barely make out the highest towers.

    Academic text (2009)

  • It takes effort to make out their words.

    Harvard University

  • In the far distance, I could just make out a range of snow-topped mountains.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Looking closely, we can make out another, smaller anthropomorphic rock behind the first one.

    Academic text (2006)

  • With the fog so thick, I could hardly make out the street signs.

Synonyms

to get
vsto make out
∞ 1.4

To understand what someone says or an idea

is about perceiving or understanding in difficult sensory situations rather than general confusion
to hear
vsto make out
∞ 1.0

Notice sounds with your ears

is about managing to perceive or understand things by any sense when signals are weak
to spot
vsto make out
576 2.1

To notice someone or something, especially when it is hard

is about managing to perceive or understand things when perception is hard
to distinguish
vsto make out
177 3.1

To notice differences between things or people

is about perceiving or understanding rather than comparing differences
to discern
vsto make out
70 5.8

To notice something that is hard to see or hear

is about managing to perceive or understand things when perception is hard
to pick out
vsto make out
64 3.0

Notice a sound or sight among other things

is about managing to perceive or understand things rather than selecting among many
to tell apart
vsto make out
41 3.0

To notice a difference between two similar things

is about perceiving or understanding rather than separating similar items
to apprehend
vsto make out
  • Formal
9 4.3

To understand the meaning of something

is about perceiving via sight, sound, or sense when perception is difficult

Antonyms

to miss
518 1.7

To not notice or hear something important

How Clear

to recognize
  • US
∞ 1.4
to make out
109 4.6
to see
∞ 1.0
to spot
576 2.1
to glimpse
41 3.2
to miss
518 1.7

Surface Forms

make out infinitive
making out present participle
makes out third person singular
made out past
made out past participle

Morphology

make + out

The sense 'to kiss or have sexual activity' is an informal idiomatic reading of the phrasal verb that cannot be derived from the literal meanings of 'make' (to do or produce/succeed) and 'out' (away/outside). Because the expression is slangy, polysemous, and culture-specific rather than compositionally built from its parts, a B1 learner who only knows the constituents but has not seen the idiom would not reliably infer this meaning.

Etymology

Make out comes from the simple picture of making a shape out of the dark: to make details out so you can see or hear them clearly. That's why it means 'to manage to see, hear, or understand'.