to make out
- phrasal verb
- /meɪk aʊt/
- Hey, there's a check for $10,000 made out to Angel County Children's Center.
- make out a check
- make out to payee
Examples
-
I suppose I could make out my weekly report to Starfleet Command without your input.
Fiction book (1994) -
I'm going to make out my report, while I can still remember the details.
-
- I had to make out a report.
-
I got a form for you to make out about the accident when you get some time.
-
If you would just take a moment to make out the check, I'll be on my way.
Fiction book (1995) -
Make out the orders to captain le Bret immediately.
-
I've made out a check here for $2,500.
-
Three weeks earlier, Evie had made out a new will amending a previous one.
Fiction book (1995) -
The documents were these: fourteen uncashed checks made out to one Dr. Ralph Constantine.
Fiction book (1999) -
Please remember to make out the application form completely before submitting it.
Synonyms
To write all the needed information on a form
Write the information asked for on a form
Put information into a complete report
Put all the details on a form or paper
Antonyms
How Thorough
Surface Forms
Morphology
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 idea of 'making' a paper or bill out—putting all the information down so the document is ready. So it means 'to write or complete' a form or check.