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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

20 3.7
To manage or get by during a difficult time
  • phrasal verb
  • /meɪk aʊt/
  • Informal
translation icon : arreglárselas
  • - Well don't you worry about it, cause we'll make out just fine.
  • make out well
  • make out fine
  • make out like bandits

Examples

Synonyms

to do
vsto make out
∞ 1.0

Progress or get along in a situation

is about handling and succeeding when situations are difficult
to manage
vsto make out
∞ 3.2

To do something difficult, often with little help

is more about general surviving or getting through hardship
to make it
vsto make out
  • Informal
311 3.4

To survive after danger or a serious problem

is a general term for succeeding during difficult times
to cope
vsto make out
272 2.9

To deal with problems and difficult situations

is broader, meaning to succeed or survive in hard circumstances
to get by
vsto make out
121 3.1

Manage to live with little money or help

is more active, often meaning to succeed rather than simply survive
to fare
vsto make out
100 5.4

To do well or badly in a situation

is focused specifically on succeeding or surviving tough circumstances
to get along
vsto make out
27 2.1

Manage or do well in a situation

is focused on stronger survival or clear success under strain

How Well

to thrive
241 3.2
to do well
520 1.2
to make out
  • Informal
20 3.7
to get by
121 3.1
to fail
898 1.0

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 in the sense of managing comes from trying to 'make' something out of very little, like turning small supplies into enough to live on. So it means 'to get by' or 'manage' in a hard situation.