to make head against

9.3

To move forward despite strong opposition or difficulty

phrasal verb

: hacer frente a

It's difficult to make head against the waves in such stormy weather.

Examples

Don't you think we can make head against the difficulties?
She was determined to make head against all the challenges she faced at work.
Despite numerous setbacks, the company managed to make head against fierce competition.
She makes head against every obstacle!
Despite facing numerous challenges, the team managed to make head against the fierce competition and achieve their goals.
In the meeting, she aimed to make head against the budget cuts proposed by the board.
Even when the storm hit, the captain was determined to make head against the rough seas to reach safety.

Synonyms

to make head against the current

vsto make head against

9.1

To move forward despite strong opposition or many difficulties

focuses on succeeding in progress and resisting opposition more broadly

to push through adversity

vsto make head against

5.3

To keep trying and do well despite difficult times

emphasises successful progress and resistance rather than effort alone

Antonyms

to fail

898 1.0

Not succeed in doing something you wanted to do

to yield

81 4.3

To stop resisting under pressure or force

How Much Progress

to prevail

229 5.1

to overcome

429 2.9

to make head against

9.3

to gain ground

16 4.0

to make headway

9 3.5

to hold back

187 3.2

Surface Forms

make head against infinitive

made head against past

made head against past participle

making head against present participle

makes head against third person singular

Morphology

make + head + against

The constituents 'make' (to produce/achieve), 'head' (forefront/front), and 'against' (in opposition) together point toward advancing or resisting opposition, so a learner could partly infer 'making progress despite difficulties'. However, the exact idiomatic phrasing is not fully predictable (and is less common/partly archaic compared with 'make headway'), so a B1 learner would likely need exposure to confirm meaning and usage.

Etymology

Make head against comes from a strong picture: imagine a ship or a person pushing their head forward against heavy wind or waves and slowly moving ahead. So, the phrase came to mean 'to make progress' or 'to resist difficulties'.