Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

make for en · VERB

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) To set out to go (somewhere); to move towards.
    • [H]e disappeared into his house much as a startled weasel makes for its hole. 1888, J[ames] M[atthew] Barrie, “The Schoolhouse”, in Auld Licht Idylls, London: Hodder and Stoughton, […], →OCLC, page 6:
    • I crawled out of the bed and made for the bathroom. 1990, Mark Timlin, Gun Street Girl, London: Headline Book Publishing PLC, →ISBN, page 95:
    • He makes for England, there to claim the crown. c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv]:
    • Winston made for the stairs. 1949 June 8, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC, Part I, Chapter I:
  2. (idiomatic) To tend to produce or result in.
    • It's not the longest or tallest viaduct in Britain, but the landscape upon which it sits makes for a stunning backdrop. 2025 October 1, Chris Howe, “Top 10: Britain's most significant rail bridges: Ribblehead Viaduct”, in RAIL, number 1045, page 57:
    • It was such a day as one dreams about, with that pleasant warmth in the air that makes for indolent content. 1914, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 11, in The Pirate of Panama:
    • A tiny cub is learning the art of stalking a little too well it seems. A video posted on social media shows the cub surprising its mamma and giving her a huge fright. The short clip makes for a delightful watch. 2019 October 9, "Tiny cub gives lion a huge fright", Hindustan Times
  3. (idiomatic) To identify; to connect.
    • I don't agree, but they make him for a criminal.
  4. (idiomatic, rare) To confirm, favour, strengthen (an opinion, theory, etc.).
    • Several very curious varieties of Blues have been taken, which appear to make for Darwin’s theory. 1868 December 1, T.W. Wonfor, “Rare Visitors at Brighton”, in M.C. Cooke, editor, Hardwicke's Science-Gossip, Robert Hardwicke, published 1869, page 278:
    • Secondly, we will examine the Cœlestiall Phœnomena that make for the Copernican Hypothesis, as if it were to prove absolutely victorious; […] 1830, E.S. Carlos (translator), Galileo Galilei (author), “The Siderial Messenger”, reprinted in Louise Fargo Brown and George Barr Carson, Men and Centuries of European Civilization, Ayer Publishing (1971), page 427
    • That they are “conditions of thought” does not make for Kant’s theory of the categories one iota more than it makes for the theory of Aristotle or for the theory of Locke. 1912, Simon FitzSimons, “Criticisms in Kant”, in The American Catholic Quarterly Review, volume 37, page 148:
  5. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see make, for.
    • I made this picture for my Dad.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
making for Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
made for Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
made for Tense=Past lexicographic
makes for Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Synonyms

head for

Translations (26)

ru после́довать (set out to go to, move towards) · ru отправля́ться (set out to go to, move towards) · ru устремля́ться (set out to go to, move towards) · cy cyrchu at/i/tuag at (set out to go to, move towards) · de sich zusteuern auf (set out to go to, move towards) · la peto (set out to go to, move towards) · ru отпра́виться (set out to go to, move towards) · pl spowodować (to tend to produce or result in) · fr se diriger vers (set out to go to, move towards) · pl kierować się (set out to go to, move towards) · dsb směriś se (set out to go to, move towards) · ru приводи́ть (to tend to produce or result in) · ru спосо́бствовать (to tend to produce or result in) · ru обеспе́чивать (to tend to produce or result in) · ru напра́виться (set out to go to, move towards) · ru устреми́ться (set out to go to, move towards) · bg отправям се (set out to go to, move towards) · pl powodować (to tend to produce or result in) · eo peni atingi (set out to go to, move towards) · ga déan ar (set out to go to, move towards) · ru сле́довать (set out to go to, move towards) · ru соде́йствовать (to tend to produce or result in) · ru направля́ться (set out to go to, move towards) · pl przyczyniać się (to tend to produce or result in) · de zustreben (set out to go to, move towards) · pl przyczynić się (to tend to produce or result in)