Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
make something of en · VERB
Meanings
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To transform (an object or person) into something worthwhile.
"A wife might make something of you."
1922, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 8, in The Girl on the Boat:"When you send that message and tell these kids that you can succeed and you can make something of your life, that’s a very important message."
2011 November 22, Jeff Tully, “Oscar De La Hoya a hit at Boys & Girls Club”, in Los Angeles Times, retrieved 05 Sep 2018:My thousand a year is not merely a matter of dirty bank-notes and jaundiced guineas. […] I was determined to make something of it better than a fine old house to live in, than satin gowns to wear; […]
1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Further Communications on Business”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 52:
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To develop an understanding or interpretation of.
No doubt your head aches, trying to make something of my description.
1860, Oliver Wendell Holmes, chapter 8, in The Professor at the Breakfast Table:We couldn't make anything of his last remark.
They tried to make something of the communique's vague phrase about maintaining Soviet-American contacts and they implied that President Kennedy now had Premier Nikita Khrushchev's invitation to drop in at the Kremlin for a visit anytime he chooses.
1961 June 5, Chalmers M. Roberts, “Talks Fail to Evoke Any 'Spirit of Vienna'”, in Washington Post, retrieved 05 Sep 2018:
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To insist on or emphatically challenge (a point or topic, especially one which may be a subject of disagreement).
He's controversial. He's blunt. He could be a good New Yorker. That's my opinion. You wanna make something of it?
1996 August 21, George Vecsey, “Does Reeves Entertain Death Wish?”, in New York Times, retrieved 05 Sep 2018:
Forms
Relateds
make something of oneself