Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Make \Make\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Made}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Making}.] [OE. maken, makien, AS. macian; akin to OS. mak?n,
   OFries. makia, D. maken, G. machen, OHG. mahh?n to join, fit,
   prepare, make, Dan. mage. Cf. {Match} an equal.]
   1. To cause to exist; to bring into being; to form; to
      produce; to frame; to fashion; to create. Hence, in
      various specific uses or applications:
      (a) To form of materials; to cause to exist in a certain
          form; to construct; to fabricate.

                He . . . fashioned it with a graving tool, after
                he had made it a molten calf.     --Ex. xxxii.
                                                  4.
      (b) To produce, as something artificial, unnatural, or
          false; -- often with up; as, to make up a story.

                And Art, with her contending, doth aspire To
                excel the natural with made delights. --Spenser.
      (c) To bring about; to bring forward; to be the cause or
          agent of; to effect, do, perform, or execute; -- often
          used with a noun to form a phrase equivalent to the
          simple verb that corresponds to such noun; as, to make
          complaint, for to complain; to make record of, for to
          record; to make abode, for to abide, etc.

                Call for Samson, that he may make us sport.
                                                  --Judg. xvi.
                                                  25.

                Wealth maketh many friends.       --Prov. xix.
                                                  4.

                I will neither plead my age nor sickness in
                excuse of the faults which I have made.
                                                  --Dryden.
      (d) To execute with the requisite formalities; as, to make
          a bill, note, will, deed, etc.
      (e) To gain, as the result of one's efforts; to get, as
          profit; to make acquisition of; to have accrue or
          happen to one; as, to make a large profit; to make an
          error; to make a loss; to make money.

                He accuseth Neptune unjustly who makes shipwreck
                a second time.                    --Bacon.
      (f) To find, as the result of calculation or computation;
          to ascertain by enumeration; to find the number or
          amount of, by reckoning, weighing, measurement, and
          the like; as, he made the distance of; to travel over;
          as, the ship makes ten knots an hour; he made the
          distance in one day.
      (h) To put a desired or desirable condition; to cause to
          thrive.

                Who makes or ruins with a smile or frown.
                                                  --Dryden.

   2. To cause to be or become; to put into a given state verb,
      or adjective; to constitute; as, to make known; to make
      public; to make fast.

            Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? --Ex.
                                                  ii. 14.

            See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh. --Ex. vii.
                                                  1.

   Note: When used reflexively with an adjective, the reflexive
         pronoun is often omitted; as, to make merry; to make
         bold; to make free, etc.

   3. To cause to appear to be; to constitute subjectively; to
      esteem, suppose, or represent.

            He is not that goose and ass that Valla would make
            him.                                  --Baker.

   4. To require; to constrain; to compel; to force; to cause;
      to occasion; -- followed by a noun or pronoun and
      infinitive.

   Note: In the active voice the to of the infinitive is usually
         omitted.

               I will make them hear my words.    --Deut. iv.
                                                  10.

               They should be made to rise at their early hour.
                                                  --Locke.

   5. To become; to be, or to be capable of being, changed or
      fashioned into; to do the part or office of; to furnish
      the material for; as, he will make a good musician; sweet
      cider makes sour vinegar; wool makes warm clothing.

            And old cloak makes a new jerkin.     --Shak.

   6. To compose, as parts, ingredients, or materials; to
      constitute; to form; to amount to.

            The heaven, the air, the earth, and boundless sea,
            Make but one temple for the Deity.    --Waller.

   7. To be engaged or concerned in. [Obs.]

            Gomez, what makest thou here, with a whole
            brotherhood of city bailiffs?         --Dryden.

   8. To reach; to attain; to arrive at or in sight of. ``And
      make the Libyan shores.'' --Dryden.

            They that sail in the middle can make no land of
            either side.                          --Sir T.
                                                  Browne.

   {To make a bed}, to prepare a bed for being slept on, or to
      put it in order.

   {To make a card} (Card Playing), to take a trick with it.

   {To make account}. See under {Account}, n.

   {To make account of}, to esteem; to regard.

   {To make away}.
      (a) To put out of the way; to kill; to destroy. [Obs.]

                If a child were crooked or deformed in body or
                mind, they made him away.         --Burton.
      (b) To alienate; to transfer; to make over. [Obs.]
          --Waller.

   {To make believe}, to pretend; to feign; to simulate.

   {To make bold}, to take the liberty; to venture.

   {To make the cards} (Card Playing), to shuffle the pack.

   {To make choice of}, to take by way of preference; to choose.
      

   {To make danger}, to make experiment. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.

   {To make default} (Law), to fail to appear or answer.

   {To make the doors}, to shut the door. [Obs.]

            Make the doors upon a woman's wit, and it will out
            at the casement.                      --Shak.
      

   {To make free with}. See under {Free}, a.

   {To make good}. See under {Good}.

   {To make head}, to make headway.

   {To make light of}. See under {Light}, a.

   {To make little of}.
      (a) To belittle.
      (b) To accomplish easily.

   {To make love to}. See under {Love}, n.

   {To make meat}, to cure meat in the open air. [Colloq.
      Western U. S.]

   {To make merry}, to feast; to be joyful or jovial.

   {To make much of}, to treat with much consideration,,
      attention, or fondness; to value highly.

   {To make no bones}. See under {Bone}, n.

   {To make no difference}, to have no weight or influence; to
      be a matter of indifference.

   {To make no doubt}, to have no doubt.

   {To make no matter}, to have no weight or importance; to make
      no difference.

   {To make oath} (Law), to swear, as to the truth of something,
      in a prescribed form of law.

   {To make of}.
      (a) To understand or think concerning; as, not to know
          what to make of the news.
      (b) To pay attention to; to cherish; to esteem; to
          account. ``Makes she no more of me than of a slave.''
          --Dryden.

   {To make one's law} (Old Law), to adduce proof to clear one's
      self of a charge.

   {To make out}.
      (a) To find out; to discover; to decipher; as, to make out
          the meaning of a letter.
      (b) To prove; to establish; as, the plaintiff was unable
          to make out his case.
      (c) To make complete or exact; as, he was not able to make
          out the money.

   {To make over}, to transfer the title of; to convey; to
      alienate; as, he made over his estate in trust or in fee.
      

   {To make sail}. (Naut.)
      (a) To increase the quantity of sail already extended.
      (b) To set sail.

   {To make shift}, to manage by expedients; as, they made shift
      to do without it. [Colloq.].

   {To make sternway}, to move with the stern foremost; to go or
      drift backward.

   {To make strange}, to act in an unfriendly manner or as if
      surprised; to treat as strange; as, to make strange of a
      request or suggestion.

   {To make suit to}, to endeavor to gain the favor of; to
      court.

   {To make sure}. See under {Sure}.

   {To make up}.
      (a) To collect into a sum or mass; as, to make up the
          amount of rent; to make up a bundle or package.
      (b) To reconcile; to compose; as, to make up a difference
          or quarrel.
      (c) To supply what is wanting in; to complete; as, a
          dollar is wanted to make up the stipulated sum.
      (d) To compose, as from ingredients or parts; to shape,
          prepare, or fabricate; as, to make up a mass into
          pills; to make up a story.

                He was all made up of love and charms!
                                                  --Addison.
      (e) To compensate; to make good; as, to make up a loss.
      (f) To adjust, or to arrange for settlement; as, to make
          up accounts.
      (g) To dress and paint for a part, as an actor; as, he was
          well made up.

   {To make up a face}, to distort the face as an expression of
      pain or derision.

   {To make up one's mind}, to reach a mental determination; to
      resolve.

   {To make water}.
      (a) (Naut.) To leak.
      (b) To urinate.

   {To make way}, or {To make one's way}.
      (a) To make progress; to advance.
      (b) To open a passage; to clear the way.

   {To make words}, to multiply words.

Making \Mak"ing\, n.
   1. The act of one who makes; workmanship; fabrication;
      construction; as, this is cloth of your own making; the
      making of peace or war was in his power.

   2. Composition, or structure.

   3. a poem. [Obs.] --Sir J. Davies.

   4. That which establishes or places in a desirable state or
      condition; the material of which something may be made;
      as, early misfortune was the making of him.

   5. External appearance; from. [Obs.] --Shak.

Source : WordNet®

making
     n : the act that results in something coming to be; "the
         devising of plans"; "the fashioning of pots and pans";
         "the making of measurements"; "it was already in the
         making" [syn: {devising}, {fashioning}]