M
Idioms beginning with "M"
Part of speech, explanation, example sentences, pronunciation
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Contents of M:
[make a big deal about] {v. phr.}, {informal}
To exaggerate an insignificant event.
Jeff said, "I'm sorry I banged into you in the dark. Don't make a big deal out of it."
[make a clean breast of] {v. phr.}
To admit (your guilt); tell all about (your wrong doing); confess everything.
The police caught the hit-and-run driver and he made a clean breast of his crime.
* /Arthur worried because he cheated on the test, […]
[make a clean sweep of] {v. phr.}
1. Achieve a complete victory.
In 7980 the Reagan Republicans made a clean sweep of the western states.
2. To eliminate thoroughly and completely.
* /The new attorney general is expected to make a clean sweep of […]
[make a day of it] {v. phr.}, {informal}
To do something all day.
When they go to the beach they take a picnic lunch and make a day of it.
Compare: [MAKE A NIGHT OF].
[make a dent in] {v. phr.}, {informal}
To make less by a very small amount; reduce slightly. — Usually used in the negative or with such qualifying words as "hardly" or "barely".
* /John shoveled and shoveled, but he didn't seem to make a dent in the […]
[make a difference] or [make the difference] {v. phr.}
To change the nature of something or a situation; be important; matter.
John's good score on the test made the difference between his passing or failing the course.
* /It doesn't make a bit of […]
[make a face] {v. phr.}, {informal}
To twist your face; make an ugly expression on your face (as by sticking out your tongue).
The boy made a face at his teacher when she turned her back.
The sick boy swallowed the medicine and made a face.
[make a federal case out of]
See:
[MAKE A BIG DEAL ABOUT],
[MAKE A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLEHILL].