make out
SeparableThe object can go before or after the particle — but a pronoun MUST go in the middle: “clean it up”, never “clean up it”.
How to say it
Stress the particle, not the verb: make OUT. Saying “MAKE out” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.
Link across the gap. The final /k/ of “make” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “make out” is said “ma-kout”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.
3 meanings
- 1
To manage to see, hear or understand something with difficulty.
- “I couldn't make out what they meant together.”
- “Can you make out the sign from here?”
Similar: discern, distinguish
- 2
To write out a cheque or a form.
- “Make the cheque out to the school, not to me.”
Similar: write out
- 3
To kiss passionately.
informal- “They were making out in the back of the theatre.”