 Fifteen idioms with the word make from EspressoEnglish.net. You probably already know some basic English expressions with the verb make, such as make breakfast, make money, and make a promise. But here are fifteen idiomatic expressions that might be new for you. After the lesson, make sure to take the quiz to practice the idioms. 1. Make a last-ditch effort. This expression means to make a final effort at the last possible opportunity. For example, I made a last-ditch effort to talk to my ex-girlfriend before she moved to a different city, but she didn't return any of my phone calls. 2. Make a killing. This idiom has nothing to do with killing or violence. Instead, it means to make a lot of money, usually very quickly. For example, Jack buys apartments located on beautiful beaches and rents them out to tourists. He's making a killing. 3. Make your mouth water. If a food makes your mouth water, it means that it's so delicious that you start to get saliva in your mouth just by thinking about it and wanting to eat it. For example, wow, just looking at that triple chocolate cake makes my mouth water. 4. Make a pass at and make eyes at. Both of these idioms mean to demonstrate romantic or sexual interest in someone. Make a pass at is more active, like when the person says or does something to demonstrate their interest. Make eyes at is more simply looking at the person with romantic or sexual interest. For example, at the Christmas party, the company president made a pass at the new secretary. 5. Make your blood boil. If something makes your blood boil, it means it makes you feel extremely angry. For example, the corruption in this country makes my blood boil. I can't stand to think how much money is wasted with political scandals. 6. Make up your mind. This idiom is an informal way to say make a decision. For example, should I buy a bike or a skateboard, I can't make up my mind. 7. Make do. This expression means to manage with the resources available, especially when some resource is missing. For example, sorry I forgot to buy paper towels, we'll just have to make do with napkins. 8. Make your head spin. If something makes your head spin, it means it makes you extremely confused. For example, I don't understand the instruction manual for this computer program, all the technical jargon just makes my head spin. 9. Make food from scratch. This expression means to cook food from the original ingredients, not using any previously prepared items. For example, these cookies are delicious, did you buy them or make them from scratch? 10. Make a comeback. When someone or something was popular or successful, then loses its popularity for a while, and then starts to gain popularity again, this last part is called making a comeback. For example, the actor's last two films were terrible, but he's making a comeback with his most recent movie, it got great reviews. 11. Can't make heads or tails of something. If you can't make heads or tails of something, it means you can't understand it at all. For example, these legal documents are really complicated, I can't make heads or tails of them. 12. Make light of something. This expression means to treat something as unimportant. For example, don't make light of the communication problems between our employees, it's really a serious situation that needs to be resolved. 13. Make the grade and make the cut. Both of these idioms mean to be up to a standard of quality, they are often used in the negative when something is not up to the standard of quality. For example, she was eliminated in the second round of the singing competition, her voice just didn't make the cut. 14. Make waves. If something makes waves, it means it causes a wide impact on a group or society in general. For example, the author's controversial new book is making waves in the literary community. 15. Make your day. If an event makes your day, it means it made you very happy, like it was the best thing to happen in the whole day. For example, it made my day when the English teacher said I was the best student in the class. That was a lot of expressions, so make sure to take the quiz to test how well you remember the idioms. It's also a good idea to try to create your own example sentence for each one. If you want to continue your study of English idioms, check out my idioms course, which will help you discover the most common idioms used in American English, with lots of practice and short answer questions.