make out
/meɪk aʊt/
"make-out" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“make out” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To draw up (a document etc.), to designate (a cheque).
Corpus desk
Index EN-make-out · make out · English
make out · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "M" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | make out |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /meɪk aʊt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “make out” in English
Rare enough to double-check
make out is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /meɪk aʊt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 9 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for make out, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is make out, spelled M-A-K-E- -O-U-T.
Definition
- 1To draw up (a document etc.), to designate (a cheque).
- 2To send out.
- 3To discern; to manage to see, hear etc.
- 4To manage, get along; to do (well, badly etc.).
- 5To represent; to make (something) appear to be true.
- 6To get along with (someone).
- 7To make an (often temporary) home.
- 8To embrace and kiss passionately.
- 9To engage in heavy petting or sexual intercourse.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how make out appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Cheques may be made out to the Foo Bar Company.
The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.