Definition: To make a bed
, v. t. [imp. & p. p. made
(m[=a]d); p. pr. & vb.
.] [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
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.
(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.
(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.
Wealth maketh many friends. --Prov. xix.
I will neither plead my age nor sickness in
excuse of the faults which I have made.
(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 in a desired or desirable condition; to cause
Who makes or ruins with a smile or frown.
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.
See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh. --Ex. vii.
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
4. To require; to constrain; to compel; to force; to cause;
to occasion; -- followed by a noun or pronoun and
Note: In the active voice the to of the infinitive is usually
I will make them hear my words. --Deut. iv.
They should be made to rise at their early hour.
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; as, a pound of ham
makes a hearty meal.
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.]
They that sail in the middle can make no land of
either side. --Sir T.
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
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.]
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
To make good
. See under Good
To make head
, to make headway.
To make light of
. See under Light
To make little of
(a) To belittle.
(b) To accomplish easily.
To make love to
. See under Love
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
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
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.”
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 gain sight of; to recognize; to discern; to descry;
as, as they approached the city, he could make out the
tower of the Chrysler Building.
(c) To prove; to establish; as, the plaintiff was unable
to make out his case.
(d) To make complete or exact; as, he was not able to make
out the money.
(d) to write out; to write down; -- used especially of a
bank check or bill; as, he made out a check for the
cost of the dinner; the workman made out a bill and
handed it to him.
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
(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
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
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
(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!
(e) To compensate; to make good; as, to make up a loss.
(f) To adjust, or to arrange for settlement; as, to make
(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
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.
, n. [AS. bed, bedd; akin to OS. bed, D. bed, bedde,
Icel. be?r, Dan. bed, Sw. b["a]dd, Goth. badi, OHG. betti, G.
bett, bette, bed, beet a plat of ground; all of uncertain
1. An article of furniture to sleep or take rest in or on; a
couch. Specifically: A sack or mattress, filled with some
soft material, in distinction from the bedstead on which
it is placed (as, a feather bed), or this with the
bedclothes added. In a general sense, any thing or place
used for sleeping or reclining on or in, as a quantity of
hay, straw, leaves, or twigs.
And made for him [a horse] a leafy bed. --Byron.
I wash, wring, brew, bake, . . . make the beds.
In bed he slept not for my urging it. --Shak.
2. (Used as the symbol of matrimony) Marriage.
George, the eldest son of his second bed.
3. A plat or level piece of ground in a garden, usually a
little raised above the adjoining ground. “Beds of
hyacinth and roses.”
4. A mass or heap of anything arranged like a bed; as, a bed
of ashes or coals.
5. The bottom of a watercourse, or of any body of water; as,
the bed of a river.
So sinks the daystar in the ocean bed. --Milton.
6. (Geol.) A layer or seam, or a horizontal stratum between
layers; as, a bed of coal, iron, etc.
7. (Gun.) See Gun carriage
, and Mortar bed
(a) The horizontal surface of a building stone; as, the
upper and lower beds.
(b) A course of stone or brick in a wall.
(c) The place or material in which a block or brick is
(d) The lower surface of a brick, slate, or tile.
9. (Mech.) The foundation or the more solid and fixed part or
framing of a machine; or a part on which something is laid
or supported; as, the bed of an engine.
10. The superficial earthwork, or ballast, of a railroad.
11. (Printing) The flat part of the press, on which the form
Note: Bed is much used adjectively or in combination; as, bed
key or bedkey; bed wrench or bedwrench; bedchamber;
Bed of justice
(French Hist.), the throne (F. lit bed)
occupied by the king when sitting in one of his
parliaments (judicial courts); hence, a session of a
refractory parliament, at which the king was present for
the purpose of causing his decrees to be registered.
To be brought to bed
, to be delivered of a child; -- often
followed by of; as, to be brought to bed of a son.
To make a bed
, to prepare a bed; to arrange or put in order
a bed and its bedding.
From bed and board
(Law), a phrase applied to a separation
by partial divorce of man and wife, without dissolving the
bonds of matrimony. If such a divorce (now commonly called
a judicial separation) be granted at the instance of the
wife, she may have alimony.