This week’s English phrasal verb combines the possible meanings of intense kissing, getting positive results from a situation or transaction, to leave a situation, and being able to see something. Yep, for some reason we decided to endow the phrasal verb make out can have all three of these meaning. Don’t you love English?

As far as kissing, to make out means a bit more than just a little kiss on the cheek, or the lips for that matter.

You may hear English speakers say (especially in spoken English) that someone “made out well” from a situation, or “made out like a bandit.” Some examples of using make out in this sense:

My cousin invested in technology stocks in the 1990s and made out like a bandit.

How did you make out at the casino last night?

Another meaning is to exit a situation or place. This is the only one that can be split, and always has the word “it” between make and out. Examples:

Technically, they’re not making out.

The lost hiker thought he’d never make it out of the jungle.

The man barely made it out of the accident allowed.

The final possibility is to be able to see something. You can say, for instance:

It was so dark out, I couldn’t make out a thing.

Ok, so that’s make out. As you can see, it’s once again all about context, and knowing your context is all about practice. Contact us for a class if you need some!