"make do and mend" meaning in English

See make do and mend in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

IPA: /ˈmeɪk ˈduː ən ˈmɛnd/ Forms: makes do and mends [present, singular, third-person], making do and mending [participle, present], made do and mended [participle, past], made do and mended [past]
Etymology: From the title of a booklet issued by the UK Ministry of Information. Head templates: {{en-verb|make<,,made> do and mend<>|head=make do and mend}} make do and mend (third-person singular simple present makes do and mends, present participle making do and mending, simple past and past participle made do and mended)
  1. (British) To follow a philosophy, during World War II, of repairing clothes etc that would normally be discarded due to shortages and rationing. Tags: British
    Sense id: en-make_do_and_mend-en-verb-i9rnmtUV Categories (other): British English, English coordinated pairs, English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 39 37 24 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 81 12 7 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 84 11 5 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 75 17 8
  2. (British, idiomatic) Generally, to repair and reuse. Tags: British, idiomatic
    Sense id: en-make_do_and_mend-en-verb-M68AHtmw Categories (other): British English, English coordinated pairs Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 39 37 24
  3. (British, idiomatic) To make the best of a situation. Tags: British, idiomatic
    Sense id: en-make_do_and_mend-en-verb-hAVX~sCV Categories (other): British English, English coordinated pairs Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 39 37 24

Download JSON data for make do and mend meaning in English (3.5kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "From the title of a booklet issued by the UK Ministry of Information.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "makes do and mends",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "making do and mending",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "made do and mended",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "made do and mended",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "make<,,made> do and mend<>",
        "head": "make do and mend"
      },
      "expansion": "make do and mend (third-person singular simple present makes do and mends, present participle making do and mending, simple past and past participle made do and mended)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "39 37 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English coordinated pairs",
          "parents": [
            "Coordinated pairs",
            "Terms by etymology"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "81 12 7",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "84 11 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "75 17 8",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2000 Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska - Austerity in Britain: Rationing, Controls, and Consumption, 1939-1955",
          "text": "The 'make do and mend' campaign was the Board of Trade's central propaganda effort directed at housewives. It gave advice on preservation, renovation, and repair of clothing and other household goods."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To follow a philosophy, during World War II, of repairing clothes etc that would normally be discarded due to shortages and rationing."
      ],
      "id": "en-make_do_and_mend-en-verb-i9rnmtUV",
      "links": [
        [
          "philosophy",
          "philosophy"
        ],
        [
          "World War II",
          "World War II"
        ],
        [
          "repairing",
          "repairing"
        ],
        [
          "clothes",
          "clothes"
        ],
        [
          "shortage",
          "shortage"
        ],
        [
          "rationing",
          "rationing"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British) To follow a philosophy, during World War II, of repairing clothes etc that would normally be discarded due to shortages and rationing."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "39 37 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English coordinated pairs",
          "parents": [
            "Coordinated pairs",
            "Terms by etymology"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Generally, to repair and reuse."
      ],
      "id": "en-make_do_and_mend-en-verb-M68AHtmw",
      "links": [
        [
          "repair",
          "repair"
        ],
        [
          "reuse",
          "reuse"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, idiomatic) Generally, to repair and reuse."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "39 37 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English coordinated pairs",
          "parents": [
            "Coordinated pairs",
            "Terms by etymology"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To make the best of a situation."
      ],
      "id": "en-make_do_and_mend-en-verb-hAVX~sCV",
      "links": [
        [
          "make the best of",
          "make the best of"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, idiomatic) To make the best of a situation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmeɪk ˈduː ən ˈmɛnd/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "make do and mend"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English coordinated pairs",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the title of a booklet issued by the UK Ministry of Information.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "makes do and mends",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "making do and mending",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "made do and mended",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "made do and mended",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "make<,,made> do and mend<>",
        "head": "make do and mend"
      },
      "expansion": "make do and mend (third-person singular simple present makes do and mends, present participle making do and mending, simple past and past participle made do and mended)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2000 Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska - Austerity in Britain: Rationing, Controls, and Consumption, 1939-1955",
          "text": "The 'make do and mend' campaign was the Board of Trade's central propaganda effort directed at housewives. It gave advice on preservation, renovation, and repair of clothing and other household goods."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To follow a philosophy, during World War II, of repairing clothes etc that would normally be discarded due to shortages and rationing."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "philosophy",
          "philosophy"
        ],
        [
          "World War II",
          "World War II"
        ],
        [
          "repairing",
          "repairing"
        ],
        [
          "clothes",
          "clothes"
        ],
        [
          "shortage",
          "shortage"
        ],
        [
          "rationing",
          "rationing"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British) To follow a philosophy, during World War II, of repairing clothes etc that would normally be discarded due to shortages and rationing."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English idioms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Generally, to repair and reuse."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "repair",
          "repair"
        ],
        [
          "reuse",
          "reuse"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, idiomatic) Generally, to repair and reuse."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English idioms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To make the best of a situation."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "make the best of",
          "make the best of"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(British, idiomatic) To make the best of a situation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmeɪk ˈduː ən ˈmɛnd/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "make do and mend"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.