make shift

== English == === Etymology === (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) === Pronunciation === === Verb === make shift (third-person singular simple present makes shift, present participle making shift, simple past and past participle made shift) (dated, transitive) To contrive; to invent a way of surmounting a difficulty. ==== Usage notes ==== Often followed by various prepositions, including with and without [an item], by [doing something], and for [the replaced item or action]. The older construction followed by an infinitive verb is now obsolete or historic. ==== Synonyms ==== make do, get along, get by ==== Derived terms ==== makeshift ==== Translations ==== === Adjective === make shift (comparative more make shift, superlative most make shift) Alternative form of makeshift. === Noun === make shift (plural make shifts) Alternative form of makeshift. 1818 March 3, "Philo Britannicus", "Sketches from Real Life", The White Dwarf, Number 17, page 270: In a room not more than twelve feet square, were four miserable beds: the make shift, as mine host of the tape shop called it, was a singular contrivance; it was a long deal table, with a broomstick tied to each corner, rising about a foot from the surface of the table, with a cord communicating from the point of each, to form a kind of barrier for the bed, which was placed within them.