phrasal verb · neutral
make do with
UK/meɪk ˈduː wɪð/US/meɪk ˈdu wɪð/MAKE·do·WITH
to manage with something that is not ideal or less than desired
Examples
“We had no heater, so we had to make do with extra blankets.”
“They'll have to make do with fewer staff this month.”
“I can make do with my old laptop until I save enough.”
Band 8 sentence
“With the budget cuts, the department had to make do with older equipment while seeking funding for replacements.”
Collocations
- make do with something
- have to make do
Word family
Common mistakes
We can make with the old car.→We can make do with the old car.
They will make do the situation.→They will make do with the situation.
Say it for a higher band
5use→6manage with→7+make do with
Synonyms
manage with
Easily confused
make up for
“We can't make up for lost time, but we can make do with what we have.”
Related words
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In make …
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