make sense

1. Be understandable. This usage, first recorded in 1686, is often used in a negative context, as in This explanation doesn't make sense .

2. Be reasonable, wise, or practical, as in It makes sense to find out first how many will attend the conference . This term employs sense in the meaning of “what is reasonable,” a usage dating from 1600. In Britain it is also put as stand to sense .

Example Sentences

As they left, colleagues wept and supported each other as they tried to make sense of what had happened.

From BBC

Then it was when I mentioned it to the England doctor who's known me for 10 years and he was like, 'You're telling me you're in pain, that does not make sense to me.

From BBC

Koman: It made sense, just on a business level, that if one company was acquired by another, that some people would move over into that company.

From Los Angeles Times

Stark said the rentals make sense for many.

From Los Angeles Times

"The teachings didn't make sense to me," Ms Odour said.

From BBC

Related Words

• get on