Collocation
make a mess
Definition
to create a dirty, untidy, or disorganized situation; to spill, scatter, or cause disorder
'make a mess' is a common English collocation. to create a dirty, untidy, or disorganized situation; to spill, scatter, or cause disorder
make + a mess
“The kids made a mess in the kitchen while baking cookies.”
Examples
- Please don’t _____ a mess in the living room.
- The toddlers _____ a mess with the finger paints.
- I always _____ a mess when I try to eat noodles with chopsticks.
Show more examples
- Be careful with the glitter—it's easy to _____ a mess.
- He _____ a mess of the paperwork by mixing up the files.
- If you _____ a mess, you should clean it up right away.
- Someone has _____ a mess in the hallway—there’s mud everywhere.
- Don’t worry if you _____ a mess while cooking; we can wipe the counters later.
- The dog _____ a mess of the trash when we were out.
More verb + determiner + nouns
- make a decision to choose what to do after thinking about different options
- make a mistake to do something wrong or incorrectly
- make an excuse to invent or give a reason (often not true) to avoid doing something or to explain a mistake
- do a job to perform a task or piece of work; to complete work that needs to be done
- do a task to complete a piece of work or an assigned job