Make do (with)

If you “make do” with something, you have to use what you have at the moment; you have to make a plan with what is available - even if it is not the best or ideal. You improvise until you can have what you want later.

1. I would love to have air conditioning in our apartment, but for now we will have to make do with fans.

2.  Before I got my first computer I had to make do with going to an internet café and also storing all of my important information on a USB/ pen drive.

3. If you don’t have a car, you need to make do with public transportation or getting lifts (rides) from friends.

4. When you make do with what you have, you are being resourceful. You use your creativity and ingenuity to improve your situation when you have limited resources. During my first months in Brazil, we didn’t have a washing machine, so I used to put all of our clothes into a big plastic tub, climb into the tub and run on the spot, churning the clothes with my feet. I had to make do with a plastic tub until we could afford a washing machine.