make the most of

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make the most of (third-person singular simple present makes the most of, present participle making the most of, simple past and past participle made the most of)

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To realise the maximal value, worth, or potential of (something); to derive as much benefit or profit from (something) as is possible.
   • 1841, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “(please specify the essay number)”, in Essays, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC:

     Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.

   • 2011 January 25, Les Roopanarine, “Wigan 1 - 2 Aston Villa”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     But with the home side likewise unable to make the most of a period of first-half ascendancy, Villa were swift to make amends on the restart.

   • 2017 November, N. K. Jemisin, Mac Walters, chapter 13, in Mass Effect Andromeda: Initiation‎^[2], 1st edition (Science Fiction), Titan Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 242:

     How much time you have doesn’t matter, when you really care about someone, if you make the most of it.

   • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:

     As the 1857 to Manchester Piccadilly rolls in, I scan the windows and realise there are plenty of spare seats, so I hop aboard. The train is a '221'+'220' combo to allow for social distancing - a luxury on an XC train as normally you're playing sardines, so I make the most of it.