makeup

An item's composition.

Noun

An item's composition.
- To understand how a nuclear reactor works, we must first look at its makeup.
- After the size and makeup of Congress was decided by the Founding Fathers, it was time to lawmake. - 2005, Bennett Fairorth, Philadelphia Holidays 2004, Turkish Pleasures 1997, page 269:
Cosmetics; colorants and other substances applied to the skin to alter its appearance.
- She is wearing a lot of makeup.
Synonyms: maquillage
Replacement; material used to make up for the amount that has been used up.
- When the water level drops, the float ball drops with it and opens the valve to the makeup water supply. - 2005, William C. Whitman, William M. Johnson, John A. Tomczyk, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Technology, page...
A test given to students allowing them to repeat failed material.
- “Will I get a chance to take a makeup? My mother paid for the exam.” - 2020, Tayari Jones, Silver Sparrow, Oneworld Publications, page 117:
In a NIMCRUT, an amount distributed from the trust's income in subsequent years to make up for a present shortfall.

Deverbal from make up. Noun sense 2 is a semantic loan from French maquillage, from maquiller (“to make up, fabricate”).

Alternative form of make up (“(ambitransitive) to put makeup on (someone or something)”).
- I raided my closet and left Clay in my living room while I changed and makeuped in the bathroom. - 2005, Wendy Roberts, Dating Can Be Deadly, Red Dress Ink, →ISBN, page 229:
- “If we get started showering, shaving, powdering, combing, and makeupping, we just may be able to make the eleven o’clock mass at Regina Pacis.” - 2009, Lou Manfredo, chapter 7, in Rizzo’s War, New York, N.Y.: Minotaur...
- This isn’t about plastic surgery, image management, or makeupping the facade. - 2014, Michael Yankoski, “Appendix B: Almost Answered: A Q&A with the Author”, in The Sacred Year: Mapping the Soulscape of Spiritual...