Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (UK Und.) stolen [make v.].

c.1698

1700175018001850

1859

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Made c. Stolen.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737		Pope Mother Gin 25: I’ll pour new nectar of Made-here-a made (Made is another word for stolen).
1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
a.1790		H.T. Potter New Dict. Cant (1795).
1809		G. Andrewes Dict. Sl. and Cant.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict.
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open.
1859		Matsell Vocabulum 53: made Stolen. ‘The copper asked me where I made the benjamin. I told him I didn’t make it, but got it on the square,’ the officer asked me where I stole the coat, and I told him that I did not steal it, but got it honestly.

2. (US) recognized, identified [make v. (4)].

1939

19401950196019701980199020002010

2012

1939		Howsley Argot: Dict. of Und. Sl.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1957		R. Prather Always Leave ’Em Dying 23: I almost had him made, but then I became aware of Trammel sputtering beside me. ‘... so get out.’.
1969		C. Himes Blind Man with a Pistol (1971) 74: Sure, he knew Doctor Mubuta was a con man, all the hepcats in Harlem had him made.
1974		R. Dennis Deadly Cotton Heart in Complete Hardman 1012: ‘[E]ven if you’re made, if somebody knows who you are [...] it might still play because you’ve got a reputation like rancid salad oil’.
1982		G.V. Higgins Patriot Game (1985) 66: I got made within forty minutes.
1986		C. Stroud Close Pursuit (1988) 100: Get paid and get laid but don’t get made, that was the creed.
2000		G. Pelecanos Shame the Devil 223: We got made [...] Why do you suppose that is.
2012		G. Pelecanos (con. 1972) What It Was 198: They were leaving, which meant that they knew they’d been made.

3. (US black) usu. of girls or women, describing someone who has had their hair straightened [make v. (8)].

1942

1942

Z.N. Hurston ‘Story in Harlem Sl.’ in Novels and Stories (1995) 1009: Made hair: hair that has been straightened.

4. (orig. US Und.) initiated as a member of the US Mafia [make v. (9)].

1950

1950196019701980199020002010

2017

1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 132/1: Made. 1. Lifted out of mediocrity to a position of wealth or influence in the underworld.
1966		J. Mills Panic in Needle Park (1971) 22: Everybody knew that Hank had once been on the verge of being ‘made’ by the Mafia—taken on by them as a permanent member.
1979		E. Torres After Hours 68: Guys who ain’t even made.
1985		N. Pileggi Wiseguy (2001) 181: If you wanted to be a wiseguy, you had to be made.
1999		E. Bunker Mr Blue 231: The others were Italian and liked to gamble, so were presumed to be affiliated with East Coast or Middle Western mobsters. One or two might be ‘made’ men.
2006		C. Stella Shakedown 4: Just got made the day they bust him.
2006		D. Winslow Winter of Frankie Machine (2007) 121: Frank wasn’t into the whole ‘made guy’ thing. He really didn’t give a damn about all that old Sicilian stuff.
2017		T. Pluck Bad Boy Boogie [ebook] ‘I’m gonna get made for killing you’.

5. (US) cheated, tricked [make v. (1e)].

1952

1952

J. Jones From Here to Eternity (1998) 165: You’re liable to end up gettin made. Theres somethin about Bloom I dont like.

6. (US) completed successfully.

1990

1990

(con. early 1950s) J. Ellroy L.A. Confidential 171: A made case would ticket him back to Narco.

7. (drugs) satisfactorily supplied/intoxicated with drugs, usu. heroin.

1955

19551956195719581959

1960

1955		Babs Gonzales ‘The Be-Bop Santa Claus’ 🎵 His eyeballs was hid by some coal-black shades / And old Pops knew that this cat was made.
1959		E. De Roo Go, Man, Go! 35: Couldn’t you drag your feet. We almost had it made.
1960		C. Cooper Jr Scene (1996) 46: ‘You look like you’re made,’ he said jealously.

8. (US prison) as sense 4 but of prison gangs.

2004

2004

D. Grann ‘The Brand’ in New Yorker 16 Feb. 161: Although the Brand continued to permit only a select few to become ‘made’ members, it had thousands of followers, known as ‘peckerwoods,’ who sought out the perks of being associated with it.