make the most of

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

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.
   • Ralph Waldo Emerson:

     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:

     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.