make an ass of

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

1. (transitive, idiomatic) To cause (someone) to seem foolish.
   • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 152:

     I ſee their knauery; this is to make an aſſe of me, / to fright me if they could; […]

   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London, New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     I had sprung to my feet. I was speaking, and yet I had prepared no words. Tarp Henry, my companion, was plucking at my skirts and I heard him whispering, "Sit down, Malone! Don't make a public ass of yourself."

• make a fool of, make a fool out of
• make a monkey of, make a monkey out of