make a fist of

• make a good fist of

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

1. To do (something) reasonably successfully.

   He had a go at the restaurant business and made a fairly decent fist of it.

   • 2011, Stephen Griffin, Ken Dodd: The Biography:

     As Dodd – perhaps the only contemporary entertainer who might have made a fist of it – has discovered, in order to survive in a pitiless, hostile environment, you really can't beat a good drum.