make the difference

make the difference (third-person singular simple present makes the difference, present participle making the difference, simple past and past participle made the difference)

1. To be the decisive factor.

• make a difference
• make all the difference

• “make the difference”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “make a/the difference” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.