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do
1[ doo; unstressed doo, duh ]
verb (used with object)
- to perform (an act, duty, role, etc.):
Do nothing until you hear the bell.
Synonyms: act
- to execute (a piece or amount of work):
to do a hauling job.
- to accomplish; finish; complete:
He has already done his homework.
- to put forth; exert:
Do your best.
- to be the cause of (good, harm, credit, etc.); bring about; effect.
- to render, give, or pay (homage, justice, etc.).
- to deal with, fix, clean, arrange, move, etc., (anything) as the case may require:
to do the dishes.
- to travel; traverse:
We did 30 miles today.
- to serve; suffice for:
This will do us for the present.
- to condone or approve, as by custom or practice:
That sort of thing simply isn't done.
- to travel at the rate of (a specified speed):
He was doing 80 when they arrested him.
- to make or prepare:
I'll do the salad.
- to serve (a term of time) in prison, or, sometimes, in office.
- to create, form, or bring into being:
She does wonderful oil portraits.
- to translate into or change the form or language of:
MGM did the book into a movie.
- to study or work at or in the field of:
I have to do my math tonight.
- to explore or travel through as a sightseer:
They did Greece in three weeks.
- (used with a pronoun, as it or that, or with a general noun, as thing, that refers to a previously mentioned action):
You were supposed to write thank-you letters; do it before tomorrow, please.
- Informal. to wear out; exhaust; tire:
That last set of tennis did me.
- Informal. to cheat, trick, or take advantage of:
That crooked dealer did him for $500 at poker.
- Informal. to attend or participate in:
Let's do lunch next week.
- Slang. to use (a drug or drugs), especially habitually:
The police report said he was doing cocaine.
- Slang. to rob; steal from:
The law got him for doing a lot of banks.
- Slang: Vulgar. to have sex with.
- Informal. (usually in the negative) to act in accordance with expectations associated with (something specified):
Just ignore her insults—she doesn’t do polite.
verb (used without object)
- to act or conduct oneself; be in action; behave.
- to proceed:
to do wisely.
- to get along; fare; manage:
to do without an automobile.
- to be in health, as specified:
Mother and child are doing fine.
- to serve or be satisfactory, as for the purpose; be enough; suffice:
Will this do?
- to finish or be finished.
- to happen; take place; transpire:
What's doing at the office?
- (used as a substitute to avoid repetition of a verb or full verb expression):
I think as you do.
auxiliary verb
- (used in interrogative, negative, and inverted constructions):
Do you like music? I don't care. Seldom do we witness such catastrophes.
- Archaic. (used in imperatives with you or thou expressed; and occasionally as a metric filler in verse):
Do thou hasten to the king's side. The wind did blow, the rain did fall.
- (used to lend emphasis to a principal verb):
Do visit us!
noun
- Informal. a burst of frenzied activity; action; commotion.
- Informal. a hairdo or hair styling.
- British Slang. a swindle; hoax.
- Informal. a festive social gathering; party.
verb phrase
- to forgo; dispense with.
- to dispense with the thing mentioned:
The store doesn't have any, so you'll have to do without.
- Informal.
- to kill, especially to murder.
- to injure gravely or exhaust; wear out; ruin:
The tropical climate did them in.
- to cheat or swindle:
He was done in by an unscrupulous broker.
- Informal.
- to wrap and tie up.
- to pin up or arrange (the hair).
- to renovate; launder; clean.
- to wear out; tire.
- to fasten:
Do up your coat.
- to dress:
The children were all done up in funny costumes.
- to cause the defeat, ruin, or death of.
- Chiefly British. to cook and keep house for; manage or provide for.
- to redecorate.
- to gain advantage or benefit from; make use of:
I could do with more leisure time.
- to deal with; treat:
He had always done well by his family.
do
2[ doh ]
noun
- the syllable used for the first tone or keynote of a diatonic scale.
- (in the fixed system of solmization) the tone C. Compare sol-fa ( def 1 ), ut.
do.
3abbreviation for
- ditto.
D/O
4- delivery order.
D.O.
5abbreviation for
- direct object. Also d.o.
- Doctor of Optometry.
- Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine.
do
1/ duː; də; dʊ /
verb
- to perform or complete (a deed or action)
to do a portrait
the work is done
- oftenintr; foll by for to serve the needs of; be suitable for (a person, situation, etc); suffice
there isn't much food, but it'll do for the two of us
- tr to arrange or fix
you should do the garden now
- tr to prepare or provide; serve
this restaurant doesn't do lunch on Sundays
- tr to make tidy, elegant, ready, etc, as by arranging or adorning
to do one's hair
- tr to improve (esp in the phrase do something to or for )
- tr to find an answer to (a problem or puzzle)
- tr to translate or adapt the form or language of
the book was done into a play
- intr to conduct oneself
do as you please
- intr to fare or manage
how are you doing these days?
- tr to cause or produce
complaints do nothing to help
- tr to give or render
do me a favour
your portrait doesn't do you justice
- tr to work at, esp as a course of study or a profession
he is doing chemistry
what do you do for a living?
- tr to perform (a play, etc); act
they are doing ``Hamlet'' next week
- tr to travel at a specified speed, esp as a maximum
this car will do 120 mph
- tr to travel or traverse (a distance)
we did 15 miles on our walk
- takes an infinitive without to used as an auxiliary before the subject of an interrogative sentence as a way of forming a question
when did John go out?
do you agree?
- takes an infinitive without to used as an auxiliary to intensify positive statements and commands
I do like your new house
do hurry!
- takes an infinitive without to used as an auxiliary before a negative adverb to form negative statements or commands
do not leave me here alone!
he does not like cheese
- takes an infinitive without to used as an auxiliary in inverted constructions
little did he realize that
only rarely does he come in before ten o'clock
- used as an auxiliary to replace an earlier verb or verb phrase to avoid repetition
he likes you as much as I do
- informal.tr to visit or explore as a sightseer or tourist
to do Westminster Abbey
- tr to wear out; exhaust
- intr to happen (esp in the phrase nothing doing )
- slang.tr to serve (a period of time) as a prison sentence
he's doing time
he's doing three years for burglary
- informal.tr to cheat or swindle
- slang.tr to rob
they did three shops last night
- slang.tr
- to arrest
- to convict of a crime
- informal.tr to lose or spend (money) completely
- slang.tr to treat violently; assault
- slang.tr to take or use (a drug)
- taboo.tr (of a male) to have sexual intercourse with
- tr to partake in (a meal)
let's do lunch
- do or do a informal.to act like; imitate
he's a good mimic – he can do all his friends well
- do or dieto make a final or supreme effort
- how do you do?a conventional formula when being introduced
- make doto manage with whatever is available
noun
- slang.an act or instance of cheating or swindling
- informal.a formal or festive gathering; party
- do's and don'ts informal.those things that should or should not be done; rules
do
2/ dəʊ /
noun
- a variant spelling of doh 1
do
3the internet domain name for
- Dominican Republic
do.
4abbreviation for
- ditto
D/O
5abbreviation for
- delivery order
DO
6abbreviation for
- Doctor of Optometry
- Doctor of Osteopathy
Word History and Origins
Origin of do1
Word History and Origins
Origin of do1
Idioms and Phrases
- do away with,
- to put an end to; abolish.
- to kill.
- do or die, to make a supreme effort.
- do out of, Informal. to swindle; cheat:
A furniture store did me out of several hundred dollars.
- do time, Informal. to serve a term in prison:
It's hard to get a decent job once you've done time.
- dos and don'ts, customs, rules, or regulations:
The dos and don'ts of polite manners are easy to learn.
- make do, to get along with what is at hand, despite its inadequacy:
I can't afford a new coat so I have to make do with this one.
- do a number on (someone). number ( def 38 ).
- do one proud. proud ( def 11 ).
- do one's (own) thing. thing 1( def 22 ).
- do one's number. number ( def 39 ).
- do to death. death ( def 16 ).
- have to do with. have ( def 37 ).
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
“I think people should be concerned, in the military and out of it, about the politicization of the military, and the attempt to use it to do the president’s personal will,” said Benjamin Friedman, policy director of the Washington-based think tank Defense Priorities, which advocates for restraint in U.S. foreign policy.
“We do not anticipate that the Missouri ballot initiative will have an immediate or drastic impact on those numbers.”
How dare scientists do research without an immediate practical application!
Scientists do things they’ve already done, and do them over and over again, changing one tiny variable at a time.
They do a lot of seemingly silly things in an attempt to re-create aspects of the world in a lab, where they can be monitored and replicated over and over and over.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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