do without

verb

1. to forgo; manage without

   I can't do without cigarettes

2. not to require (uncalled-for comments or advice)

   we can do without your criticisms thank you

Idioms and Phrases

Manage in spite of being without something. For example, They will just have to do without a vacation this year , or There was no telephone in the cabin, but we soon learned to do without . [Early 1700s]

Example Sentences

It was a dwelling place of unusual pretentiousness for that land of "Do-without," where inexorable meagerness is the rule of life.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• endure
• forgo