deed
Americannoun
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deeds
plural
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something that is done, performed, or accomplished; an act.
Do a good deed every day.
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an exploit or achievement; feat.
brave deeds.
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Often deeds. an act or gesture, especially as illustrative of intentions, one's character, or the like.
Her deeds speak for themselves.
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Law. a writing or document executed under seal and delivered to effect a conveyance, especially of real estate.
verb (used with object)
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deeds,
present (3rd person singular)
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deeded,
past participle, past
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deeding
present participle
noun
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something that is done or performed; act
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a notable achievement; feat; exploit
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action or performance, as opposed to words
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law a formal legal document signed, witnessed, and delivered to effect a conveyance or transfer of property or to create a legal obligation or contract
verb
Synonym Usage
See action.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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deedsimple
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deedssimple
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have deededperfect
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has deededperfect
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am deedingprogressive
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are deedingprogressive
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is deedingprogressive
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have been deedingperfect progressive
-
has been deedingperfect progressive
Past
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deededsimple
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had deededperfect
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was deedingprogressive
-
were deedingprogressive
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had been deedingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deed
before 900; Middle English dede, Old English dēd, variant of dǣd; cognate with German Tat, Gothic gadēths; see do 1
Explanation
A deed is an action that you perform with intent, like turning in a lost wallet you find in a store. Definitely a good deed. The word deed is often used to describe acts of charity but an action doesn’t have to be good to be called a deed — people go to jail for their criminal deeds. Either way, a deed is something done on purpose. It could be difficult, as anyone who after breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend later told friends, "I did the deed," will know. An unrelated meaning of deed is a legal document that shows who owns a building or land.
Vocabulary lists containing deed
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act I
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Back-Words: Palindromes
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"The Monkey's Paw," Vocabulary from the short story
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The cheaper option is by unenrolled deed poll, which a person can do by themselves or through a private company for a fee.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Caltrans staff will next record the deed transferring the title from the state of California to Kai Poma, which is expected to happen any day, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
That it hasn’t seems ironic, given that the Christian ideal of Jesus is in both word and deed a seeker of justice.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
Legal fights have clogged courts for years, with cases riddled with allegations of corruption and deed forgery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
That meant she had to do the bravest, best deed she could think of, the deed she least wanted to do.
From "Raymie Nightingale" by Kate DiCamillo
"Her love was obvious and was not just words, but deeds and actions that she would display every day."
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Hiddleston notes that “one great gift of Pompeii is that the Romans didn’t have paper, so the walls, the columns, the houses, the public buildings are covered in writing: deeds, business contracts, advertisements, gossip, doodles.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
His real-life geniality provides a stark contrast to some of his most famous roles as monstrous men committing equally hideous deeds.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
While the movie also acknowledges that there are myths forming around Robin Hood that suggest he may have a history of benevolent deeds, Sarnoski tilts the viewer toward not believing that.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
He knew many histories and legends of long ago, of Elves and Men and the good and evil deeds of the Elder Days.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
If this property is indeed still titled in your parents’ names, and was never actually deeded to the trust, it could still be a probate asset under the executor’s control.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 30, 2026
He was sentenced to probation for four years and deeded the property back to the town in 2014.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2025
The tribe was burdened with cleaning up decades of pollution before the land could be deeded into trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 11, 2024
The conservancy believes that the deer removal effort is consistent with the vision of the Wrigley family, who bought up much of the island in 1919 and later deeded it to the conservancy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 2, 2024
Lillian spoke of the Old South when Bull was in earshot as though it were a private garden deeded to her in a last heroic proclamation by the Confederate Congress.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
I settled my father’s estate, but found a will deeding a mobile home to his stepson.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 7, 2026
His chairmanship was a capstone of a long career serving his people, particularly as a spokesperson for his tribe and point man on deeding the tribe’s first land into trust and developing a casino.
From Seattle Times ● May 30, 2022
John F. Kennedy, who swapped residences with his brother Robert in 1957, while deeding it to their father until 1965.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 30, 2021
More precisely, I thought about Lincoln signing a minor piece of legislation deeding the Yosemite Valley to the state of California.
From New York Times ● Jul. 29, 2019
Who, for example, to begin at the beginning, was Charles A. Clark, and why should he be deeding away Ebbe Petersen's property?
From True Stories of Crime From the District Attorney's Office by Arthur Cheney Train
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.
