do

[ doo; unstressed doo, duh ]

/ du; unstressed dʊ, də /

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verb (used with object), present singular 1st person do,2nd do or (Archaic) do·est or dost,3rd does or (Archaic) do·eth or doth,present plural do;past singular 1st person did,2nd did or (Archaic) didst,3rd did,past plural did;past participle done;present participle do·ing.

to perform (an act, duty, role, etc.): Do nothing until you hear the bell.

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), present singular 1st person do,2nd do or (Archaic) do·est or dost,3rd does or (Archaic) do·eth or doth,present plural do;past singular 1st person did,2nd did or (Archaic) didst,3rd did,past plural did;past participle done;present participle do·ing.

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, present singular 1st person do,2nd do or (Archaic) do·est or dost,3rd does or (Archaic) do·eth or doth,present plural do;past singular 1st person did,2nd did or (Archaic) didst,3rd did,past plural did;past participle done;present participle do·ing.

(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, plural dos, do's.

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 Phrases

do by, to deal with; treat: He had always done well by his family.

do for,

to cause the defeat, ruin, or death of.
Chiefly British. to cook and keep house for; manage or provide for.

do in, 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.

do over, to redecorate.

do up, 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.

do with, to gain advantage or benefit from; make use of: I could do with more leisure time.

do without,

to forgo; dispense with.
to dispense with the thing mentioned: The store doesn't have any, so you'll have to do without.

OTHER WORDS FOR do

1 act.

See synonyms for do on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

ALL IN FAVO(U)R OF THIS BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH QUIZ

There's an ocean of difference between the way people speak English in the US vs. the UK. Are your language skills up to the task of telling the difference? Let's find out!

Question 1 of 7

True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.

true

false

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms about do

do a number on (someone). number (def. 39).

do away with,

to put an end to; abolish.
to kill.

do one proud. proud (def. 11).

do one's number. number (def. 40).

do one's (own) thing. thing¹ (def. 22).

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.

dos and don'ts, customs, rules, or regulations: The dos and don'ts of polite manners are easy to learn.

do time, Informal. to serve a term in prison: It's hard to get a decent job once you've done time.

do to death. death (def. 16).

have to do with. have (def. 37).

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.

Origin of do

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English dōn; cognate with Dutch doen, German tun; akin to Latin -dere “to put,” facere “to make, do,” Greek tithénai “to set, put,” Sanskrit dadhāti “(he) puts”

synonym study for do

3. Do, accomplish, achieve mean to bring some action to a conclusion. Do is the general word: He did a great deal of hard work. Accomplish and achieve both connote successful completion of an undertaking. Accomplish emphasizes attaining a desired goal through effort, skill, and perseverance: to accomplish what one has hoped for. Achieve emphasizes accomplishing something important, excellent, or great: to achieve a major breakthrough.

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH do

dew, do , dew

Other definitions for do (2 of 5)

do²

[ doh ]

/ doʊ /

noun, plural dos.Music.

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.

Origin of do

First recorded in 1745–55; from Italian, inverted variant of ut;see origin at gamut

Other definitions for do (3 of 5)

do.

abbreviation

ditto.

Other definitions for do (4 of 5)

D/O

or d.o.

delivery order.

Other definitions for do (5 of 5)

D.O.

or DO

abbreviation

direct object. Also d.o.

Doctor of Optometry.

Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use do in a sentence

When they thought about Lewis, what struck the players most was that he never acted like a do-gooder.
A West Point MVP Who Never Played a Down|Nicolaus Mills|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
First on the to-do list, the profiling exercises to help the Western masses understand the nature of the wretched beast.
ISIS and BS|Amal Ghandour|October 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If someone wants to dismiss this as do-goodism, fine, but it has real world effects.
Confronting George Clooney’s Critics on South Sudan|John Avlon|October 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Think of it as the Jersey Shore exception, where you can act like a brutish goon and the first bust is essentially a do-over.
Ray Rice Should Have Remembered His 'Kindness' Anti-Bullying Wristband|Michael Daly|September 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST

She tried the direct, how-do-you-do handshake approach, but was blocked by a burly aide-de-camp.
Andrew Cuomo Can't Ignore It Now: He's Weak Even at Home|David Freedlander|September 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The ne'er-do-well blew, like seed before the wind, to distant places, but mankind at large stayed at home.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
With time this land had mounted to great values and the holders had been made well-to-do thereby.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
His parents were of the well-to-do farming class, occupied from one year's end to the other with the work of the fields.
Bastien Lepage|Fr. Crastre
“But it certainly was a great to-do,” murmured Jessie, as she tried to see what the boys were doing.
The Campfire Girls of Roselawn|Margaret Penrose
Widder Morse wants to ape these well-to-do folks that live tother end o Whiffle Street.
The Girls of Central High on the Stage|Gertrude W. Morrison

British Dictionary definitions for do (1 of 6)

do¹

/ (duː, unstressed dʊ, də) /

verb does, doing, did or done

to perform or complete (a deed or action)to do a portrait; the work is done

(often intr; foll by for) to serve the needs of; be suitable for (a person, situation, etc); sufficethere isn't much food, but it'll do for the two of us

(tr) to arrange or fixyou should do the garden now

(tr) to prepare or provide; servethis restaurant doesn't do lunch on Sundays

(tr) to make tidy, elegant, ready, etc, as by arranging or adorningto 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 ofthe book was done into a play

(intr) to conduct oneselfdo as you please

(intr) to fare or managehow are you doing these days?

(tr) to cause or producecomplaints do nothing to help

(tr) to give or renderyour portrait doesn't do you justice; do me a favour

(tr) to work at, esp as a course of study or a professionhe is doing chemistry; what do you do for a living?

(tr) to perform (a play, etc); actthey are doing ``Hamlet'' next week

(tr) to travel at a specified speed, esp as a maximumthis 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 questiondo you agree?; when did John go out?

(takes an infinitive without to) used as an auxiliary to intensify positive statements and commandsI 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 commandshe does not like cheese; do not leave me here alone!

(takes an infinitive without to) used as an auxiliary in inverted constructionslittle 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 repetitionhe likes you as much as I do

(tr) informal to visit or explore as a sightseer or touristto do Westminster Abbey

(tr) to wear out; exhaust

(intr) to happen (esp in the phrase nothing doing)

(tr) slang to serve (a period of time) as a prison sentencehe's doing three years for burglary; he's doing time

(tr) informal to cheat or swindle

(tr) slang to robthey did three shops last night

(tr) slang

to arrest
to convict of a crime

(tr) Australian informal to lose or spend (money) completely

(tr) slang, mainly British to treat violently; assault

(tr) slang to take or use (a drug)

(tr) taboo, slang (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; imitatehe's a good mimic – he can do all his friends well

do or die to make a final or supreme effort

how do you do? a conventional formula when being introduced

make do to manage with whatever is available

noun plural dos or do's

slang an act or instance of cheating or swindling

informal, mainly British and NZ a formal or festive gathering; party

do's and don'ts informal those things that should or should not be done; rules

Word Origin for do

Old English dōn; related to Old Frisian duān, Old High German tuon, Latin abdere to put away, Greek tithenai to place; see deed, doom

British Dictionary definitions for do (2 of 6)

do²

/ (dəʊ) /

noun plural dos

a variant spelling of doh 1

British Dictionary definitions for do (3 of 6)

do³

the internet domain name for

Dominican Republic

British Dictionary definitions for do (4 of 6)

abbreviation for

Doctor of Optometry

Doctor of Osteopathy

British Dictionary definitions for do (5 of 6)

do.

abbreviation for

ditto

British Dictionary definitions for do (6 of 6)

D/O

d.o.

/ commerce /

abbreviation for

delivery order

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

do

OTHER WORDS FOR do

Idioms about do

Origin of do

synonym study for do

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH do

Other definitions for do (2 of 5)

Origin of do

Other definitions for do (3 of 5)

Other definitions for do (4 of 5)

or d.o.

Other definitions for do (5 of 5)

or DO

Words related to do

How to use do in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for do (1 of 6)

Word Origin for do

British Dictionary definitions for do (2 of 6)

British Dictionary definitions for do (3 of 6)

British Dictionary definitions for do (4 of 6)

British Dictionary definitions for do (5 of 6)

British Dictionary definitions for do (6 of 6)

d.o.