an opportunity to do something again or repeat it, especially when it did not turn out well the first time.
I wish I could have a do-over of the past five years of my life.
a makeover, as a renovation or a beauty treatment: A do-over at the spa made me feel young again!
Enter the sweepstakes to win a full kitchen do-over with new granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.
A do-over at the spa made me feel young again!
informal to renovate or redecorate
slang to beat up; thrash
Also, do something over.
Also, do over again . Repeat something, as in This setup won't work; I'll have to do it over again .
Redecorate, as in We've decided to do over the living room . [Early 1900s]
First recorded in 1890–95; noun use of verb phrase do over
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The billionaire investor’s unique double listing is an attempted do-over of a botched 2024 offering of the new investment fund.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026
Patriots prodigy Drake Maye was left longing for a do-over after his first Super Bowl appearance ended in misery on Sunday.
From Barron's ● Feb. 9, 2026
You must pay back any money you received, but the option for a do-over gives you a chance to increase your monthly benefit by waiting to claim.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2025
The event at the Coliseum represented something of a do-over for USC — at least in one way.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 2025
The next morning in class, I asked for a do-over.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
There is still a lot to do over the next few days, though, before SpaceX starts trading, probably on Friday.
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
“Additionally, because concertina coils are rigid and stay under tension, they don’t ‘sag’ or create the loose, invisible snares that single-strand wires often do over time, which helps reduce the risk of accidental wildlife entanglement.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2026
To do that, the test tracks how various models do over time running a vending-machine business in simulation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 7, 2025
I don’t pretend to know what the market is going to do over the next 10 years, beyond the great, unbeatable prediction usually credited to the great J.P.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 3, 2025
She had work to do over the weekend, and the kids had plans, and she always came back from those trips more exhausted than when she’d left.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
There are no do-overs in a California election.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2026
There’s no do-overs in the stock market, but with a fresh start, Phreesia could still prove to be a winner in 2026.
From Barron's ● Dec. 22, 2025
Portraits and personas, like virtual selves, hold out the possibility of living again, of mulligans and do-overs, of lives lived free of consequence.
From New York Times ● Feb. 12, 2024
Let him know that you know it’s a really tough time to try to launch into adulthood — and that we all need do-overs sometimes.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 17, 2023
There’s no time-outs or do-overs, there’s just gravity.
From "Winger" by Andrew Smith
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.
