do

1 of 6

verb

ˈdü 

did ˈdid 

dəd

; done ˈdən  ; doing ˈdü-iŋ  ; does ˈdəz 

transitive verb

1

: to bring to pass : carry out

do another's wishes

it is my earnest desire to know the will of Providence … and if I can learn what it is I will do it

—Abraham Lincoln

2

: put

—used chiefly in do to death

had been hounded down and done to death as heretics

—Stringfellow Barr

3

a

: perform, execute

do some work

did his duty

b

: commit

crimes done deliberately

4

a

: bring about, effect

trying to do good

do violence

b

: to give freely : pay

do honor to her memory

5

: to bring to an end : finish

—used in the past participle

The job is finally done.

6

: to put forth : exert

did her best to win the race

7

a

: to wear out especially by physical exertion : exhaust

At the end of the race they were pretty well done.

b

: to attack physically : beat

also : kill

8

: to bring into existence : produce

do a biography on the general

has done some beautiful landscapes

9

—used as a substitute verb especially to avoid repetition

If you must make such a racket, do it somewhere else.

10

a

: to play the role or character of

He did Hamlet on Broadway.

b

: mimic

also : to behave like

do a Houdini and disappear

c

: to perform in or serve as producer of

do a play

11

: to treat unfairly

especially : cheat

did him out of his inheritance

12

: to treat or deal with in any way typically with the sense of preparation or with that of care or attention:

a(1)

: to put in order : clean

was doing the kitchen

(2)

: wash

did the dishes after supper

b

: to prepare for use or consumption

especially : cook

like my steak done rare

c

: set, arrange

had her hair done

d

: to apply cosmetics to

wanted to do her face before the party

e

: decorate, furnish

did the living room in Early American

do over the kitchen

13

: to be engaged in the study or practice of

do science

especially : to work at as a vocation

what to do after college

14

a

: to pass over : traverse

did 20 miles yesterday

b

: to travel at a speed of

doing 55 on the turnpike

15

: tour

doing 12 countries in 30 days

16

a

: to spend (time) in prison

has been doing time in a federal penitentiary

b

: to serve out (a period of imprisonment)

did ten years for armed robbery

17

: to serve the needs of : suit, suffice

worms will do us for bait

18

: to approve especially by custom, opinion, or propriety

You oughtn't to say a thing like that … it's not done.

—Dorothy Sayers

19

: to treat with respect to physical comforts

did themselves well

20

: use sense 4

doesn't do drugs

21

: to have sexual intercourse with

I'd do him.

22

: to partake of

Let's do lunch.

intransitive verb

1

: act, behave

do as I say

2

a

: get along, fare

do well in school

b

: to carry on business or affairs : manage

We can do without your help.

3

: to take place : happen

what's doing across the street

4

: to come to or make an end : finish

—used in the past participle

he had done with speech for that evening and gave us no reply

—Arnold Bennett

5

: to be active or busy

let us then be up and doing

—H. W. Longfellow

6

: to be adequate or sufficient : serve

half of that will do

7

: to be fitting : conform to custom or propriety

won't do to be late

8

—used as a substitute verb to avoid repetition

wanted to run and play as children do

—used especially in British English following a modal auxiliary or perfective have

a great many people had died, or would do

—Bruce Chatwin

9

—used in the imperative after an imperative to add emphasis

be quiet do

auxiliary verb

1

a

—used with the infinitive without to to form present and past tenses in legal and parliamentary language

do hereby bequeath

and in poetry

give what she did crave

—Shakespeare

b

—used with the infinitive without to to form present and past tenses in declarative sentences with inverted word order

fervently do we pray

—Abraham Lincoln

, in interrogative sentences

did you hear that?

, and in negative sentences

we don't know

don't go

2

—used with the infinitive without to to form present and past tenses expressing emphasis

I do say

do be careful

see also doable, done entry 1, dən, perfective done, preverbal done, unstressed done

do

2 of 6

noun (1)

ˈdü 

plural dos or do's ˈdüz 

1

chiefly dialectal : fuss, ado

2

archaic : deed, duty

3

a

: a festive get-together : affair, party

an annual do

b

chiefly British : battle

4

: a command or entreaty to do something

a list of dos and don'ts

5

British : cheat, swindle

6

: hairdo

The wind messed up his do.

do

3 of 6

noun (2)

ˈdō 

music : the first tone of the major scale in solfège

do

4 of 6

abbreviation (1)

1

ditto

2

double occupancy

DO

5 of 6

abbreviation or noun

ˌdē-ˈō 

variants or D.O.

plural DOs or D.O.s

: doctor of osteopathic medicine

Jane Smith, D.O.

He earned a DO from Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Today, close to 120 osteopathic physicians—DOs—and about 2,050 MDs practice in Tucson, according to the [Pima] medical society.

—Jane Erikson

DO

6 of 6

abbreviation (2)

defense order

Phrases

do a number on

: to defeat or confound thoroughly especially by indirect or deceptive means

The scandal did a number on his career.

do away with

1

: to put an end to : abolish

chose to do away with a number of positions

doing away with formalities

2

: to put to death : kill

do by

: to deal with : treat

They did pretty well by me when I retired.

do for

chiefly British

1

: to attend to the wants and needs of : take care of

2

: to bring about the death or ruin of

He will be done for.

do it

: to have sexual intercourse

do justice

1

a

: to act justly

b

: to treat fairly or adequately

The portrait doesn't do justice to her beauty.

c

: to show due appreciation for

2

: to acquit in a way worthy of one's abilities

do proud

: to give cause for pride or gratification

she did herself proud

do the trick

: to produce a desired result

do with

: to make good use of : benefit by

could do with a cup of coffee

to do

: necessary to be done

I've done my best and all's to do again

—A. E. Housman

Did you know?

Feasible and Doable

Feasible comes from faire, the French verb meaning “to do.” Doable and feasible therefore originally meant literally the same thing: “capable of being done.” Indeed, doable was formed with -able, the Latin-derived French ending meaning “capable of” combined, in this instance, with do, a word with roots in Old English and one of the most basic and useful of our verbs. Though their respective etymological meanings may overlap, doable and feasible exist more in parallel with each other than as true synonyms. As with most such pairs of words, the Latin-derived term is used when describing more abstract notions. The words most commonly modified by feasible include:

option

alternative

solution

plan

approach

These are words that describe what has yet to be decided or what will be carefully considered. By contrast, doable modifies more concrete terms:

task

thing

target

Feasible is used when an element of abstraction, distance, and technical specificity is needed. The more earthy doable is rarely used in formal writing, and is not found in the works of Shakespeare, the King James Bible, or any of the founding documents of the United States.

This abstract use of feasible also accounts for the word that expresses a putative, conceptual, or hypothetical state: feasibility. Indeed, we frequently encounter “feasibility study” but not “doability study” (although doability is a word that is sometimes used, it hasn’t yet been added to most dictionaries). As long as something is just an idea, it’s feasible. When it’s time for action, we need to find out if it’s doable.

Synonyms

Verb

• befit
• beseem [archaic]
• fit [archaic]
• go
• serve
• suit

Noun (1)

• affair
• bash
• binge
• blast
• blowout
• event
• fete
• fête
• function
• get-together
• party
• reception
• shindig

Examples of do in a Sentence

Verb

We should do something special to celebrate your birthday.

This crime was done deliberately.

I have to do some chores this afternoon.

Tell me what to do and I'll do it.

I'm obliged to do my duty.

He does his work without complaining.

He did a lot for us.

What have I done to you to make you so angry?

“What are you doing this weekend?” “I'm just relaxing at home.”

What is the stock market doing now: rising or falling?

Noun (1)

it's supposed to be some sort of fancy do

issued a long list of dos and don'ts before we even started the project

you can tell that the picture was taken in the 1980s from my permed do

in this hour of national crisis everyone must do their do

in that small town a great deal of do could come from very little indeed

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Shout out to our friends at TMZ who did the most insightful original reporting. —Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 18 Nov. 2024

Local health officials are working to reach everyone who may have had contact with the infected individual, and they are expected to do so in this case, said Preston Merchant, a spokesman for the San Mateo County health department. —Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 17 Nov. 2024

But when compared to last year’s unreliable defense that failed to close out numerous close games, much less help accelerate blowouts, what the unit is doing this year is a breath of fresh air in Boulder. —Kyle Newman, The Denver Post, 16 Nov. 2024

In a study examining injury rates in numerous sports, researchers found that, when done correctly, strength training had a lower risk of injury than nearly all other sports. —Discover Magazine, 15 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun (1)

Middle English don, from Old English dōn; akin to Old High German tuon to do, Latin -dere to put, facere to make, do, Greek tithenai to place, set

Noun (2)

Italian

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun (1)

1599, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

circa 1754, in the meaning defined above

Abbreviation Or Noun

1897, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing do

• all one can do
• all (that) one can do
• anything to do with
• be to do with
• can/could do without
• can-do
• cock-a-doodle-do
• could do worse
• cut out to do/be
• derring-do
• do a bad job
• do a bunk
• do a favor for (someone)
• do a good/great job
• do a job on
• do a moonlight flit
• do an injustice to (someone or something)
• do anything
• do a roaring business/trade
• do a runner
• do a slow burn
• do as one is told
• do as one pleases
• do as one wishes
• do as someone wishes
• do a strip
• do battle
• do business with
• do deliveries
• do dinner/lunch
• do down
• do duty as
• do for a living
• do-good
• do-gooder
• do/go the rounds
• do in
• do-it-yourself
• do justice to
• do more harm than good
• do nicely
• do nicely for oneself
• do no such thing
• do-nothing
• do nothing for
• do not mix
• do no wrong
• do one's best
• do one's bit
• do one's damnedest
• do oneself a favor
• do oneself an injury
• do (one's) grocery shopping
• do one's heart good
• do one's job
• do one's own thing
• do one's part
• do one's stuff
• do one's thing
• do one's time
• do one's utmost
• do-or-die
• do out of
• do-over
• do-rag
• do right
• do right by
• do-si-do
• do (someone) a favor
• do (someone) a power of good
• do (someone) a service
• do (someone) a world/lot of good
• do (someone) no service
• do (someone or something) an injustice
• do someone's bidding
• do someone's shopping
• do (someone) the honor
• do (someone) wrong
• do something
• do something about
• do something to
• do something with
• do the bidding of someone
• do the honors
• do the job
• do the necessary
• do the/one's laundry
• do the same
• do the washing-up
• do time
• do up
• do violence to
• do well
• do well by (someone)
• do what with (something)
• do without
• do/work wonders
• do wrong
• do you think (that)
• do you want to bet?
• give/grant/do interviews
• have to do with
• how do you do
• how do you like
• how do you like that
• I don't mind if I do
• It's nothing to do with
• make do
• make it a point to (do something)
• meant to (be/do something)
• ne'er-do-well
• no can do
• not do
• not do much for
• not for (someone) to (do something)
• nothing (further) to do with
• so do I
• tae kwon do
• that will do
• that will/should do it
• the least someone can do
• to-do list
• turn around and (do something)
• turn round and (do something)
• well-to-do
• what do you know
• what do you know about that
• What do you think you're doing with
• What good does it do
• what good would that do/be?
• what time do you have
• what time do you make it
• where do we go from here
• where do you come off?
• whoop-de-do
• will do
• will never do
• (you're) damned if you do and damned if you don't

Kids Definition

do

1 of 2 verb

(ˈ)dü 

did (ˈ)did  ; done ˈdən  ; doing ˈdü-iŋ  ; does (ˈ)dəz 

1

a

: to cause (as an act or action) to happen : carry out, perform

do me a favor

b

: act entry 2 sense 3, behave

do as I say

2

a

: to work at

what one does for a living

b

: to take suitable action on

do your homework

do the dishes

c

: set entry 1 sense 11

have my hair done

d

: decorate sense 1

did the bedroom in blue

3

: to make progress

does well in school

4

: to act so as to bring : render

sleep will do you good

5

: to come to the end of : finish

turn out the light when you are done

6

: to put forth : exert

did your best to win

7

a

: to travel a distance of

did 500 miles that day

b

: to travel at a speed of

doing 55 miles per hour on the turnpike

8

: serve entry 1 sense 1d

did five years for armed robbery

9

a

: to serve the purpose

half of that will do

b

: to be fitting or proper

it won't do to be late

10

—used as a helping verb (1) before the subject in an interrogative sentence

do you play the piano?

, (2) in a negative statement

I do not know

, (3) for emphasis

you do know

, and (4) as a substitute for a preceding verb

you work harder than I do

do

2 of 2 noun

ˈdō 

: the first note of the musical scale

Etymology

Verb

Old English dōn "to cause to happen, perform"

Noun

Italian

Medical Definition

DO

abbreviation or noun

variants or D.O.

ˈdē-ˈō 

: doctor of osteopathic medicine

Legal Definition

do

verb

did; done; doing; does

transitive verb

1

: perform, execute

2

: commit

did this act of cruelty

verbal auxiliary

—used with the infinitive without to to form present and past tenses in legal and parliamentary language

do hereby bequeath