do

do¹

/dooh/; unstressed /doo, deuh/, v. and auxiliary v., pres. sing. 1st pers. do, 2nd do or (Archaic) doest or dost, 3rd does or (Archaic) doeth or doth, pres. pl. do; past sing. 1st pers. did, 2nd did or (Archaic) didst, 3rd did, past pl. did; past part. done; pres. part. doing; n., pl. dos, do's.

v.t.

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

2. to execute (a piece or amount of work): to do a hauling job.

3. to accomplish; finish; complete: He has already done his homework.

4. to put forth; exert: Do your best.

5. to be the cause of (good, harm, credit, etc.); bring about; effect.

6. to render, give, or pay (homage, justice, etc.).

7. to deal with, fix, clean, arrange, move, etc., (anything) as the case may require: to do the dishes.

8. to travel; traverse: We did 30 miles today.

9. to serve; suffice for: This will do us for the present.

10. to condone or approve, as by custom or practice: That sort of thing simply isn't done.

11. to travel at the rate of (a specified speed): He was doing 80 when they arrested him.

12. to make or prepare: I'll do the salad.

13. to serve (a term of time) in prison, or, sometimes, in office.

14. to create, form, or bring into being: She does wonderful oil portraits.

15. to translate into or change the form or language of: MGM did the book into a movie.

16. to study or work at or in the field of: I have to do my math tonight.

17. to explore or travel through as a sightseer: They did Greece in three weeks.

18. (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.

19. Informal. to wear out; exhaust; tire: That last set of tennis did me.

20. Informal. to cheat, trick, or take advantage of: That crooked dealer did him for $500 at poker.

21. Informal. to attend or participate in: Let's do lunch next week.

22. Slang. to use (a drug or drugs), esp. habitually: The police report said he was doing cocaine.

v.i.

23. to act or conduct oneself; be in action; behave.

24. Slang. to rob; steal from: The law got him for doing a lot of banks.

25. to proceed: to do wisely.

26. to get along; fare; manage: to do without an automobile.

27. to be in health, as specified: Mother and child are doing fine.

28. to serve or be satisfactory, as for the purpose; be enough; suffice: Will this do?

29. to finish or be finished.

30. to happen; take place; transpire: What's doing at the office?

31. (used as a substitute to avoid repetition of a verb or full verb expression): I think as you do.

auxiliary verb.

32. (used in interrogative, negative, and inverted constructions): Do you like music? I don't care. Seldom do we witness such catastrophes.

33. 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.

34. (used to lend emphasis to a principal verb): Do visit us!

35. do a number on (someone). See number (def. 27).

36. do away with,

a. to put an end to; abolish.

b. to kill.

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

38. do for,

a. to cause the defeat, ruin, or death of.

b. Chiefly Brit. to cook and keep house for; manage or provide for.

39. do in, Informal.

a. to kill, esp. to murder.

b. to injure gravely or exhaust; wear out; ruin: The tropical climate did them in.

c. to cheat or swindle: He was done in by an unscrupulous broker.

40. do one proud. See proud (def. 11).

41. do one's number. See number (def. 28).

42. do one's (own) thing. See thing¹ (def. 17).

43. do or die, to make a supreme effort.

44. do out of, Informal. to swindle; cheat: A furniture store did me out of several hundred dollars.

45. do over, to redecorate.

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

47. do to death. See death (def. 15).

48. do up, Informal.

a. to wrap and tie up.

b. to pin up or arrange (the hair).

c. to renovate; launder; clean.

d. to wear out; tire.

e. to fasten: Do up your coat.

f. to dress: The children were all done up in funny costumes.

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

50. do without,

a. to forgo; dispense with.

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

51. have to do with. See have (def. 36).

52. 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.

n.

53. Informal. a burst of frenzied activity; action; commotion.

54. Informal. a hairdo or hair styling.

55. Brit. Slang. a swindle; hoax.

56. Chiefly Brit. a festive social gathering; party.

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

[bef. 900; ME, OE don; c. D doen, G tun; akin to L -dere to put, facere to make, do, Gk tithénai to set, put, Skt dadhati (he) puts]

Syn. 1, 25. act. 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.

do²

/doh/, n., pl. dos. Music.

1. the syllable used for the first tone or keynote of a diatonic scale.

2. (in the fixed system of solmization) the tone C. Cf. sol-fa (def. 1), ut.

[1745-55; < It, inverted var. of ut; see GAMUT]

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(as used in expressions)

Edson Arantes do Nascimento

allow to do

Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha

Paraíba do Sul River

Shugen do

tae kwon do

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