Pronunciations (15)
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/də/
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/dʊ/
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/duː/
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/d͡ʒ/
Pronunciation notes
- colloquial
- uncommon
- unstressed-before-j
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/dy/
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/diː/
Pronunciation notes
- Northumbria
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/dɪ/
Pronunciation notes
- interrogative
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/dɪv/
Pronunciation notes
- before-vowel
- interrogative
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/dəʊ/
Pronunciation notes
- UK
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/doʊ/
Pronunciation notes
- US
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duː
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dəʊ
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duː
Pronunciation notes
- GB
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du
Pronunciation notes
- US
-
dʉː
Pronunciation notes
- AU
Verb
A syntactic marker. A syntactic marker in a question whose main verb is not another auxiliary verb or be.
Usage- auxiliary
- Examples
-
Do you like tea?
Do you go there often?
A syntactic marker. A syntactic marker in negations with the indicative and imperative moods.
Usage- auxiliary
- Examples
-
I do not understand.
I do not go there often.
Do not listen to him.
More examples (1)
“Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.
A syntactic marker. A syntactic marker for emphasis with the indicative, imperative, and subjunctive moods.
Usage- auxiliary
- Examples
-
But I do go sometimes.
Do tell us.
More examples (5)
Boy, did I make a mistake!
That's not true: I always do say please and thank-you.
So who did marry the Princess in the end?
“I don't know how you and the ‘head,’ as you call him, will get on, but I do know that if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble. It's bad enough to go around togged out like a life saver on a drill day, but I can stand that 'cause I'm paid for it. […]”
"Do stop it," said Susan; "it won't make things any better having a row between you two. Let's go and find Lucy."
A syntactic marker. A syntactic marker that refers back to an earlier verb and allows the speaker to avoid repeating the verb; in most dialects, not used with auxiliaries such as be, though it can be in AAVE.
Usage- auxiliary
- Examples
-
I play tennis; she does too.
Likes her cappuccino, Mary does. (UK, colloquial)
More examples (3)
Your remarks piqued my curiosity, as it did my mom's too.
They don't think it be like it is, but it do.
Don't be a naughty baby, / Come to papa, come to papa, do! / My sweet embraceable you.
A syntactic marker. Should; ought to (especially in respect of a task to be repeated).
Usage- auxiliary
- Informal
- interrogative
- modal
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
Do I just call every number on the list each time?
A syntactic marker. Used to form the present progressive of verbs.
Usage- auxiliary
- dialectal
- Examples
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...An' the dogs do bark, an' the rooks be a-vled to the elems high and dark, an' the water do roar at mill.
To perform; to execute.
Usage- Transitive
- Synonyms
- Examples
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I do my homework after school.
If you want something done, do it yourself.
All you ever do is surf the Internet. What will you do this afternoon?
More examples (2)
I love doing puzzles, especially crosswords, but lately I've taken to sudokus too.
The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing",[…]and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.
To cause or make (someone) (do something).
Usage- Obsolete
- Transitive
- Examples
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And also my lorde abbot of westmynster ded do shewe to me late, certayn euydences wryton in olde englysshe […];
Sometimes to do him laugh, ſhe would aſſay / To laugh at ſhaking off the leaues light, / Or to behold the water worke […]
More examples (2)
Emongſt the reſt a wicked maladie / Raign’d emongſt men, that manie did to die,[…]
MOreouer, brethren, wee do you to wit [i.e. we make you to know] of the grace of God beſtowed on the Churches of Macedonia,[…]
To suffice.
Usage- Transitive or intransitive
- Examples
-
One bottle will do.
make it do or do without
it’s not the best broom, but it will have to do; this will do me, thanks.
More examples (2)
“Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.
"Here," she said, "take your old Bunny! He'll do to sleep with you!" And she dragged the Rabbit out by one ear, and put him into the Boy's arms.
To be reasonable or acceptable.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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This time will do.
It simply will not do to have dozens of children running around such a quiet event.
At last you spot a tempura stand. Not quite what you had in mind, but it'll do.
To have (as an effect).
Usage- Ditransitive
- Examples
-
A little rest will do you good.
The fresh air did him some good.
To fare, perform (well or poorly).
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
-
How are you doing?
Our relationship isn't doing very well; how do you do?
More examples (1)
Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.
To fare, perform (well or poorly). To fare well; to thrive; to prosper; (of livestock) to fatten.
Usage- England
- especially
- Intransitive
- Examples
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A big framed beast takes a lot of food — expensive food at that [—] to keep it doing […]
That farm would go like a rick a-fire. It would do: it would go forward and prosper and make him his money.
To have as one's job.
Usage- Transitive
- in questions
- Examples
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What do you do?
What does Bob do? — He's a plumber.
"What did you do in the States?" I asked him. "National Security Agency."
To perform the tasks or actions associated with (something).
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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I do the dishes after dinner.
Don't forget to do your report!
To cook.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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I'll do the potatoes.
I'll just do some eggs.
It seemed, from his account, that he was very good at doing scrambled eggs.
More examples (2)
We went down below, and the galley-slave did some ham and eggs, and the first lieutenant, who was aged 19, told me about Sicily, and time went like a flash.
Next morning, they woke about ten o'clock, Kev, went for a shower while Alice, did some toast, put the kettle on, and when he came out, she went in.
To travel in or through, to tour, to make a circuit of.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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Let’s do New York also.
We 'did' London to our hearts' content,—thanks to Fred and Frank,—and were sorry to go away; […]
More examples (3)
After doing Paris and its suburbs, I started for London […]
No tourist can get credit for seeing America first without doing New York, the Wonderful Town, the Baghdad-on-Hudson, the dream in the eye of the Kansas hooker […]
We got to travel the globe. We did Asia. That's what they say, isn't it? "Did." You know, the globetrotters. Palin. Alan Whicker. We did China. We did Malaysia. Kathmandu was very much a case of Kathman-did.
To treat in a certain way.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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You have done me wrong.
They did me well, I assure you—uncommon well: Bollinger of '84; green chartreuse fit for a prince; […]
Upon my word, although he [my host] certainly did me uncommonly well, I began to feel I'd be more at ease among the bushmen.
More examples (2)
"Why you gonna do me like that?" I ask. "Do what?" "Dog me."
Christmas, why you gotta do me like this / I always embraced you / Held you close inside my heart
To work for or on, by way of caring for, looking after, preparing, cleaning, keeping in order, etc.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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She does her hair every morning.
The woman-who-did did not do very well, Juliet thought.
To act or behave in a certain manner; to conduct oneself.
Usage- Intransitive
- Obsolete
- Examples
-
More examples (1)
Vnto this day they doe after the former manners: they feare not the Lord, neither doe they after their Statutes, or after their Ordinances, or after the Law and Commaundement which the Lord commaunded the children of Iacob, whom hee named Iſrael,[…]
To spend (time) in jail. (See also do time)
Usage- Transitive
- Synonyms
- Examples
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I did five years for armed robbery.
To impersonate or depict.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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They really laughed when he did Clinton, with a perfect accent and a leer.
To copy or emulate the actions or behaviour that is associated with the person or thing mentioned.
Usage- place
- Transitive
- usually
- with 'a' and the name of a person
- Examples
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He did a Henry VIII and got married six times.
He was planning to do a 9/11.
To kill.
Usage- Slang
- Transitive
- Examples
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Case pulled the .22 out of his pocket and levelled it at Wage's crotch. “I hear you wanna do me.”
About a year ago, a boy name Brandon got got here in Baltimore. Stuck and burned before he passed. […] Wasn't no need for y'all to do him the way y'all did.
More examples (2)
He's gonna do me, Jarvis. I kid you not, this time he's gonna do me proper.
The order came and I did him right there. The bullet went right where it was supposed to go.
To deal with for good and all; to finish up; to undo; to ruin; to do for.
Usage- Slang
- Transitive
- Examples
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Sometimes they lie in wait in these dark streets, and fracture his skull, […] or break his arm, or cut the sinew of his wrist; and that they call doing him.
To punish for a misdemeanor.
Usage- Informal
- Transitive
- Examples
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He got done for speeding.
Teacher'll do you for that!
To have sex with. (See also do it)
Usage- Slang
- Transitive
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
More examples (1)
Deme[trius]. Villaine vvhat haſt thou done? / A[aron]. That vvhich thou canſt not vndoe. / Chiron. Thou haſt vndone our mother. / Aron. Villaine I haue done thy mother.
[…] one day I did her on the kitchen table, and several times on the dining-room table.
The uninhibited woman within wanted to do him right there on the countertop, but I remained composed.
To have sex with. (See also do it) To masturbate.
Usage- Reflexive
- Slang
- Transitive
- Examples
-
I got horny from his nudes and ended up doing myself to them.
To cheat or swindle.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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That guy just did me out of two hundred bucks!
He was not to be done, at his time of life, by frivolous offers of a compromise that might have secured him seventy-five per cent.
To convert into a certain form; especially, to translate.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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the novel has just been done into English; I'm going to do this play into a movie
To finish.
Usage- Transitive or intransitive
- Examples
-
I have done the report.
To cash or to advance money for, as a bill or note.
Usage- Transitive
To make or provide.
Usage- Ditransitive
- Informal
- Examples
-
Could you do me a burger with mayonnaise instead of ketchup?
To provide as a service.
Usage- Informal
- Transitive
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
This shop does repairs.
Do they do haircuts there?
To injure (one's own body part).
Usage- Informal
- Transitive
- Examples
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"Defender Kolo Toure admitted Given will be a loss, but gave his backing to Nielsen. 'I think he's done his shoulder,' said the Ivorian."
More examples (1)
"Watto will spend the entire winter stretching and doing Pilates, and do a hamstring after bending down to pick up his petrol cap after dropping it filling his car at Caltex Cronulla."
"'I knew straight away I'd done my ACL, I heard the sound - it was very loud and a few of the boys said they heard it as well,' Otten said."
To take (a drug).
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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I do cocaine.
To exist with a purpose or for a reason.
Usage- Transitive
- in the form be doing [somewhere]
- Examples
-
What's that car doing in our swimming pool?
To drive a vehicle at a certain speed, especially in regard to a speed limit.
Usage- Informal
- Transitive
- Examples
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He was doing 50 [miles per hour] in a school zone.
To perform something suggested by a following noun, verb, or adjective.
Usage- adjective
- verb
- used with nouns
- Examples
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did a listen do someone a frighten doing her a cute
Is your significant other doing you a heckin distress?
More examples (3)
When they stick out their tongues, they're doing a mlem, a blep, a blop. They bork. They boof.
Woof woof! I’m the goodest boi! I will do you all a protecc (in exchange for yummy treats and full medical, dental, and vision care).
hey there hope ya dont mind if I do a cronch (I luv the house salad) […] henlo mom / doin a heckin picturesque / the cuter i look / the more treatos i consume
Noun
A party, celebration, social function; usually of moderate size and formality.
Usage- UK usage
- Informal
- Synonyms
- Examples
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We’re having a bit of a do on Saturday to celebrate my birthday.
She was into French cuisine but I ain't no Cordon Bleu / This was at some do in Palmers Green, I had no luck with her
More examples (2)
A gross-gutted, bulb-nosed, bourbon-stanky Boston flatfoot in plain clothes wrinkled white sox, with a race track tip-sheet stuffed in his back pocket trying real hard to mingle unnoticed at an elegant Buddies "do" to glean inside-dope.
[…]; this aside, though, neon forever the moniker of trash, this is a posh do, in an opera house full of folk in tuxes.
Something that can or should be done.
- Antonyms
- Examples
-
Don’t forget the dos and don’ts.
With the coming of Monday arrived a new life for David—a curious life full of "don'ts" and "dos."
Something that has been done.
Usage- Obsolete
- Examples
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"How come you quit?" "I'm moving to London." "Fair dos."
Ado; bustle; stir; to-do; A period of confusion or argument.
Usage- Archaic
- Synonyms
- Examples
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A great deal of do, and a great deal of trouble.
A cheat; a swindler.
Usage- UK usage
- Obsolete
- Slang
An act of swindling; a fraud or deception.
Usage- UK usage
- Obsolete
- Slang
A homicide.
Usage- UK usage
- Slang
- Examples
-
More examples (1)
Get it done, no not properly Them man thought that they got me True, I came back like a fucking zombie Attempted do with the ching Have an opp boy say “please don’t chong me!”
Noun
A syllable used in solfège to represent the first and eighth tonic of a major scale.
Numeral
The cardinal number occurring after el and before do one in a duodecimal system. Written 10, decimal value 12.
an uproarious party
- Broader terms
the syllable naming the first (tonic) note of any major scale in solmization
- Broader terms
Verb
engage in
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
make love, not war
make an effort
More examples (3)
do research
do nothing
make revolution
carry out or perform an action
- Examples
-
John did the painting, the weeding, and he cleaned out the gutters
the skater executed a triple pirouette
More examples (1)
she did a little dance
get (something) done
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
I did my job
proceed or get along
- Examples
-
How is she doing in her new job?
How are you making out in graduate school?
More examples (1)
He's come a long way
give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally
- Examples
-
cause a commotion
make a stir
More examples (1)
cause an accident
carry out or practice; as of jobs and professions
- Examples
-
practice law
be sufficient; be adequate, either in quality or quantity
- Broader terms
- Examples
-
A few words would answer
This car suits my purpose well
More examples (3)
Will $100 do?
A ‘B’ grade doesn't suffice to get me into medical school
Nothing else will serve
create or design, often in a certain way
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
Do my room in blue
I did this piece in wood to express my love for the forest
behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself
- Examples
-
You should act like an adult
Don't behave like a fool
More examples (2)
What makes her do this way?
The dog acts ferocious, but he is really afraid of people
spend time in prison or in a labor camp
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
He did six years for embezzlement
carry on or function
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
We could do with a little more help around here
arrange attractively
- Examples
-
dress my hair for the wedding
travel or traverse (a distance)
- Examples
-
This car does 150 miles per hour
We did 6 miles on our hike every day