I . *do
/ də; NAmE ; du; strong form duː/ verb , auxiliary verb , noun
➡ irregular verbs
—see also do (II)
■ verb
ACTION
1.
[ vn ] used to refer to actions that you do not mention by name or do not know about :
What are you doing this evening?
We will do what we can to help.
Are you doing anything tomorrow evening?
The company ought to do something about the poor service.
What have you done to your hair?
There's nothing to do (= no means of passing the time in an enjoyable way) in this place.
There's nothing we can do about it (= we can't change the situation) .
What can I do for you (= how can I help) ?
BEHAVE
2.
[ v + adv. / prep. ] do (as ... ) to act or behave in the way mentioned :
Do as you're told!
They are free to do as they please.
You would do well to (= I advise you to) consider all the options before buying.
SUCCEED / PROGRESS
3.
[ v + adv. / prep. ] used to ask or talk about the success or progress of sb/sth :
How is the business doing?
She did well out of (= made a big profit from) the deal.
He's doing very well at school (= his work is good) .
Both mother and baby are doing well (= after the birth of the baby) .
( informal )
How are you doing (= how are you) ?
TASK / ACTIVITY
4.
[ vn ] to work at or perform an activity or a task :
I'm doing some research on the subject.
I have a number of things to do today.
I do aerobics once a week.
Let's do (= meet for) lunch.
( informal )
Sorry. I don't do funny (= I can't be funny) .
5.
[ vn ] used with nouns to talk about tasks such as cleaning, washing, arranging, etc. :
to do (= wash) the dishes
to do (= arrange) the flowers
I like the way you've done your hair.
6.
[ vn ] do the ironing, cooking, shopping, etc. | do some, a little, etc. acting, writing, etc. to perform the activity or task mentioned :
I like listening to the radio when I'm doing the ironing.
She did a lot of acting when she was at college.
JOB
7.
[ vn ] (usually used in questions) to work at sth as a job :
What do you do (= what is your job) ?
What does she want to do when she leaves school?
What did she do for a living ?
What's Tom doing these days?
STUDY
8.
[ vn ] to learn or study sth :
I'm doing physics, biology and chemistry.
Have you done any (= studied anything by) Keats?
SOLVE
9.
[ vn ] to find the answer to sth; to solve sth :
I can't do this sum.
Are you good at doing crosswords?
MAKE
10.
do sth (for sb) | do (sb) sth to produce or make sth :
[ vn ]
to do a drawing / painting / sketch
Does this pub do (= provide) lunches?
Who's doing (= organizing and preparing) the food for the wedding reception?
[ vn , vnn ]
I'll do a copy for you.
I'll do you a copy.
PERFORM
11.
[ vn ] to perform or produce a play, an opera , etc. :
The local dramatic society is doing 'Hamlet' next month.
COPY SB
12.
[ vn ] to copy sb's behaviour or the way sb speaks, sings, etc., especially in order to make people laugh :
He does a great Elvis Presley.
Can you do a Welsh accent?
FINISH
13.
have / be done | get sth done to finish sth :
[ v ]
Sit there and wait till I've done.
[ v -ing ]
I've done talking—let's get started.
[ vn ]
Did you get your article done in time?
TRAVEL
14.
[ vn ] to travel a particular distance :
How many miles did you do during your tour?
My car does 40 miles to the gallon (= uses one gallon of petrol / gas to travel 40 miles) .
15.
[ vn ] to complete a journey / trip :
We did the round trip in two hours.
SPEED
16.
[ vn ] to travel at or reach a particular speed :
The car was doing 90 miles an hour.
VISIT
17.
[ vn ] ( informal ) to visit a place as a tourist :
We did Tokyo in three days.
SPEND TIME
18.
[ vn ] to spend a period of time doing sth :
She did a year at college, but then dropped out.
He did six years (= in prison) for armed robbery.
DEAL WITH
19.
[ vn ] to deal with or attend to sb/sth :
The hairdresser said she could do me (= cut my hair) at three.
BE SUITABLE / ENOUGH
20.
do (for sb/sth) | do (as sth) to be suitable or be enough for sb/sth :
[ v ]
These shoes won't do for the party.
'Can you lend me some money?' 'Sure— will $20 do ?'
The box will do fine as a table.
[ vn ] ( especially BrE )
This room will do me nicely, thank you (= it has everything I need) .
COOK
21.
[ vn ] to cook sth :
How would you like your steak done?
CHEAT
22.
[ vn ] [ usually passive ] ( BrE , informal ) to cheat sb :
This isn't a genuine antique—you've been done.
PUNISH
23.
[ vn ] ( BrE ) do sb (for sth) ( informal ) to punish sb :
They did him for tax evasion.
She got done for speeding.
STEAL
24.
[ vn ] ( informal ) to steal from a place :
The gang did a warehouse and a supermarket.
TAKE DRUGS
25.
[ vn ] ( informal ) to take an illegal drug :
He doesn't smoke, drink or do drugs .
HAVE SEX
26.
[ vn ] do it ( slang ) to have sex
•
IDIOMS
Most idioms containing do are at the entries for the nouns and adjectives in the idioms, for example do a bunk is at bunk .
- be / have to do with sb/sth
- have (got) something, nothing, a lot, etc. to do with sb/sth
- it won't do
- not do anything / a lot / much for sb
- nothing doing
- no you don't
- that does it
- that's done it
- that will do
- what do you do for sth?
- what is sb/sth doing ... ?
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- do away with sb / yourself
- do away with sth
- do sb/sth down
- do for sb/sth
- do sb / yourself in
- do sth in
- do sb out of sth
- do sb over
- do sth over
- do up
- do sth up
- do yourself up
- do sth with sb/sth
- do without (sb/sth)
■ auxiliary verb ( does / dʌz; NAmE / did / dɪd; NAmE / done / dʌn; NAmE /)
1.
used before a full verb to form negative sentences and questions :
I don't like fish.
They didn't go to Paris.
Don't forget to write.
Does she speak French?
2.
used to make question tags (= short questions at the end of statements) :
You live in New York, don't you?
She doesn't work here, does she?
3.
used to avoid repeating a full verb :
He plays better than he did a year ago.
She works harder than he does.
'Who won?' 'I did.'
'I love peaches.' ' So do I .
'I don't want to go back.' ' Neither do I .'
4.
used when no other auxiliary verb is present, to emphasize what you are saying :
He does look tired.
She did at least write to say thank you.
( BrE )
Do shut up!
5.
used to change the order of the subject and verb when an adverb is moved to the front :
Not only does she speak Spanish, she's also good with computers.
■ noun
/duː/ ( pl. dos or do's / duːz; NAmE /) ( BrE , informal ) a party; a social event :
Are you having a big do for your birthday?
•
IDIOMS
- dos and don'ts
—more at fair adjective
••
VOCABULARY BUILDING
household jobs: do or make?
To talk about jobs in the home you can use such phrases as wash the dishes , clean the kitchen floor , set the table , etc. In conversation the verb do is often used instead:
Let me do the dishes.
•
Michael said he would do the kitchen floor.
•
It's your turn to do the table.
Do is often used with nouns ending -ing :
to do the shopping / cleaning / ironing / vacuuming
.
The verb make is used especially in the phrase make the beds and when you are talking about preparing or cooking food:
He makes a great lasagne.
•
I'll make breakfast while you're having a shower.
You can also say get , get ready and, especially in NAmE , fix for preparing meals:
Can you get dinner while I put the kids to bed?
•
Sit down — I'll fix supper for you.
II . do
/ dəʊ; NAmE doʊ/ noun
= doh
—see also do (I)
••
WORD ORIGIN
I . Old English dōn , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch doen and German tun , from an Indo-European root shared by Greek tithēmi I place and Latin facere make, do.