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do

to have a purpose or reason

Etymology:

  • From Middle English don, from Old English dōn, from Proto-Germanic *dōną, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-.
  • The past tense form is from Middle English didde, dude, from Old English dyde, *diede, from Proto-Germanic *dedǭ/*dedē, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰédʰeh₁ti, an athematic e-reduplicated verb of the same root *dʰeh₁-.
  • The use of do in interrogative, negative, and, formerly, affirmative sentences, unusual in Germanic languages, is thought to be calqued from Welsh.
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What's that car doing in our swimming pool?

Submitted on July 10, 2018

Additional definitions for 'do':

doA syntactic marker
doTo perform; to execute.
doTo cause, make.
doTo suffice.
doTo be reasonable or acceptable.
doTo have.
doTo fare; to succeed or fail.
doTo have as one's job.
doTo perform the tasks or actions associated with
doTo cook.
doTo travel in, to tour, to make a circuit of.
doTo treat in a certain way.
doTo work for or on, by way of caring for, looking after, preparing, cleaning, keeping in order, etc.
doTo act or behave in a certain manner; to conduct oneself.
doTo spend in jail.
doTo impersonate or depict.
doTo kill.
doTo deal with for good and all; to finish up; to undo; to ruin; to do for.
doTo punish for a misdemeanor.
doTo have sex with.
doTo cheat or swindle.
doTo convert into a certain form; especially, to translate.
doTo finish.
doTo work as a domestic servant.
doUsed to form the present progressive of verbs.
doTo cash or to advance money for, as a bill or note.
doTo make or provide.
doTo injure.
doTo take drugs.
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    "do." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/do_25519>.

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