DOS [daws, dos] SynonymsExamplesWord Origin See more synonyms for DOS on Thesaurus.com noun Computers.
- any of several single-user, command-driven operating systems for personal computers, especially MS DOS.
Origin of DOS d(isk) o(perating) s(ystem) DOS
DoS [daws, dos, dee-oh-es]
- Computers. denial-of-service: DoS protection for web servers.
do 1[doo; unstressed doo, duh] verb (used with object), present singular 1st person do, 2nd do or (Archaic) do·est or dost, 3rd does or (Archaic) do·eth or doth, present plural do; past singular 1st person did, 2nd did or (Archaic) didst, 3rd did, past plural did; past participle done; present participle do·ing.
- to perform (an act, duty, role, etc.): Do nothing until you hear the bell.
- to execute (a piece or amount of work): to do a hauling job.
- to accomplish; finish; complete: He has already done his homework.
- to put forth; exert: Do your best.
- to be the cause of (good, harm, credit, etc.); bring about; effect.
- to render, give, or pay (homage, justice, etc.).
- to deal with, fix, clean, arrange, move, etc., (anything) as the case may require: to do the dishes.
- to travel; traverse: We did 30 miles today.
- to serve; suffice for: This will do us for the present.
- to condone or approve, as by custom or practice: That sort of thing simply isn’t done.
- to travel at the rate of (a specified speed): He was doing 80 when they arrested him.
- to make or prepare: I’ll do the salad.
- to serve (a term of time) in prison, or, sometimes, in office.
- to create, form, or bring into being: She does wonderful oil portraits.
- to translate into or change the form or language of: MGM did the book into a movie.
- to study or work at or in the field of: I have to do my math tonight.
- to explore or travel through as a sightseer: They did Greece in three weeks.
- (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.
- Informal. to wear out; exhaust; tire: That last set of tennis did me.
- Informal. to cheat, trick, or take advantage of: That crooked dealer did him for $500 at poker.
- Informal. to attend or participate in: Let’s do lunch next week.
- Slang. to use (a drug or drugs), especially habitually: The police report said he was doing cocaine.
- Slang. to rob; steal from: The law got him for doing a lot of banks.
- Slang: Vulgar. to have sex with.
- Informal. (usually in the negative) to act in accordance with expectations associated with (something specified): Just ignore her insults—she doesn’t do polite.
verb (used without object), present singular 1st person do, 2nd do or (Archaic) do·est or dost, 3rd does or (Archaic) do·eth or doth, present plural do; past singular 1st person did, 2nd did or (Archaic) didst, 3rd did, past plural did; past participle done; present participle do·ing.
- to act or conduct oneself; be in action; behave.
- to proceed: to do wisely.
- to get along; fare; manage: to do without an automobile.
- to be in health, as specified: Mother and child are doing fine.
- to serve or be satisfactory, as for the purpose; be enough; suffice: Will this do?
- to finish or be finished.
- to happen; take place; transpire: What’s doing at the office?
- (used as a substitute to avoid repetition of a verb or full verb expression): I think as you do.
auxiliary verb, present singular 1st person do, 2nd do or (Archaic) do·est or dost, 3rd does or (Archaic) do·eth or doth, present plural do; past singular 1st person did, 2nd did or (Archaic) didst, 3rd did, past plural did; past participle done; present participle do·ing.
- (used in interrogative, negative, and inverted constructions): Do you like music? I don’t care. Seldom do we witness such catastrophes.
- 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.
- (used to lend emphasis to a principal verb): Do visit us!
noun, plural dos, do’s.
- Informal. a burst of frenzied activity; action; commotion.
- Informal. a hairdo or hair styling.
- British Slang. a swindle; hoax.
- Chiefly British. a festive social gathering; party.
Verb Phrases
- do by, to deal with; treat: He had always done well by his family.
- do for,
- to cause the defeat, ruin, or death of.
- Chiefly British.to cook and keep house for; manage or provide for.
- do in, Informal.
- to kill, especially to murder.
- to injure gravely or exhaust; wear out; ruin: The tropical climate did them in.
- to cheat or swindle: He was done in by an unscrupulous broker.
- do over, to redecorate.
- do up, Informal.
- to wrap and tie up.
- to pin up or arrange (the hair).
- to renovate; launder; clean.
- to wear out; tire.
- to fasten: Do up your coat.
- to dress: The children were all done up in funny costumes.
- do with, to gain advantage or benefit from; make use of: I could do with more leisure time.
- do without,
- to forgo; dispense with.
- to dispense with the thing mentioned: The store doesn’t have any, so you’ll have to do without.
Idioms
- do a number on (someone). number(def 39).
- do away with,
- to put an end to; abolish.
- to kill.
- do one proud. proud(def 11).
- do one’s number. number(def 40).
- do one’s (own) thing. thing1(def 22).
- do or die, to make a supreme effort.
- do out of, Informal. to swindle; cheat: A furniture store did me out of several hundred dollars.
- dos and don’ts, customs, rules, or regulations: The dos and don’ts of polite manners are easy to learn.
- do time, Informal. to serve a term in prison: It’s hard to get a decent job once you’ve done time.
- do to death. death(def 15).
- have to do with. have(def 37).
- 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.
Origin of do 1 before 900; Middle English, Old English dōn; cognate with Dutch doen, German tun; akin to Latin -dere to put, facere to make, do, Greek tithénai to set, put, Sanskrit dadhāti (he) putsCan be confuseddew do dewSynonyms for do See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com 1, 27. act. Synonym study 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. do 2[doh] noun, plural dos. Music.
- the syllable used for the first tone or keynote of a diatonic scale.
- (in the fixed system of solmization) the tone C.Compare sol-fa(def 1), ut.
Origin of do 2 1745–55; Italian, inverted variant of ut; see gamut Related Words for dos affair, activity, dinner, celebration, slot, duty, office, spot, job, place, situation, post, role, wealth, success, accomplishment, riches, expansion, benefit, growth Examples from the Web for dos Contemporary Examples of dos
Despite signing paperwork and a checklist of dos and don’ts, I was in way over my head.
My ‘Kink’ Nightmare: James Franco’s BDSM Porn Documentary ‘Kink’ Only Tells Part of the Story
Aurora Snow
August 30, 2014
Dos Passos interweaved the stories of his more proletarian subjects with biographies of some well-known Americans.
Individual Lives in an Unforgiving America
Michael Tomasky
May 22, 2013
They are a congressional odd couple, dos amigos with a powerful third working in the wings.
Immigration’s Odd Couple: Two Puerto Rican Congressmen Forge a Deal
Sandra McElwaine
May 11, 2013
The technology was still slow-ish, and I had to dictate into DOS and subsequently convert documents into Windows.
‘Miracle Boy Grows Up’: Ben Mattlin Speaks to Jay McInerney
Jay McInerney
December 22, 2012
Dos conservative is in denial of the evidence by comparison with other civilised, developed countries.
Harold Evans
April 5, 2009
Historical Examples of dos
The “Dos Estrellas” Mine is yet another example of this successful district.
Charles Reginald Enock
They gave this island the name of Thieves’ Island (dos Ladroes).
The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 9
Various
And these principally occur on Lombardic slabs and Dos d’Anes.
William Durandus
The blockade began in 1808, soon after the heroic Dos de Mayo in Madrid.
Elizabeth Boyle O’Reilly
Put it at worst, do not you know that every man must have his Dos of Iniquity?
Sir Roger L’Estrange
British Dictionary definitions for dos DOS n acronym for trademark computing
- disk-operating system, often prefixed, as in MS-DOS and PC-DOS; a computer operating system
DO abbreviation for
- Doctor of Optometry
- Doctor of Osteopathy
do 1 verb does, doing, did or done
- to perform or complete (a deed or action)to do a portrait; the work is done
- (often intr; foll by for) to serve the needs of; be suitable for (a person, situation, etc); sufficethere isn’t much food, but it’ll do for the two of us
- (tr) to arrange or fixyou should do the garden now
- (tr) to prepare or provide; servethis restaurant doesn’t do lunch on Sundays
- (tr) to make tidy, elegant, ready, etc, as by arranging or adorningto do one’s hair
- (tr) to improve (esp in the phrase do something to or for)
- (tr) to find an answer to (a problem or puzzle)
- (tr) to translate or adapt the form or language ofthe book was done into a play
- (intr) to conduct oneselfdo as you please
- (intr) to fare or managehow are you doing these days?
- (tr) to cause or producecomplaints do nothing to help
- (tr) to give or renderyour portrait doesn’t do you justice; do me a favour
- (tr) to work at, esp as a course of study or a professionhe is doing chemistry; what do you do for a living?
- (tr) to perform (a play, etc); actthey are doing “Hamlet” next week
- (tr) to travel at a specified speed, esp as a maximumthis car will do 120 mph
- (tr) to travel or traverse (a distance)we did 15 miles on our walk
- (takes an infinitive without to) used as an auxiliary before the subject of an interrogative sentence as a way of forming a questiondo you agree?; when did John go out?
- (takes an infinitive without to) used as an auxiliary to intensify positive statements and commandsI do like your new house; do hurry!
- (takes an infinitive without to) used as an auxiliary before a negative adverb to form negative statements or commandshe does not like cheese; do not leave me here alone!
- (takes an infinitive without to) used as an auxiliary in inverted constructionslittle did he realize that; only rarely does he come in before ten o’clock
- used as an auxiliary to replace an earlier verb or verb phrase to avoid repetitionhe likes you as much as I do
- (tr) informal to visit or explore as a sightseer or touristto do Westminster Abbey
- (tr) to wear out; exhaust
- (intr) to happen (esp in the phrase nothing doing)
- (tr) slang to serve (a period of time) as a prison sentencehe’s doing three years for burglary; he’s doing time
- (tr) informal to cheat or swindle
- (tr) slang to robthey did three shops last night
- (tr) slang
- to arrest
- to convict of a crime
- (tr) Australian informal to lose or spend (money) completely
- (tr) slang, mainly British to treat violently; assault
- (tr) slang to take or use (a drug)
- (tr) taboo, slang (of a male) to have sexual intercourse with
- (tr) to partake in (a meal)let’s do lunch
- do or do a informal to act like; imitatehe’s a good mimic – he can do all his friends well
- do or die to make a final or supreme effort
- how do you do? a conventional formula when being introduced
- make do to manage with whatever is available
noun plural dos or do’s
- slang an act or instance of cheating or swindling
- informal, mainly British and NZ a formal or festive gathering; party
- do’s and don’ts informal those things that should or should not be done; rules
See also do away with, do by, do down, do for, do in, done, do out, do over, do up, do with, do without Word Origin for do Old English dōn; related to Old Frisian duān, Old High German tuon, Latin abdere to put away, Greek tithenai to place; see deed, doom do 2 noun plural dos
- a variant spelling of doh 1
do 3 the internet domain name for
- Dominican Republic
Word Origin and History for dos do v.
Middle English do, first person singular of Old English don “make, act, perform, cause; to put, to place,” from West Germanic *don (cf. Old Saxon duan, Old Frisian dua, Dutch doen, Old High German tuon, German tun), from PIE root *dhe- “to put, place, do, make” (see factitious).
Use as an auxiliary began in Middle English. Periphrastic form in negative sentences (“They did not think”) replaced the Old English negative particles (“Hie ne wendon”). Slang meaning “to do the sex act with or to” is from 1913. Expression do or die is attested from 1620s. Cf. does, did, done.
do n.
first (and last) note of the diatonic scale, by 1754, from do, used as a substitution for ut (see gamut) for sonority’s sake, first in Italy and Germany. U.S. slang do-re-mi “money” is from 1920s, probably a pun on dough in its slang sense of “cash.”