doing
-ing form of “do” — engage in
An inflected form of do · -ing form.
How often you will meet it
Rank 503 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 39,839 times across 139,755 chapters — 0.019% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 1,000 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
verb
- engage in also: make make love, not warmake an effort
- carry out or perform an action also: perform, execute John did the painting, the weeding, and he cleaned out the guttersthe skater executed a triple pirouette
- get (something) done also: perform I did my job
- proceed or get along also: fare, make out, come, get along How is she doing in her new job?How are you making out in graduate school?
- give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally also: cause, make cause a commotionmake a stir
- carry out or practice; as of jobs and professions also: practice, practise, exercise practice law
doing in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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Caesar's governor seemed to know what every Harrovian had done worth the doing.
The Hill: A Romance of Friendship · Horace Annesley Vachell · Chapter 1
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The nurse goes from house to house, doing what she can in a little time.
Gloria and Treeless Street · Annie Hamilton Donnell · Chapter 1
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I never know where my wife is, and my wife never knows what I am doing.
The Picture of Dorian Gray · Oscar Wilde · Chapter 1
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He said it so quietly that I could only answer: “You’re doing me the biggest kind of a favour.”
Ethan Frome · Edith Wharton · Chapter 1
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Day after day, while the country was in an uproar of enthusiasm, Johnny lay unconscious, breathing, and doing no more.
The Courage of the Commonplace · Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews · Chapter 1