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Glite Dictionary
💀 To kill 🤕 To harm badly
to do in

to do in

11 8.3
To kill or seriously hurt someone to remove a threat
  • phrasal verb
  • /duː ɪn/
  • Offensive
: liquidar
  • And Slick was the one that did your old man in.

You've just done is this is that you've done him in seconds.

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Examples

  • He survived a few duels over some European duchesses and countesses, only to be done in by a jealous Turk who hired assassins to cut out his heart.

    Written on the Wind (1956)

  • If looks could kill, we would have done each other in.

    Academic text (1998)

  • You can do her in with this.

    Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009)

  • Last year, the Chicago Bears were done in by Cutler's broken thumb.

    Blog text (5)

  • Any number of people would have done Buldram in if they had the chance, wouldn't they?

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Professor Prince eventually becomes department chairperson and now decides to do in his rival Professor Louis.

    Academic text (1993)

  • If the economic collapse doesn't do us in, then environmental catastrophe will.

    Blog text (24)

  • I WAS DONE IN BY AN ECCENTRIC HOUSEWIFE ON MY PAPER ROUTE.

    When Time Ran Out... (1980)

  • The mob decided to do in their rival to eliminate the competition.

  • After he threatened them, they plotted to do him in before he could act.

Synonyms

to kill
vsto do in
  • NSFW
∞ 1.0

Cause the death of a person, animal, or other living thing

is narrower in purpose, aimed at getting rid of a specific threat
to neutralize
vsto do in
  • Jargon
74 6.4

To make a military threat unable to act, often by using force

is more about direct harm or killing specifically to remove threats
to knock off
vsto do in
  • NSFW
29 9.9

Kill someone as part of a crime

is less colloquial and can include serious harm, not only slang killing
to waste
vsto do in
  • Offensive
28 9.3

To kill someone in a violent or criminal way

is more neutral and explicitly covers harming to remove a danger
to do a number on
vsto do in
  • Informal
25 8.6

To harm someone or something very badly

is specifically about killing or serious harm to remove a threat
to liquidate
vsto do in
  • Offensive
12 9.3

To kill someone who is a threat

is broader, can mean harming as well as removing a threat
to remove
vsto do in
  • Offensive
1 9.9

To kill someone on purpose, usually by a criminal group

is less formal and focuses on threat removal rather than crime formality

Antonyms

to protect
∞ 1.0

To keep someone or something safe from harm

to spare
100 3.5

Decide not to hurt someone even though you could

How Violent

to kill
  • NSFW
∞ 1.0
to do in
  • Offensive
11 8.3
to maim
  • NSFW
48 7.0
to wound
12 2.3
to injure
10 1.6

Surface Forms

do in infinitive
did in past
done in past participle
doing in present participle
does in third person singular

Morphology

do + in

The sense 'to cause damage to or harm someone, sometimes to the point of exhaustion or destruction' is not derivable from the literal meanings of 'do' (cause/make) plus 'in' (inside/into). The particle 'in' here has an idiomatic, argument-changing function and the whole construction is metaphorical/idiomatic, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituents would not reliably infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

Do in may come from the simple idea of making someone 'done' or finished: to do someone in is to act on them until they are finished and cannot go on. That's why it came to mean 'to kill' or to get rid of someone.