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

to do in

3 7.4
To damage something so it stops working or make a person very tired
  • phrasal verb
  • /duː ɪn/
  • Offensive
translation icon : acabar con
  • The sudden economic crisis did in numerous small businesses in the area.

Examples

Synonyms

to injure
vsto do in
53 1.6

Cause harm to people or things, for example to a company's good name

often implies stronger damage, sometimes reaching exhaustion or total destruction
to do a number on
vsto do in
  • Informal
22 8.6

To harm someone or something very badly

is more general and can mean harm that is less intense
to bash in
vsto do in
  • NSFW
13 7.5

Hit something hard so it breaks or opens

covers broader harm including destruction or exhaustion, not only violent hits
to do (someone) in
vsto do in
  • Informal
8 8.3

Make someone very tired or unable to continue

is broader, applied to harm of people or things including destruction
to do a job on
vsto do in
  • UK
3 7.7

Damage or spoil something badly

applies to harm of people or things, not only ruining objects

Antonyms

to heal
481 1.2

To become healthy again after an injury, illness, or emotional pain

to repair
365 1.0

To fix something that is broken or not working

How Damaging

to destroy
∞ 1.0
to ruin
∞ 2.0
to do in
  • Offensive
3 7.4
to damage
885 1.4
scratch
203 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 can also mean to damage or wear someone or something out, and this sense likely comes from the same idea of making someone 'done' by using them up: to do someone in is to use them until they stop. People would say it 'did them in', so it came to mean 'to tire out' or 'to break'.