do ill

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈduː ˌɪl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdu ˌɪl/

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Verb

do ill (third-person singular simple present does ill, present participle doing ill, simple past did ill, past participle done ill)

1. (idiomatic) To harm, to injure.
   • 1570, Roger Ascham, “The First Booke for the Youth”, in The Scholemaster: Or Plaine and Perfite Way of Teachying Children, to Vnderstand, Write, and Speake, the Latin Tong, , London: Printed by Iohn Daye, dwelling ouer Aldersgate, →OCLC, folio 14, verso:

     But if ye would know, what grace they meene, go, and looke, and learne emonges them, and ye ſhall ſee that it is: First, to bluſh at nothing, And bluſhing in youth, ſayth Ariſtotle is nothyng els, but feare to do ill: which feare beyng once luſtely fraid away from youth, thẽ foloweth, to dare do any miſchief, to cõtemne ſtoutly any goodneſſe, to be buſie in euery matter, to be ſkilfull in euery thyng, to acknowledge no ignorance at all.

   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. , part II (books IV–VI), London: [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza XXII, page 287:

     Me like a dog ſhe out of dores did thruſt, / Miſcalling me by many a bitter name, / That neuer did her ill, ne once deſerued blame.

   • 1746 July, “An Account of the Trials, &c. of the Rebels”, in The Scots Magazine. Containing, a General View of the Religion, Politicks, Entertainment, &c. in Great Britain: And a Succinct Account of Publick Affairs Foreign and Domestick, volume VIII, Edinburgh: Printed by W. Sands, A. Murray, and J. Cochran, →OCLC, page 323, column 2:

     [H]e [the witness Thomas Chadwick] deposed, That he had known [William] Bretah upwards of two years; […] that he had perſuaded the witneſs to join the rebels before he had any inclination to do it; that proviſions being ſcarce at Carliſle, Bretah would have some ſauſages from the witneſs, which he not caring to part with, they thereupon fought; but that the witneſs never promiſed to do him ill, and would not ſwear away any man's life for a ſauſage.

   • 1850, Edw[ard] Harold Browne, “Article XIII. Of Works before Justification.”, in An Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles, Historical and Doctrinal. Being the Substance of a Course of Lectures Delivered to Candidates for Orders at St. David’s College, Lampeter, volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker, West Strand, →OCLC, section I (History), page 438:

     So he who does unbelievingly, whatever he does, does ill; and he who does ill, sins. The good works which an unbeliever does are the works of Him who turns evil to good.

   • 1910, Friedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Common, transl., with poetry rendered by Paul V. Cohn and Maude D[ominica Mary] Petre, “Book First”, in Oscar Levy, editor, The Joyful Wisdom (“La Gaya Scienza”) (The Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche: The First Complete and Authorised English Translation; 10), Edinburgh, London: T. N. Foulis, 13 & 15 Frederick Street, Edinburgh, →OCLC, section 13, page 49:

     We exercise our power over others by doing them good or by doing them ill—that is all we care for! Doing ill to those on whom we have to make our power felt; for pain is a far more sensitive means for that purpose than pleasure:— […]

   • 2017 August 20, “The Observer view on the attacks in Spain: We must now give into fatalism on terror ”, in The Observer‎, London, archived from the original on 16 September 2017:

     Many jihadist plots have been foiled and the security apparatus is getting better, overall, at pre-empting those who would do us ill. But, they say, the nature of the threat and the terrorists’ increasing use of low-tech, asymmetrical tactics such as hire vehicles and knives, make it all but impossible to stop every assault.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:harm

Antonyms

• benefit
• do good

Related terms

• ill-doing

Translations

Anagrams

• 'dillo, -dilol, dillo, idoll, lidol