Word.ws English Dictionary

doing someone's business

doing someone's business is the present participle and gerund of do someone's business.

Meaning of do someone's business

Verb

do someone's business (third-person singular simple present does someone's business, present participle doing someone's business, simple past did someone's business, past participle done someone's business)

  1. (dated) To ruin someone; to do for.
    • I'll spoil his wandering, I'll him. I'll do his business that way, never fear.1702, George Farquhar, The Inconstant, or the Way to Win Him

Questions about doing someone's business

What is doing someone's business the present participle and gerund of?
Doing someone's business is the present participle and gerund of do someone's business.

Words near doing someone's business in the dictionary

  1. doing someone brown
  2. doing someone like that
  3. doing someone one better
  4. doing someone proud
  5. doing someone's bidding
  6. doing someone's business
  7. doing someone's head in
  8. doing someone's heart good
  9. doing the dash
  10. doing the decent thing
  11. doing the deed

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: doing someone's business (page history and authors); do someone's business (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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