Word.ws English Dictionary

go the way of the dodo

Syllables: go the way of the do·doUK/ˈɡəʊ ðə ˌweɪ ə(v)ðə ˈdəʊdəʊ//ˈɡoʊ ðə ˌweɪ ə(v)ðə ˈdoʊˌdoʊ/

go the way of the dodo verb: to go extinct or become obsolete or defunct; to fall out of common practice or use; to become a thing of the past.

Verb (1)

go the way of the dodo (third-person singular simple present goes the way of the dodo, present participle going the way of the dodo, simple past went the way of the dodo, past participle gone the way of the dodo)

  1. (idiomatic) To go extinct or become obsolete or defunct; to fall out of common practice or use; to become a thing of the past.
    • Now that word-processing has caught on, typewriters have gone the way of the dodo.
    • The Polynesian population, for instance, is on the wane—wearing out—as the Red Man is—as the whale is,—going the way of the dodo, and so many other things.1854 November 11, “No Motu; or, Reef-rovings in the South Seas. A Narrative of Adventures at the Hawaiian, Georgian and Society Islands. By Edward T. Perkins. New York, Pudney & Russell; London...
    Synonyms:
    go the way of the dinosaurs, go the way of the dodo bird, assume room temperature, auger in, be called home, be gathered to one's fathers, be like the the One, be no more, be with Jesus, be with the Lord

Verb (2) capitalized: go the way of the Dodo

go the way of the Dodo (third-person singular simple present goes the way of the Dodo, present participle going the way of the Dodo, simple past went the way of the Dodo, past participle gone the way of the Dodo)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of go the way of the dodo.
    • It is long since that disorderly potentate [the Lord of Misrule] went the way of the Dodo, and hippocras has become almost as mythical as ambrosia; but, once upon a time, they played a prominent part in legal education.1861 November 23, J. Hamilton Fyfe, “High Days in the Temple”, in The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, volume V, number 126, New York, N.Y.: Leavitt, Trow, & Co., →OCLC...
    • If you imagine, then, that the travelling journeyman is simply an anachronism – and went the way of the Dodo, or the Luddites – there would, admittedly, be more than a grain of truth in your reaction. But you would be only partly right.2009, Andrew Price, “Corporate Collateral: Globalization and the Efficiency Delusion”, in Slow-tech: Manifesto for an Overwound World, London: Atlantic Books, →ISBN, page 89

Examples of go the way of the dodo in a sentence

  • We must have game laws for the Arctic seals, and a "close time" for seals as well as for gulls, or else all these animals will go the way of the dodo.1876 July, “Art. VII.—1. Histoire de France, jusqu’à 1794. Par Jules Michelet, Professeur Suppléant à la Faculté des Lettres. Paris...
  • However, at the time of writing it seems that music fans couldn't care less, and mp3PRO may well go the way of the dodo, the 8-track cartridge and George Michael's solo career.2003, Gary Marshall, “Music Technology from A to Z”, in The Cut the Crap! Guide to Music Technology, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire: Artemis...

Synonyms of go the way of the dodo

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Forms of go the way of the dodo

third-person singular presentgoes the way of the dodo
present participlegoing the way of the dodo
pastwent the way of the dodo
past participlegone the way of the dodo
alternative formgo the way of the Dodo
alternative formgo the way of the dodo bird
third-person singular presentgoes the way of the Dodo
present participlegoing the way of the Dodo
pastwent the way of the Dodo
past participlegone the way of the Dodo

Origin of go the way of the dodo

The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, which is believed to have become extinct in the 17th century due to human activity.

Words that rhyme with go the way of the dodo

Questions about go the way of the dodo

What does go the way of the dodo mean?
Go the way of the dodo means to go extinct or become obsolete or defunct; to fall out of common practice or use; to become a thing of the past.
How do you use go the way of the dodo in a sentence?
We must have game laws for the Arctic seals, and a "close time" for seals as well as for gulls, or else all these animals will go the way of the dodo.
What part of speech is go the way of the dodo?
Go the way of the dodo is a verb.
How do you pronounce go the way of the dodo?
Go the way of the dodo is pronounced /ˈɡəʊ ðə ˌweɪ ə(v)ðə ˈdəʊdəʊ/ (UK).
What is the past tense of go the way of the dodo?
The past tense of go the way of the dodo is went the way of the dodo.

Words near go the way of the dodo in the dictionary

  1. go the route
  2. go the way of
  3. go the way of all flesh
  4. go the way of all the earth
  5. go the way of the dinosaurs
  6. go the way of the dodo
  7. go the way of the dodo bird
  8. go the whole hog
  9. go the whole pile
  10. go their separate ways
  11. go there

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: go the way of the dodo (page history and authors); go the way of the Dodo (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-go the way of the dodo.oga, En-au-go the way of the dodo.ogg.

Cite this entry: “go the way of the dodo.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/go_the_way_of_the_dodo. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.