do away with
To abolish; to put an end to; to eliminate.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“The company decided to do away with paper forms.”
“The city council plans to do away with the old parking rules to reduce traffic in the center.”
“The school will do away with the traditional grading system next year to focus more on creative projects and student participation.”
“After the revolution, the new government sought to do away with the outdated laws that had restricted personal freedom for decades.”
disputed origin
Very likely a continuation of Old English onweġ dōn (“to get rid of”, literally “to do away”, from onweġ (“away”) and dōn (“to do”, also “to make, cause, put”)), via a Middle English *awey don, *oway don, *don awey, and other forms. The preposition with was probably also already in use from the outset, given how its original meaning is “against” (still seen in e.g. argue with, withstand and have a fight with). The original meaning of the phrase was therefore on the lines of “to put away against (someone or something)” or “to make/cause (s.o./sth. to go) away”, which are long-obsolete senses of do.
- 01
away game
An athletic contest played away from the team's home field.
- 02
away with the fairies
Not all there; slightly crazy.
- 03
bang away
to strike or hit repeatedly
- 04
bear away the bell
To be superior in something.
- 05
beaver away
To work hard at a task.
- 06
blaze away
To fire (firearms) repeatedly.
- 07
blow away
To kill (someone) by shooting them with a firearm.
- 08
blow the cobwebs away
To make changes for space for new fresh ideas
Last updated August 10, 2026