do time

Idioms

Serve a prison sentence, as in Many of the gang members did time while they were still teenagers. This expression originated as underworld slang and is now standard usage. [c. 1860]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

When I have a lot to do, time shrinks, but when I want something over with, it stretches and yawns, and laughs at my torture.

From Literature

Mr Berry also said he would "do time" for Mrs Mills.

From BBC

It’s something life has evolved to do time and again.

From Slate

The deal included a 23-month jail sentence but in Spain, convicts do not usually do time for sentences under two years.

From BBC

The sunrise ambers and midnight blues of Joshua Cutts’s lighting design illuminate Michael’s states of mind as much as they do time and place.

From New York Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023