See do a number on in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
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{
"form": "doing a number on",
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{
"form": "did a number on",
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"name": "en-verb"
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"pos": "verb",
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"ref": "1974 October 29, “Sports: Full-time Franco Busts A Couple, Rushes For 141”, in Pittsburgh Press, retrieved 20 Aug 2010, page 26:",
"text": "Last night, Harris went the distance and did a number on the Falcons, running for a career-high 141 yards while carrying the ball more often than he ever has.",
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69,
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"ref": "1988 September 25, Chet Currier, “Obstacles remaining in market's path to revival”, in Reading Eagle, USA, retrieved 20 Aug 2010, page B4:",
"text": "Hopes have faded lately on Wall Street. . . . \"This market is really doing a number on both professionals and the public alike,\" said Sam Weinstein in his investment advisory letter.",
"type": "quotation"
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"ref": "2007 August 12, Laura Fitzpatrick, “The Newest Addictions on Campus”, in Time:",
"text": "All-night caffeine-fueled video game binges do \"a number on your body,\" says Essenburg.",
"type": "quotation"
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"ref": "2023 September 24, HarryBlank, “Working Wonders”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 25 May 2024:",
"text": "\"No, that won't work.\" Reynders sighed, not in frustration — she was an excellent pedagogue, and never got frustrated while instructing — but in mental exhaustion. This project was testing the limits of what she could handle, in her state, though that was nothing compared to the number it was doing on Udo's head. \"But it doesn't need to work. ATCP doesn't ossify, that's why it's armageddon-proof. We'd never be able to make this function if we were using standard protocols.\"",
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"To damage, especially to a significant extent; to treat harshly; to produce ill effects in."
],
"id": "en-do_a_number_on-en-verb-e4CWNDmn",
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"damage",
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"ill"
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],
"raw_glosses": [
"(informal, idiomatic) To damage, especially to a significant extent; to treat harshly; to produce ill effects in."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "take its toll"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
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{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"lang_code": "bg",
"roman": "izigravam nomer",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "изигравам номер"
},
{
"code": "bg",
"english": "make a fool of someone",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"lang_code": "bg",
"roman": "izigraja nomer",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"translation": "make a fool of someone",
"word": "изиграя номер"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "dañar a"
},
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"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "arruinar a"
}
]
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],
"word": "do a number on"
}
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{
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{
"form": "did a number on",
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{
"form": "done a number on",
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"ref": "1974 October 29, “Sports: Full-time Franco Busts A Couple, Rushes For 141”, in Pittsburgh Press, retrieved 20 Aug 2010, page 26:",
"text": "Last night, Harris went the distance and did a number on the Falcons, running for a career-high 141 yards while carrying the ball more often than he ever has.",
"type": "quotation"
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69,
86
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"ref": "1988 September 25, Chet Currier, “Obstacles remaining in market's path to revival”, in Reading Eagle, USA, retrieved 20 Aug 2010, page B4:",
"text": "Hopes have faded lately on Wall Street. . . . \"This market is really doing a number on both professionals and the public alike,\" said Sam Weinstein in his investment advisory letter.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
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44,
46
],
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48,
59
]
],
"ref": "2007 August 12, Laura Fitzpatrick, “The Newest Addictions on Campus”, in Time:",
"text": "All-night caffeine-fueled video game binges do \"a number on your body,\" says Essenburg.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
280,
286
],
[
294,
299
]
],
"ref": "2023 September 24, HarryBlank, “Working Wonders”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 25 May 2024:",
"text": "\"No, that won't work.\" Reynders sighed, not in frustration — she was an excellent pedagogue, and never got frustrated while instructing — but in mental exhaustion. This project was testing the limits of what she could handle, in her state, though that was nothing compared to the number it was doing on Udo's head. \"But it doesn't need to work. ATCP doesn't ossify, that's why it's armageddon-proof. We'd never be able to make this function if we were using standard protocols.\"",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To damage, especially to a significant extent; to treat harshly; to produce ill effects in."
],
"links": [
[
"damage",
"damage"
],
[
"treat",
"treat"
],
[
"harshly",
"harshly"
],
[
"ill",
"ill"
],
[
"effect",
"effect"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(informal, idiomatic) To damage, especially to a significant extent; to treat harshly; to produce ill effects in."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "take its toll"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"informal"
]
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"lang_code": "bg",
"roman": "izigravam nomer",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "изигравам номер"
},
{
"code": "bg",
"english": "make a fool of someone",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"lang_code": "bg",
"roman": "izigraja nomer",
"sense": "Translations",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"translation": "make a fool of someone",
"word": "изиграя номер"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "dañar a"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "Translations",
"word": "arruinar a"
}
],
"word": "do a number on"
}
Download raw JSONL data for do a number on meaning in English (3.7kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-03-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-03-03 using wiktextract (05c257f and 9d9a410). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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