"don't ask, don't tell" meaning in English

See don't ask, don't tell in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Phrase

Forms: don't ask, don't tell, don't harass, don't pursue [alternative], DADT [alternative, initialism]
Head templates: {{head|en|phrase}} don't ask, don't tell
  1. (US) A policy of the U.S. military from 1993 to 2011, which barred openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual people from serving in the military, while also barring discrimination against closeted gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. Tags: US Related terms: liberal homophobia
    Sense id: en-don't_ask,_don't_tell-en-phrase-k-w4qnND Categories (other): American English, English entries with incorrect language header, English imperative sentences, English negative polarity items, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Military Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 92 8 Disambiguation of English imperative sentences: 75 25 Disambiguation of English negative polarity items: 91 9 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 94 6 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 96 4 Disambiguation of Military: 100 0
  2. (by extension, often humorous) Applied to various other policies that prohibit a behavior but also discourage investigation of it. Tags: broadly, humorous, often
    Sense id: en-don't_ask,_don't_tell-en-phrase-KEtgQ7DH
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "don't ask, don't tell, don't harass, don't pursue",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "DADT",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "initialism"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "don't ask, don't tell",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "92 8",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "75 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English imperative sentences",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "91 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English negative polarity items",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "94 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "96 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "100 0",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Military",
          "orig": "en:Military",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A policy of the U.S. military from 1993 to 2011, which barred openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual people from serving in the military, while also barring discrimination against closeted gays, lesbians, and bisexuals."
      ],
      "id": "en-don't_ask,_don't_tell-en-phrase-k-w4qnND",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US) A policy of the U.S. military from 1993 to 2011, which barred openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual people from serving in the military, while also barring discrimination against closeted gays, lesbians, and bisexuals."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "word": "liberal homophobia"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Applied to various other policies that prohibit a behavior but also discourage investigation of it."
      ],
      "id": "en-don't_ask,_don't_tell-en-phrase-KEtgQ7DH",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension, often humorous) Applied to various other policies that prohibit a behavior but also discourage investigation of it."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "humorous",
        "often"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "don't ask, don't tell"
  ],
  "word": "don't ask, don't tell"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English imperative sentences",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English negative polarity items",
    "English phrases",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "en:Military"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "don't ask, don't tell, don't harass, don't pursue",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "DADT",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "initialism"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "don't ask, don't tell",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "liberal homophobia"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A policy of the U.S. military from 1993 to 2011, which barred openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual people from serving in the military, while also barring discrimination against closeted gays, lesbians, and bisexuals."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US) A policy of the U.S. military from 1993 to 2011, which barred openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual people from serving in the military, while also barring discrimination against closeted gays, lesbians, and bisexuals."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Applied to various other policies that prohibit a behavior but also discourage investigation of it."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension, often humorous) Applied to various other policies that prohibit a behavior but also discourage investigation of it."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "humorous",
        "often"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "don't ask, don't tell"
  ],
  "word": "don't ask, don't tell"
}

Download raw JSONL data for don't ask, don't tell meaning in English (1.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-05-29 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-05-20 using wiktextract (e937b02 and f1c2b61). 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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