done

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(ˈ)dən 

past participle of do

—also used in several varieties of English (such as African American English and some varieties of Southern American English) typically before a past tense verb form to communicate that something (such as an action) has ended

"I done learned my mistake and learned to do what's right by it."

—August Wilson

Note: In African American English (AAE), such uses of done can also indicate that the speaker is feeling an intense emotional reaction (such as shock, surprise, or disappointment) to something that counters the speaker's expectations.

"You ain't just cooked your goose; you done cremated it, my man!"

—Mary Monroe

Although done typically precedes past tense verbs in these AAE contexts, it can sometimes occur before present-tense verb forms.

She done make us late!

It also sometimes follows the AAE features called invariant be and stressed BIN.

Note: In linguistics, these uses of done to indicate completion are referred to as the perfective done or preverbal done. The AAE use to convey both completion and strong emotion, in which done is unstressed in pronunciation, is sometimes called dən or i_link|unstressed done|unstressed done}.

… dən denotes that an event has ended …

—Lisa J. Green

… unstressed done continues to be used as a perfective marker (They done done it "They have finished doing it") …

—Stephan Gramley

done

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adjective

1

: arrived at or brought to an end

One more question and we're done.

2

: doomed to failure, defeat, or death

3

: gone by : over

The day of the circus big top is done.

4

: physically exhausted

5

food : cooked sufficiently

Check to see if the meat is done.

6

: conformable to social convention

not the done thing

Synonyms of done

Adjective

• finished
• completed
• complete
• up
• ended
• accomplished

Examples of done in a Sentence

Adjective

Check to see if the meat is done.

Getting a divorce just wasn't done at the time.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Owner Jason Boso fixed that, infusing $2 million into the 10-year-old bar on better bathrooms, a covered section of the patio and a re-done kitchen. —Sarah Blaskovich, Dallas News, 3 Apr. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing done

• be done with
• be done with it
• consider it done
• done deal
• done for
• done to a turn
• easier said than done
• hard done by
• have done
• have done with
• have done with it
• justice is served/done
• no harm done
• no sooner said than done
• over and done with
• perfective done
• preverbal done
• unstressed done
• well-done
• when all is said and done

Rhymes for done

• bun
• dun
• fun
• gun
• hun
• jun
• none
• nun
• one
• pun
• run
• shun

Kids Definition

done

1 of 2

ˈdən 

past participle of do

done

2 of 2 adjective

1

—used to say that something has ended

2

: cooked completely or enough

3

: socially acceptable

divorce just wasn't done at the time

4

: doomed to failure, death, or defeat

5

: physically exhausted