do damage to

Meaning

1. 1phrasetransitive

   To harm something or make it less good, often by causing physical or emotional injury.

   Grammar: Takes an object after 'to': do damage to something. You can also say 'damage something' without 'do ... to'.

   Patterns

   • do damage to something
   • do a lot of damage to something

   The storm did a lot of damage to the roof.

   Smoking can do serious damage to your lungs.

   The scandal did damage to the company's reputation.

Common combinations

do damage to something

The flood did damage to the bridge.

do a lot of damage to

The fire did a lot of damage to the building.

do serious damage to

The scandal did serious damage to his career.

do damage to someone's health

Stress can do damage to your health.

Synonyms and how they differ

harm

Harm is more general and can be used for people or things; do damage to often suggests physical or visible harm.

damage

As a verb, damage means the same but is more direct: 'The storm damaged the roof.'

hurt

Hurt is more often used for people or feelings, not objects.

Opposites

Word family

damage noun

Harm that makes something less useful or valuable.

damaging adjective

Causing harm or making something worse.

Commonly confused: do damage to or do damage on?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “do damage to”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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