Meaning & use

dos and don'ts

phrase·Everyday

The rules or customs of proper, sensible, or acceptable behavior in a situation.

See it in a sentence

The guide listed the dos and don'ts of hiking safely in bear country.

New employees received a short list of workplace dos and don'ts on their first day.

A note on using this word

Written with an apostrophe only in 'don'ts'; 'dos' takes no apostrophe in standard usage.

Words with a similar meaning

rulesguidelines

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

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