If you do without something you need, want, or usually have, you are able to survive, continue, or succeed although you do not have it.
We can't do without the help of your organisation. [VERBPARTICLE noun]
We've had a bit more money and that, and the baby doesn't do without. [VERBPARTICLE]
2. phrasal verb
If you say that you could do without something, you mean that you would prefer not to have it or it is of no benefit to you.
[informal]
He could do without her rhetorical questions at five o'clock in the morning. [VERBPARTICLE noun]
He could do without the awkward questions. [VERBPARTICLE noun]
Like all teenagers there's one thing she'd rather do without–spots. [VERBPARTICLE noun]
More Synonyms of do without
See full dictionary entry for do
do without in British English
verb(intr, preposition)
1.
to forgo; manage without
I can't do without cigarettes
2.
not to require (uncalled-for comments or advice)
we can do without your criticisms thank you
do without in American English
to get along without; dispense with
See full dictionary entry for do
Examples of 'do without' in a sentence
do without
In a time of uncertainty that is something we could do without.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It is something we all do without a second thought, but most of us aren't breathing properly.
The Sun (2016)
Safety is something we cannot do without.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
But politics is still something broadcasters do without having to be told.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
This is also something you cannot do without seeking help and you are already accomplishing that by writing this letter.
The Sun (2008)
Once you have the right habits, it becomes something you do without thinking and then you are walking the right way.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
By then he could have been stripped of both his victories and may have to do without his car 's controversial rear diffuser.
The Sun (2009)
Yet most of the C3 's rivals do without.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
But they could not do without Britain 's expertise in wings.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
You don't come through the Munich air crash like he did without having something special.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
It's something they can do without thinking, something that continuously involvesa pulse and a beat.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Whether it may come or not, one should try and prepare one 's self to do without it.
George Eliot Daniel Deronda (1876)
More recently there's been the absurd investigation into her entirely legal use of a personal email account - something her predecessors did without anyone objecting.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
All I can offer is: going on an expedition is not something you should do without a lot of research.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
In other languages
do without
British English: do without /dʊ wɪˈðaʊt/ VERB
If you do without something, you manage or survive in spite of not having it.
We can't do without the help of your organisation.