do right by

do right by

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Verb

do right by (third-person singular simple present does right by, present participle doing right by, simple past did right by, past participle done right by)

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To treat, deal with, or act toward (someone) in a morally just, socially honorable fashion.

   I know her new husband is a good man and wants to do right by our family.

   Hey man, did you finish that transaction with my cousin? You do right by him?

   • 1964, Truman, Harry S., MP2002-77 Former President Truman Discusses Bigotry in the United States‎, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives Identifier: 595162, 3:01 from the start:

     The American people, as a whole, know what's right; they know what's wrong, and they act on what's right and what's wrong. And in the long run, this equal rights thing will become a part of the custom of the United States as well as the law. No use putting a thing into the law if the people are not for it. And most of the American people, I think the vast majority of them, want to do what's right by whole population.

   • 2009 August 17, Barack Obama, to the convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Phoenix, Arizona, transcript

     We will do right by our troops and taxpayers, and we will build the 21st Century military that we need.

     …We are not going to abandon these American heroes. We are going to do right by them.