A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

do a work • make a work
do a work —engage in an activity; fulfill a task: You could
give the composer complete freedom, saying you’d like him to
do a work for you.
make a work —(coll., also: make work) make a fuss; cause
disturbance or trouble : People make a work if a minister
preach the same sermon over again.
do an abortion • have an abortion
do an abortion —perform an abortion on a woman termi-
nating her pregnancy: I became pregnant again and they were
falling over themselves to do an abortion for me.
have an abortion —(of a woman) end her pregnancy (usually
deliberately): I had an abortion, without telling anyone; the
father left me when I told him of the pregnancy.
do away with something • make away with
 something
do away with something —abolish smth.; put an end to
smth.: I believe it is time to do away with some of the old
laws.
make away with something —
1
. succeed in stealing smth.:
The police gave chase, but the thieves made away with the
jewels. 2. deplete or waste smth.: This sort of life, as anybody
may well think, soon made away with his little stock of money.
3. get rid of smth.: I shall make away with that old carpet on
the stairs; it is time we had a new one.
do best • do one’s best
do best—
1
. be most prosperous; achieve the best results, etc.:
Turnips do best in a cool, well-ventilated area such as a root
cellar. 2. (followed by Infinitive) be well-advised to act in a
particular way: If you want a full overview of this puzzling
tale, you would do best to read two new books.
do one’s best—(also: give of one’s best) do all one can; do smth.
as well as one can: He wasn’t particularly angry. He was look-
ing, or doing his best to look, grave.
Note: 
The expression does not correlate in meaning with the
phrase make the best of oneself— make oneself as attractive as
possible: These letters were full of advice on how to make the
best of oneself when just beginning one’s career.