do right by

verb

do right by

verb
1

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

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.