diff --git a/bin/expr/expr.1 b/bin/expr/expr.1
index 4550edbacad9..34be0b8fa9de 100644
--- a/bin/expr/expr.1
+++ b/bin/expr/expr.1
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ Operators with equal precedence are grouped within symbols
 and
 .Ql } .
 .Bl -tag -width indent
-.It Ar expr1 Li | Ar expr2
+.It Ar expr1 Li \&| Ar expr2
 Return the evaluation of
 .Ar expr1
 if it is neither an empty string nor zero;
diff --git a/bin/sh/sh.1 b/bin/sh/sh.1
index 92fa35257de5..34b6b2b8969e 100644
--- a/bin/sh/sh.1
+++ b/bin/sh/sh.1
@@ -375,8 +375,8 @@ The following is a list of valid operators:
 .Bl -tag -width indent
 .It Control operators:
 .Bl -column "XXX" "XXX" "XXX" "XXX" "XXX" -offset center -compact
-.It Li & Ta Li && Ta Li ( Ta Li ) Ta Li \en
-.It Li ;; Ta Li ;& Ta Li ; Ta Li | Ta Li ||
+.It Li & Ta Li && Ta Li \&( Ta Li \&) Ta Li \en
+.It Li ;; Ta Li ;& Ta Li \&; Ta Li \&| Ta Li ||
 .El
 .It Redirection operators:
 .Bl -column "XXX" "XXX" "XXX" "XXX" "XXX" -offset center -compact
diff --git a/bin/test/test.1 b/bin/test/test.1
index 5815b1255de3..d73f794b0c28 100644
--- a/bin/test/test.1
+++ b/bin/test/test.1
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
 .Nm
 .Ar expression
 .Nm \&[
-.Ar expression Cm ]
+.Ar expression Cm \&]
 .Sh DESCRIPTION
 The
 .Nm
diff --git a/lib/libc/posix1e/mac_prepare.3 b/lib/libc/posix1e/mac_prepare.3
index 8e694de133b3..e217b7132ef9 100644
--- a/lib/libc/posix1e/mac_prepare.3
+++ b/lib/libc/posix1e/mac_prepare.3
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ when the label was prepared.
 Elements are specified in a nul-terminated string, using commas to
 delimit fields.
 Element names may be prefixed with the
-.Dv ?
+.Ql \&?
 character to indicate that a failure by the kernel to retrieve that
 element should not be considered fatal.
 .Pp
diff --git a/sbin/setkey/setkey.8 b/sbin/setkey/setkey.8
index 6046bad268e2..469040eccea2 100644
--- a/sbin/setkey/setkey.8
+++ b/sbin/setkey/setkey.8
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ are treated as comment lines.
 .Ar src Ar dst Ar protocol Ar spi
 .Op Ar extensions
 .Ar algorithm ...
-.Li ;
+.Li \&;
 .Xc
 Add an SAD entry.
 .Li add
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ including when the key length does not match the specified algorithm.
 .Li get
 .Op Fl 46n
 .Ar src Ar dst Ar protocol Ar spi
-.Li ;
+.Li \&;
 .Xc
 Show an SAD entry.
 .\"
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ Show an SAD entry.
 .Li delete
 .Op Fl 46n
 .Ar src Ar dst Ar protocol Ar spi
-.Li ;
+.Li \&;
 .Xc
 Remove an SAD entry.
 .\"
@@ -157,14 +157,14 @@ Remove an SAD entry.
 .Li deleteall
 .Op Fl 46n
 .Ar src Ar dst Ar protocol
-.Li ;
+.Li \&;
 .Xc
 Remove all SAD entries that match the specification.
 .\"
 .It Xo
 .Li flush
 .Op Ar protocol
-.Li ;
+.Li \&;
 .Xc
 Clear all SAD entries matched by the options.
 .Fl F
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ on the command line achieves the same functionality.
 .It Xo
 .Li dump
 .Op Ar protocol
-.Li ;
+.Li \&;
 .Xc
 Dumps all SAD entries matched by the options.
 .Fl D
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ on the command line achieves the same functionality.
 .Li spdadd
 .Op Fl 46n
 .Ar src_range Ar dst_range Ar upperspec Ar policy
-.Li ;
+.Li \&;
 .Xc
 Add an SPD entry.
 .\"
@@ -191,13 +191,13 @@ Add an SPD entry.
 .Li spddelete
 .Op Fl 46n
 .Ar src_range Ar dst_range Ar upperspec Fl P Ar direction
-.Li ;
+.Li \&;
 .Xc
 Delete an SPD entry.
 .\"
 .It Xo
 .Li spdflush
-.Li ;
+.Li \&;
 .Xc
 Clear all SPD entries.
 .Fl FP
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ on the command line achieves the same functionality.
 .\"
 .It Xo
 .Li spddump
-.Li ;
+.Li \&;
 .Xc
 Dumps all SPD entries.
 .Fl DP
diff --git a/usr.bin/dc/dc.1 b/usr.bin/dc/dc.1
index 03fc7621a5a8..94dba767e653 100644
--- a/usr.bin/dc/dc.1
+++ b/usr.bin/dc/dc.1
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ The length of a number is its number of digits, not counting the minus sign
 and decimal point.
 .It Ic z
 The stack level is pushed onto the stack.
-.It Cm [ Ns ... Ns Cm ]
+.It Cm \&[ Ns ... Ns Cm \&]
 Puts the bracketed
 .Tn ASCII
 string onto the top of the stack.
@@ -375,12 +375,12 @@ command.
 .It Ic \&?
 A line of input is taken from the input source (usually the terminal)
 and executed.
-.It Ic : Ns Ar r
+.It Ic \&: Ns Ar r
 Pop two values from the stack.
 The second value on the stack is stored into the array
 .Ar r
 indexed by the top of stack.
-.It Ic ; Ns Ar r
+.It Ic \&; Ns Ar r
 Pop a value from the stack.
 The value is used as an index into register
 .Ar r .
diff --git a/usr.bin/make/make.1 b/usr.bin/make/make.1
index d36a43c6cf63..80216b4189c1 100644
--- a/usr.bin/make/make.1
+++ b/usr.bin/make/make.1
@@ -1661,7 +1661,7 @@ To prevent infinite loops the following source Makefile targets are ignored:
 .Ic ::
 targets that have no prerequisites
 .It
-.Ic !
+.Ic \&!
 targets
 .It
 targets that have
diff --git a/usr.bin/mklocale/mklocale.1 b/usr.bin/mklocale/mklocale.1
index c497fa904c1c..ceab25a014ad 100644
--- a/usr.bin/mklocale/mklocale.1
+++ b/usr.bin/mklocale/mklocale.1
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ All are equivalent.
 .It Dv ">\|\^)\|]"
 Used to end a mapping.
 All are equivalent.
-.It Dv :
+.It Dv ":"
 Used as a delimiter in mappings.
 .El
 .El