go off

verb

went off; gone off; going off; goes off

intransitive verb

1
2
: to burst forth or break out suddenly or noisily
3
: to go forth, out, or away : leave
4
: to undergo decline or deterioration
5
: to follow the expected or desired course : proceed
the party went off well
6
: to make a characteristic noise : sound
could hear the alarm going off
Phrases
go off the deep end
1
: to enter recklessly on a course
2
: to become very much excited

Examples of go off in a Sentence

specialists were able to deactivate the bomb before it went off the wedding went off without so much as a single glitch
Recent Examples on the Web That said viewers follow format and imagine watching Law and Order and one of the detectives goes off and starts their own detective agency. Degen Pener, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Mar. 2024 The girl went off by herself in search of customers. Andy Newman, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024 Jordan then went off on Mattina — a tree falling down provided the period at the end of her speech. Journal Sentinel, 12 Mar. 2024 The premiere, which went off without incident, came after several nervy days as festival leadership worked in concert with local authorities to determine how to successfully mount Tuesday’s screening and ensure the safety of the filmmakers and audience members. Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 12 Mar. 2024 There was only one gloomy man sitting there; the others had gone off to exercise their power. Benjamin Kunkel, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024 In August 2022, Amplify pleaded guilty in federal court to a single charge of negligently dumping oil, a result of the company’s poor response between the first leak-detection alarms that went off in the 2021 spill and notifying authorities 14 hours later. Laylan Connelly, Orange County Register, 8 Mar. 2024 Below are some tips for helping your trip go off without a hitch. Skye Sherman, Travel + Leisure, 3 Mar. 2024 Most attendees to Saturday’s convention who spoke with USA TODAY were hopeful the drama is in the past, and most of the caucuses went off without a hitch. USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'go off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of go off was in 1579

Dictionary Entries Near go off

Cite this Entry

“Go off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/go%20off. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

go off

verb
1
2
: to burst forth or break out suddenly or noisily
3
: to take place : proceed
the dance went off as planned

More from Merriam-Webster on go off

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